Want to know how the Green Bay Packers’ new defense is doing?  Why not ask the guy who is in the best position to know?  Quarterback Jordan Love has been facing it in every practice during this training camp.   He also faced it last year.   What’s his impression?  “All training camp I’ve been saying the defense just feels different,” he said this week.    

By different, he means it’s been a pain in the butt for him to try to get a consistent passing game going in practice.  “We go against them every day and there’s not a lot of wide open guys,” Love said in the locker room.  “They’re on their P’s and Q’s in who they need to cover, they’re passing stuff off and falling off certain windows, so it looks really good.” 

Which has been really bad at times for the offense.  It’s no secret the defense has dominated the majority of the team drills this summer.  There are occasions when Love will have some success connecting long and short with his receivers, but he’s also thrown several interceptions and missed other targets with inaccuracies.  Part of the reason for that is heavy pressure from the pass rush.  Of course, nobody is allowed to hit the $55 million dollar per year signal caller, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t affected by pursuit that has been buzzing around his head since his first practice.  “Once we go live and that rush comes alive, I feel it in practice.  I’m definitely excited to see them in games against other QBs.  I know they’re going to give QBs a lot of fits.” 

Running game?  Well, the Packers may have a decent running game this season, but it has been almost non-existent in training camp thus far.  By and large, the defense has been all over the running backs.  So is that because the running game is that bad?  Or is the defense that good?  There are indications the answer is the latter.  Because against Cleveland in the first preseason game the Packers ran wild, piling up 155 yards on the ground, while the defense held the Browns to just 56 rushing yards.

The next quarterback who may get to feel that heat is rookie Bo Nix.  The Packers are conducting joint workouts Friday with the Denver Broncos in preparation for their preseason game in Denver Sunday night.  Nix is likely to start that game under center.   He will face a Packers defense that had three sacks and five quarterback hits in its preseason opener at Cleveland.  Lukas Van Ness, who did not start the game, led the way with a sack, two hits on the QB, and three tackles for loss.  Van Ness is clearly more comfortable starting with hands down out of the new 4-3 alignment.  The second year player has had an impressive camp.  He was drafted in the first round last year to eventually replace Preston Smith, but the way he is performing, that transition may take place sooner than later.   

Rashan Gary has also made life miserable for Love in training camp.  Like Van Ness, Gary played with his hand in the dirt in college and welcomes the opportunity to return to a style he is most comfortable with.  “Aggression, man.  Playing fast, physical and effort, man, and that’s all me,” Gary recently told the beat writers.   

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is finding himself with a decision to make that he likely didn’t expect.  Javon Bullard was drafted in the second round to be Green Bay’s starting safety opposite free agent prize Xavier McKinney.  But Bullard is being challenged for that starting spot by fourth round rookie Evan Williams, who is showing why Brian Gutekunst traded a sixth round pick to move up sixteen slots to grab him.  “That competition has brought out the best in both of us,” Williams opined.  “We’re going hard every day knowing a spot’s on the line and just trying to show our best stuff every day.  We definitely push each other.” 

That competition will be fun to watch as the remainder of the preseason plays out.  Safety is not the only position which now appears to be up for grabs.  De’vonte Wyatt is surging hard to take away a starting spot on the defensive line from TJ Slaton.  Carrington Valentine started ramping up from being out with a hamstring problem, and is expected to push Eric Stokes for a corner spot opposite Jaire Alexander. 

Positional rivalry is making this defense hard to handle this summer.  Jordan Love, for one, will be glad they are chasing somebody else around the field this weekend.