No doubt about it, losing Micah Parsons is a devastating blow for the Green Bay Packers. As the team’s defensive coordinator, however, Jeff Hafley doesn’t want to see his players hanging their heads in the wake of Parsons’ injury. Preparing for Week 16 at Soldier Field, he challenged them to come in with the same energy and cheer as in the aftermath of beating the Bears at home, 28-21, in a time and place that suddenly feels so long ago.
The Packers don’t have Parsons, but they still have a lot of good things going
“I told them they can’t let circumstances dictate behavior,” Hafley said in Wednesday’s media session, via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. “A week ago, we’re in here after we beat the Bears and we’re all walking in here all upbeat and ready to roll. I said, ‘Shame on you if you walk in here any different today.’ That’s not who we are. That’s our job as leaders and coaches, to make sure that we don’t do that.”
As important as that Week 14 game was, this one feels even bigger. The division rivals will push all the chips in on Saturday to decide who walks out with the clear upper hand in the NFC North. The Packers come in at 9-4-1; the Bears are 10-4. With only two games remaining afterward, there will be only so much the loser can do to make up lost ground. For Green Bay in particular, a loss would make winning the division improbable, having to win out while the Bears went 0-2.
Whoever they have available – safety Evan Williams and tackle Zach Tom also suffered injuries last week – the Packers will have to have their game faces on. Hafley believes they have reason to be confident.
“We’ve got really good players. We’ve played good defense and we’re going to continue to play good defense. Our guys understand that and I think it’s important for everyone to understand that these guys have a lot of pride and they’re going to get even closer because of this. And they’re going to play well. Our best players are going to step up. And the guys who haven’t played a lot, that’s been our job all year, is to develop those guys.”
Hafley has no doubts about the capability up and down his depth chart. Packers fans know they can trust him to scheme up a challenge for any opposing offense. The team has less margin for error, and there’s no replacing Parsons, but that just means backups like Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare have to rise to the occasion.
“So in situations like this, they’re going to step up and we’re going to play hard and we’re going to coach hard and we’re going to do everything we can to win,” Hafley said. “That’s my take on all this. This is press on full speed ahead and we’re ready to go.”
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