Head coach Mike SmithOpening Statement:
"Good afternoon. I hope that everyone had good night. Thought we played a solid game yesterday in all three phases, offensively, defensively and special teams. With that I'll open it up for questions."
On having William Moore back:
"Well, it was great to have William back. He's a playmaker. He forced the fumble when they were driving the ball there in the first half of the ball game and knocked it out. He had a big hit in the ball game, and when you have him involved as an element, and trying to defend the run it's like having another linebacker close to the line of scrimmage. He did a very good job yesterday. We were a little concerned about his conditioning, but he was able to play every snap in the ball game, so he did a very good job in preparation for his return."
On how Julio Jones' game looked on film:
"It was very impressive, as I said yesterday, that was a career day for Julio, 180 yards. He and Matt (Ryan) were in sync, and he was really challenged by a very good corner that they have, and they matched up all day. I thought that Julio won that battle."
On the offensive line play and how they factored in the run game:
"Yes. We wanted to established the run. We thought there would be some tough sledding in terms of the way they run eight man spacing, and we would have to run away from the down safety, but our guys did a very good job. We got the big explosive play early in the game with Steven Jackson. I thought that was a tone setter. That's a very good defense, and a very good football team that we played yesterday. The offensive line, I really think that they're starting to come together in regards to understanding what the other guy is going to be doing. As I said many times, that unit has to play together as a unit, and there is some cohesion there over the last couple of weeks, and it was good to get the running game going."
On how close Roddy White was to playing and his status for next week:
"Roddy was close to playing. He worked with our athletic performance guys late in the week. We felt like it was in the best interest long term for him to not play in the game this past week. We anticipate with the extra day that he'll be able to go this week. Roddy is a guy that doesn't want to miss; it was tough on him when we made the decision to sit him down. Roddy will continue to work in the training room, as well as getting out on the field. We anticipate with the extra day that we should see him at the end of the week."
On whether it was a high ankle sprain:
"It's an ankle sprain, but it's not nearly at the severity of what took place last year. He's been working out on the field, and he was out on the field two days last week."
On Dwight Lowery's play:
"Dwight has continued to improve every week. He gives us a lot of flexibility, not only is he playing the free safety position for us in our base package, but he's also playing our dime linebacker in our 6 DB package. He's done a very nice job. He has a good feel for the game, in terms of doing some things disguise wise, and he's made a number of big plays for us. He did it again yesterday on the interception. He's a guy that's played – an interesting thing – he played corner in college, he's played corner in the NFL, he's played safety, and now he's playing our dime backer, so he shows a lot of flexibility."
On the job Coach Tice has done with the offensive line:
"I think that Coach Tice has done a good job. He and Coach Wade Harman work with our offensive line. This is a group that we're starting a college free agent at the center position, a second year player at offensive tackle, and a rookie draft pick. It says a lot about those guys getting them ready to be prepared to play, and I think each week they've improved. I think over the last three or four weeks, Jake Matthews has played some really good football for us. James Stone is a guy that's very smart, and has a good understanding of what we're trying to get done. He's strong, he's got good girth and he's playing well. I think we're starting to get some cohesiveness in that group, and when you have that you're going to have an opportunity to win the line of scrimmage. We definitely won the line of scrimmage yesterday in the ball game."
On whether it's easier to call run plays after a big explosive run:
"Well, we felt that we had some plays that we liked; to get the explosive play early I think that gets everybody's confidence level up. Again, Steven went over 100-yards, had the big long run. Devonta (Freeman) had some explosive plays, and so did JaQuizz (Rodgers). All three of our backs were productive yesterday, and when you have production it allows you to be a little bit more balanced in the run and pass."
On what Harry Douglas brings to this team:
"Well, we've got a strong one and two, when I say one and two, those guys are very good receivers. Harry's listed as our three; we don't even consider him a three. On a lot of teams he'd be in a different place. The thing that Harry brings is that he brings competitiveness, in terms of competing. When people are up in his face, he's not the biggest guy, but he has a good understanding of how to escape and get off of press coverage. He'll make the tough catch. Surprisingly, his YAC yards – yards after catch – are impressive as well. It's great to have Harry back. He's fought through missing some time with us, and anytime we've called his number he's answered the bell."
On Cliff Matthews' play yesterday:
"I though Cliff was very productive. He put some pressure on the quarterback. He basically played in our sub-package, and Cliff's a great story. Cliff has not been active the last seven games or so, waiting for his opportunity, when his opportunity has come up he's made plays. He also made a big play on special teams. They had one kickoff return that was returned, and he made the tackle inside the 20. Cliff is a guy that can do multiple things for us. He can play both inside and outside in our sub-package."
On how he works with Robert McClain to correct penalties:
"Again, we've got to continue to work on the points of emphasis, not only with Robert, but with all of our guys. They're going to call it. Some of those were tough calls in my mind. Again, the flag comes out it's a penalty, and it's something that we have to continue to work with our guys. Realize that we can't have contact, but we have to make sure that it's in the first five yards, and we can't have it at six and seven. That's a couple times yesterday it was at six, seven yards, and in years past they used to talk about a 'healthy' five yards. They're not calling it at a 'healthy' five yards; they're calling it at five yards, but we definitely have to challenge the receivers. It'll be a big challenge for us this week with Aaron Rodgers, who without a doubt is probably playing the best of any quarterback in the NFL right now, and he has a number of weapons that he can get the ball to. They're playing extremely well at home. I don't believe they've thrown an interception at home this season, and I don't even want to talk about how many points they've scored in the last three games there at Lambeau Field."
On Lambeau Field at night:
"Lambeau Field at night in December, one word, cold. Cold and we'll see a lot of orange jackets in the stands. That's what I remember. I've played up there a number of times, but that's what you'll see. It's a great place, we've had the privilege and the opportunity to play up there two or three times since we've been here. For some of our young guys it'll be a neat experience for them. That field's 53 1/3 yards wide and 100 yards long; they're playing for the same thing that we're playing for. They're in first place in their division; we're in first place in our division. It's no different than this past week."
On what pleased him the most about the defensive performance:
"Our third down efficiency. We went into the game wanting to put pressure on the quarterback, and I know the first thing you're going to say is, 'Coach you had no sacks.' But we hit and knocked the quarterback down 11 times, so we got accomplished what we needed to get accomplished. We forced three turnovers. There were two others that we felt like we possibly should have had in the ball game, so we did a good job on third down. They were 1-7. We had the quarterback feeling the pressure, and we took the ball away. When you win the turnover battle, and you win third downs on defense you're going to have a pretty good day."
On whether Robert Alford will be able to practice on Thursday:
"Do I think Robert Alford will be able to practice? Robert is progressing. I know that he will be fitted for the cast that he will be playing in, and that is taking place today. He'll start working. We've had him running on the side; in terms of practicing on Thursday, we certainly hope that we have him out there."
On whether Paul Soliai will return to the team:
"Yes. Paul will be back with us on Thursday for practice."
On Green Bay's defense:
"They're very multiple. They've got some very good players. They added Julius Peppers and he's playing the outside linebacker in Dom Capers' 3-4 defense. Dom Capers has been a long time defensive coordinator. He's probably the most second tenure defensive coordinator in the NFL behind Dick LeBeau. Has a very multiple scheme. They've made some changes. They've taken Clay Matthews and moved him from outside linebacker to inside linebacker in their 3-4 defense. In their sub-package that's giving them more flexibility and allowing him to move around. Statically they're not at the top of the League, but they've got some guys that can make some plays."
On whether they knew the Saints won:
"I can't tell you what the players knew. We came out on the field an hour and a half early, and then, we came out in waves. Our focus was, I'm sure, on one thing, and that was us getting the win. I'm sure that some of the guys were aware of it, but it was not something that was announced to the team. Our goal was to control what we can control this week, and that was to beat a team that was leading their division and doing the same thing that we were trying to do."
