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<\/p>\nThe Green Bay Packers\u2019 depth at safety will be put to the test with Xavier McKinney and Zayne Anderson out with injuries.<\/p>\n
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Green Bay Packers safety Zayne Anderson (39) leaves the field after sustaining a knee injury against the New York Jets. \/ Dan Powers\/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin\/Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2013 Safety is one of the best and deepest positions on the Green Bay Packers\u2019 roster. That depth will be put to the test over the next week or two.<\/p>\n With All-Pro Xavier McKinney out with a calf injury, Zayne Anderson moved into the starting lineup for Saturday\u2019s preseason loss to the New York Jets. On Anderson\u2019s fourth snap, his night ended with a knee injury when was hit hard by running back Braelon Allen.<\/p>\n The good news is it\u2019s not a \u201clong-term\u201d injury, coach Matt LaFleur said on Sunday. But without two top players at the position, the Packers will be shorthanded at safety for practices on Monday and Tuesday in Green Bay and Thursday in suburban Indianapolis before Saturday\u2019s preseason game at the Colts.<\/p>\n That will mean more snaps for the promising second-year group of players consisting of starting safety Evan Williams, starting nickel Javon Bullard, big Kitan Oladapo and productive Omar Brown.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at it as it\u2019s time to develop the other players. That\u2019s our job as coaches,\u201d defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said on Sunday. \u201cZayne had the injury last night. Then KT [Oladapo] popped in and played a lot of snaps and he did a nice job. Certainly, we have Evan back there, and we pulled him and we pull Bull, and Omar\u2019s a guy that\u2019s had a good camp and we need to continue to develop him. When guys go down in the season, which hopefully they won\u2019t, but at any position when guys go down, you have to make sure as coaches that we\u2019re developing the next guy and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Moreover, without versatile cornerback Nate Hobbs as he recovers from knee surgery, the Packers will be stressed in the secondary.<\/p>\n If the Packers were playing the Lions in Week 1, one obvious way to adjust without McKinney would be to start Bullard and Williams at safety, place Hobbs in the slot and go with Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine at corner.<\/p>\n However, without Hobbs, Bullard will have to stay in the slot, and that means diving into the depth at safety, which was dealt a blow with Anderson\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n Fortunately for the Packers, this will be Week 2 of the preseason rather than Week 1 of the regular season. The upside to key players being temporarily sidelined by injuries during the preseason is it means more opportunities to build depth.<\/p>\n \u201cBull can play safety but then Hobbs isn\u2019t around right now. So, it\u2019s who\u2019s playing nickel?\u201d Hafley said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re going to have to mix and match, but I think you\u2019ll see Bull continue to do both, just like he did last night in certain packages. But we need to bring those young guys along. I thought [undrafted rookie Jonathan] Baldwin did some good things. We got to develop those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Injuries are how Anderson went from buried on the bench when he first arrived in Green Bay in 2023 to starting two games in 2024 and being a key backup in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I love what Zayne\u2019s done, just from his journey since he\u2019s gotten here and some of the things that we went through when he was here,\u201d defensive backs coach Ryan Downard said. \u201cHe just is so adamant about getting things right and getting the reps that he needs. Whether he\u2019s out there on the practice field or if we\u2019re walking through, he\u2019ll be the guy that if X is in or 33 [Williams] is in, he\u2019s still back there getting the reps.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really set the example for the rest of the guys in the room that this is OK and this is expected. He\u2019s become that example of when your time is called upon, you got to step up. He\u2019s really the definition of preparation plus opportunity equals luck, and he was ready for his opp. He just continues to prepare that way. I\u2019m really impressed by him as a player and his approach towards his craft.\u201d<\/p>\n Against the Jets, Oladapo, a fifth-round pick last year who barely played until Week 18, had three tackles in 42 snaps on defense and two tackles on special teams.<\/p>\n \u201cKT is obviously a big safety who can really run,\u201d Downard said. \u201cYou see when he turns it on, he can really go. He\u2019s done a good job with his communication. He\u2019s a very smart individual, smart football player, has good instincts. This will be a good opportunity for him to get more reps, and the more the better for his development.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown, who had three interceptions on Family Night and has a team-high five during training camp, also had three tackles in 42 snaps on defense and one tackle on special teams against the Jets. At this time last year, he was an undrafted rookie competing for a roster spot with the Broncos.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s doing a good job,\u201d Downard said. \u201cObviously, the Family Night was a great performance by him, did a great job of capitalizing on the ball-in-the-air opps. Each day, he just keeps getting better and better, and I knew that was going to be the case with him arriving when he did. All these training camp reps for him are so valuable, so just a matter of consistency and how many days can you string together where you’re doing your job and plussing out on the grade sheet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2013 Safety is one of the best and deepest positions on the Green Bay Packers\u2019 roster. That depth will be put to the test over the next week or two<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Packers](\"https:\/\/www.vmcdn.ca\/f\/files\/shared\/feeds\/cp\/2025\/08\/6343c0d38f0a7b4fc926e4b00bd1d7e6dd7873c68b00509b084af4024d23c402.jpg;w=960\")
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