With Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs next up on the schedule, the Green Bay Packers are hopeful that their secondary will get a little healthier this week with the return of starting safety Darnell Savage.
“Potentially,” said Matt LaFleur on Monday when asked about Savage being activated off IR. “That’s the goal. That’s the hope. But we were hopeful that he potentially was going to be back last week and he wasn’t. So we will take it in stride and go through the week and see where he’s at.”
During the Packers Week 6 matchup with Denver, Savage aggravated a calf injury that ultimately landed him on IR. He was designated to return and rejoined the Packers at practice last week, opening up a three-week window for him to be added back onto the 53-man roster.
After being benched for a portion of the 2022 season, we’ve seen a much-improved version of Savage in 2023, specifically with his aggressiveness and willingness to fly around the field to make plays, especially closer to the line of scrimmage and helping out in the run game.
Out of 88 eligible safeties this season, Savage ranks 28th in PFF’s run defense grade and 30th in run-stop rate. He’s also helped limit big plays on the back end, allowing just over 10 yards per catch when in coverage. However, missed tackles have still been an issue at times.
In addition to his play on the field this season, as the now veteran in the safety room, Savage has grown into a leadership role within the defensive backs room, and despite being on IR, remained fully engaged with his teammates over the last month.
”I think he has gone above and beyond,” said LaFleur of Savage’s involvement when on IR. “He’s really matured, as a football player and as a man. His leadership has really shown through this year. I think he is one of the main leaders, especially in the DB room, but also on our football team. He’s had a great attitude all through the course of the offseason and into this year. It would certainly be nice to get him back.”
Without Savage and with Rudy Ford having missed the last few games with an injury of his own, the Packers have had to rely on seventh-round rookie Anthony Johnson and Jonathan Owens at the safety position. Owens is coming off an impressive performance against Detroit, where he made several tackles near the line of scrimmage, while Johnson has adjusted relatively well to the full-time role, and there are very few who fly downhill quite like he does.
Once Savage returns, as well as Ford, my guess is that both players will resume their roles as the starting safeties. However, the recent play of Owens and Johnson does not make that decision as easy as once thought. What I would like to see happen is for both Owens and Johnson to be given specific roles depending upon the situation. When Green Bay is in dime for those 7-to-10 snaps per game, give Johnson those snaps as the third safety. When it’s an obvious running or short-yardage situation, giving Owens some of those snaps would be a great use of his skill set. Now, whether or not that happens remains to be seen.
”That’s always something you’ve got to take into consideration, and know that’s a competitive situation,” said LaFleur when asked about working starters back into the mix. “Obviously, you’re going to try to put the people out there that are going to help you win and give you the best chance at winning. Although what’s been great about this whole deal is we’ve had to play some younger guys or guys that haven’t gotten as much opportunity, and they’ve done a really nice job. So that always makes it more of a challenge when you’re making those decisions.”
Regardless of who the safeties are for Green Bay this week, they are going to face a difficult challenge going up against Kansas City. At any point, defenses have to be ready for Patrick Mahomes to try to push the ball downfield, but this is a Chiefs offense that has been really good at picking up yards after the catch on short area throws.
As safeties coach Ryan Downard often mentions, trusting your eyes and reading your keys to help diagnose and then properly react to what is taking place is going to be crucial to preventing the big play, whether that be over the top or limiting yards after the catch opportunities.