Packers’ Jayrone Elliott Aims for the Same Patience as Brady or Rodgers
What Jayrone Elliott wanted to do was make a point. What he did not want to do was sound like an idiot.
And so, as the Green Bay Packers’ earnest second-year linebacker tried to explain how he’s stayed patient during a season in which his playing time on defense has fluctuated wildly, he felt he needed to clarify something after invoking the names of two of the NFL’s biggest stars.
“I’m in no way, shape or form comparing myself to Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers,” Elliott said, sheepishly. “But I still look at guys like that because they did it by sitting on the bench and waiting their turn. Aaron Rodgers waited his turn. He just sat back and learned. I get to play special teams and still be involved, so I just try to wait my turn.”
Brady, of course, played in just one game as a rookie in New England in 2000 before taking over for Drew Bledsoe in 2001. Rodgers sat for three years behind Brett Favre before taking over as the Packers’ quarterback in 2008.
Elliott, who made the Packers’ roster as an undrafted free agent from Toledo two summers ago after leading the NFL in sacks during the preseason, has repeatedly shown a play-making knack when given a chance on defense. He did it again in last Sunday’s victory over Dallas, delivering a sack and breaking up a pass late in the fourth quarter, despite playing only 13 snaps.
Linebackers coach Winston Moss acknowledged that Elliott, who ranks fifth on the team in sacks (three) even though he’s played just 166 of the Packers’ 886 defensive snaps (18.7 percent) this season, indeed has a knack for making plays. But he’s also behind Julius Peppers, Mike Neal, former first-round picks Nick Perry and Datone Jones and inside/outside linebacker Clay Matthews on Green Bay’s crowded depth chart.
“We have a lot of good players [at that position]. We would love to get him some more reps,” Moss said. “Sometimes, it gets difficult. But he has done some really good things, and he has a knack for being able to sniff plays out and make things happen.
“I want him to have as much opportunity as possible. We’ll continue to look for ways to get him in there. He still needs to continue to grow, he’s still putting things together, he’s still progressing. If he continues to do that, we’ll continue to try to find spots for him.”
Elliott’s opportunity against the Cowboys came because Matthews, who has played 98.4 percent of the defensive snaps (872) this season, did something he rarely does: He asked to come out.
“We even joked about it on the sideline. Clay is usually rushing in that situation, and he is obviously a dynamo, but he signaled, ‘Hey, get me out for just one second, I’ll catch my breath and go right back in,’” Moss said. “He goes out, Jayrone goes in, they turn him loose, he gets a sack and I look at Clay and he has the biggest grin.”
Said Elliott: “I have a lot of great players in front of me. So I have to try to take advantage of the snaps I do get, even if it’s one play, two plays and out. I have to go 100 percent on those two plays.”
Elliott didn’t play a single snap in the Packers’ Nov. 8 loss at Carolina or their Nov. 15 loss to Detroit, then played 20 snaps against Minnesota on Nov. 22 and registered a pair of quarterback pressures. His defensive snap counts were back in single digits the following two weeks before playing slightly more against the Cowboys.
Elliott is self-aware enough to know that complaining to his coaches – or in the media – about playing time would be counterproductive, and while he said no one has told him why his playing time has been all over the map, he isn’t about to ask.
“I’m trying to realize that you can’t let your emotions get in the way of your professionalism. That’s something I need to continue to get better at, and I think I will,” Elliott said. “I dealt with it on my own. Some of the guys will come up to me and ask me why I’m not playing, and I just say, ‘It has to be something I did, obviously. So I have to get back in the film room and correct it.’
“I can’t really control how many snaps I get, but I can control my effort on those snaps. I have to continue to go out there and play hard and hopefully it shows up on film.”
That approach certainly got coach Mike McCarthy’s attention. Asked about Elliott this week, the first words out of McCarthy’s mouth were, “I love the way he’s matured.”
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers, meanwhile, loves the way Elliott is developing as a player.
“When you see guys make plays, you’re trying to find ways to get them on the field and get them more play time,” Capers said. “Guys earn their way on the field and guys that make plays are normally going to get more play time. And he’s gotten better and better.”