Raven Greene’s 2019 season lasted all of six quarters. The Green Bay Packers defensive back, pegged for an important role as a hybrid safety/linebacker within Mike Pettine’s defense, injured his ankle early in the second half of the Packers’ Week 2 win over the Minnesota Vikings and never returned.
Pettine lamented losing Greene so early in 2019, but the Packers defensive coordinator is understandably excited to have his versatile safety back in 2020.
“Yeah, it was tough,” Pettine said Friday. “He’s a versatile player that was able to do some good things for us in ’18 and it was unfortunate, second game, went down with injury when he was going to be a big part of what we were doing as a hybrid linebacker safety type. His versatility, his explosiveness was something that we missed and we’re looking forward to being able to take advantage of it this year.”
Greene played 55 snaps – or 77 percent of the defense’s total – during the Packers’ Week 1 win over the Chicago Bears. He made five tackles and defended a pass during the defense’s dominant overall performance.
Greene’s second season ended early in the third quarter of Week 2. He left Lambeau Field on a cart after injuring his ankle and eventually landed on injured reserve.
Pettine is confident he can build on what he started last season.
“He looks good. He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s able to pick up stuff quickly,” Pettine said. “We’re certainly expecting big things from Raven this year.”
Pettine’s defense will always have a role for a player who can play the run like a linebacker and cover like a safety. The hybrid role is growing around the league as teams attempt to put more resources into defending the pass while also not sacrificing in a major way against the run.
In Greene, the Packers believe they have a player who can take on a block in the trenches on one play and still get out into space and cover a running back or tight end on the next.
New defensive backs coach Jerry Gray said he was impressed with how Greene looked in the hybrid role during Week 1 of last year.
“I thought he did an excellent job of covering a really, really good running back (Tarik Cohen). It was unfortunate that he got hurt,” Gray said.
The Packers might be holding an open competition at the inside linebacker spot next to Christian Kirksey, but the hybrid role sure looks ticketed for Greene, a player the Packers struggled to replace over the final 14 games of 2019.
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