GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -By his own admission, Atari Bigby’s game used to be more about brawn than brains. Now, the Green Bay Packers safety is the thinking man in the back end of the playoff-bound Packers’ second-ranked defense.
“It’s (become) more of a thinking position, (and) that’s something I’m not used to doing, because normally you don’t want players to think,” Bigby said Thursday, as the Packers prepared for their regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals, a team they’re likely to meet in the first round of the NFC playoffs.
“Before, I was aggressive, I was forward, full speed ahead. Now, I’ve got to back up and actually decipher what routes that I have to be over top of. I have a lot more responsibility in my mind,” he said.
into the postseason, where the Packers reached the NFC Championship game.
But Bigby played in just seven games last season because of shoulder, hamstring and ankle injuries, finishing the year on injured reserve while the Packers finished 6-10. When the Packers switched from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 scheme under Dom Capers, getting Bigby back into the lineup was a high priority.
“One of the things we talked about in the offseason was to get him healthy and back to that 2007 form,” safeties coach Darren Perry said.
But getting back to his 2007 form doesn’t mean Bigby is playing with his 2007 style. Instead, he is lining up farther back off the line of scrimmage and being counted on to set the tone intellectually instead of with bone-jarring collisions.
“His role is different in this defense than it was in the prior defense,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “A lot of times when you are the deep safety you don’t hear much about him, and that’s probably a good thing. But I think his communication and his consistency, you can tell that the defensive players are very comfortable with him back there. He is someone that they trust and someone that they believe in, and he definitely has the ability to make big plays.”
He just has had fewer opportunities.
terception, seven-tackle performance against Seattle last week all the more noticeable. But that’s not to say Bigby hasn’t been making a difference on defense all season.
“I know when Atari came back, it did a lot for the guys’ confidence,” Capers said of Bigby, who missed three games with a knee injury suffered in the regular-season opener against Chicago. “Because they had a guy back that had been a starter who could make all the calls, all those things. We’ve seen him progressively get more comfortable, (and) I know I’ve seen his confidence level go up the last three or four weeks.”
Bigby’s defensive teammates have confidence in him because he’s been so assignment-sure.
“He’s a guy who you know is going to be where he’s supposed to be,” cornerback Tramon Williams said. “As a corner, you don’t have to worry about anything. You can play your technique however you’re supposed to play it, and if he’s supposed to be there for you, he’s going to be there.”
Bigby admits he’s not as well-versed in Capers’ scheme as he would like to be after being limited in the offseason following ankle surgery and then missing those three games. He also confessed that it’s been difficult for him to not be as statistically productive as he was in 2007, when he finished with 121 tackles, five interceptions and 13 pass break-ups in 16 regular-season starts.
But he has come on of late, registering 22 tackles, two interceptions and six pass break-ups in the last three games.
“It’s been (a) quiet (year) in terms of stats. But I’m still showing flashes. I don’t think that anybody would say I’m not a good player. I’ve just been playing the defense honest the whole season,” Bigby said. “I think being a part of a great defense, I have to say I feel good about the season. I feel like I’m peaking at the right time.”
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