GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers held a joint practice Friday in Denver with the Broncos. The same two teams will play a preseason game Sunday night in Colorado.
Jeff Hafley’s arrival as defensive coordinator and the Packers’ switch to a 4-3 defense is expected to benefit several players. One of them is linebacker Quay Walker.
“I’ll say we’re way more aggressive as well, the way Hafley is using us,” Walker said. “Anytime we don’t like something, we can go and talk to him and explain why we don’t like it and he’ll explain why he sees it this way. I think he does a real good job of listening to us and just trying to put us in the best position that he can.”
Walker, a first-round draft choice in 2022, was ejected from two games as a rookie for conduct on the field. As he enters his third season, Walker feels he’s much more mature.
“I’ve grown a lot,” Walker said. “I’ve made some mistakes that still stick with me to this day, that I’m not proud of, but I gave myself grace. I just want to continue to build and continue to earn the respect of every guy in this locker room. Not only this locker room, this building, that’s all I can ask for and continue to build towards.”
Walker said he’s had the organization’s support through his “mistakes.”
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Walker said. “To be honest with you, I felt like I let them down. They were the ones who believed in me, referring to Gutey [Packers GM Brian Gutekunst] and everyone like that. It was rough on me at that point. Probably one of the toughest points of my life, but ever since then, it’s pretty much a code I like to go by. Every human is pretty much in charge of your decisions that you make, but you don’t get to choose the consequences that come with it. Everything that came with it, the mistakes that I made, I deserved all that. I never ran from that. I always took accountability for my wrongdoings. That was two years ago, but I’ve grown a whole lot and just got to continue to do so.”
Walker said he is ready to be a leader this season.
“I think I got a bigger role, to be honest with you,” Walker said. “[Now that DeVondre Campbell is] gone, I have to be the more vocal guy. I have to speak up and have to lead, way more than I’ve done in the past. The role is different, I’ll say. That’s all I can say.”
Walker said he likes what he sees from the Packers defense in practices, but is quick to point out that it’s regular season games that matter.