Zero2Cool
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By Dylan B. Tomlinson
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
Marquand Manuel is extremely defensive, but not in the way the Green Bay Packers want him to be.
When the Packers signed Manuel to a five-year, $10 million contract this offseason, he was supposed to be the answer to their problems at strong safety. Manuel started 11 games for the Seattle Seahawks last season and was expected to be the upgrade the Packers needed.
Instead, Manuel, who has yet to become the impact player the Packers expected him to be, has struggled.
On Wednesday, Manuel stood at his locker and did his best to dodge questions about his play.
Marquand, are you happy with the way you're playing?
"Am I having fun playing football? Is that what you're asking me?" Manuel said.
Are you happy with the way you're playing?
"Are you asking me if I'm happy with the way I'm playing, and do I play the game for fun?" Manuel said. "That's what you're asking me. That's how I'm interpreting the question."
If Manuel were able to deflect passes as well as he can deflect questions, the Packers' pass defense might not be ranked 31st among the NFL's 32 teams.
The Packers' defensive secondary has struggled, particularly the safeties. After adding cornerback Charles Woodson and Manuel during the offseason, the Packers were expected to be vastly improved from a year ago.
Nobody is more frustrated by that than Manuel, who appears to be shouldering a bulk of the blame.
"It doesn't make sense. That's the only comment I can tell you," Manuel said. "It doesn't make sense. That's all I can tell me. It doesn't make sense, man"
In each of the Packers' last three games, the safeties have given up a long touchdown pass. On Sunday, it was a 54-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Reche Caldwell, Manuel's former college teammate at Florida who he should have been covering. Instead, Manuel was caught out of position.
Manuel's problems on Sunday didn't end with Caldwell's touchdown. After the game, Manuel made some comments that caught McCarthy's attention.
"We got outcoached, and we got outplayed today," Manuel said after the game. "That's all that happened. That's all that happened, man. It was just an embarrassment all the way around. We've just got to go back to the drawing board now and get everything ready to go. Now we've put ourselves in another hole seeing that we can't get over .500."
McCarthy was not pleased with the comments and had a private meeting with Manuel on Monday to discuss them. McCarthy repeatedly has defended Manuel's play this season.
"He's been put in some tough spots, but you know on the positive side of it, he's a very knowledgeable player," McCarthy said. "I think he's clearly the best communicator back there. It has been an adjustment coming from the scheme he came (from) to here. But there are some plays we need to get fixed. It's not just always one guy. If it was always one thing, I think we would have fixed it by now."
Packers secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer also defended Manuel's play.
"I think he's getting better all the time," Schottenheimer said. "I think everybody on this team was very, very disappointed by what happened and that's what you expect to see. We gave up a long touchdown. That's part of the game. I don't think we were the only team to do that."
Manuel will be facing his old team on Monday night, but it hardly will be a triumphant homecoming. Manuel wouldn't comment on specific plays, but said the only thing that matters is if he can help the Packers to a victory.
"I don't read the stats. Did we win or did we lose? Did we execute or didn't we execute?" Manuel said. "That's the bottom line. At the end of the year, you look at whatever you gave up. You look at that at the end of the year.
"All I care about is winning. Nothing else matters."
Dylan B. Tomlinson writes for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. E-mail him at [email protected]
Wow, Manuel is struggling? After how many games did this guy finally realize that?
