GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon has heard the criticism about how the Packers’ pass coverage could struggle without departed two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Nixon takes those words in stride. He notes that he’s been doubted ever since arriving in the NFL in 2019 as an undrafted free agent from South Carolina.
Even as he developed into a two-time All-Pro kick returner, Nixon remembered getting labeled as merely a special-teams guy or later as a nickelback. Nixon then played
primarily cornerback in 2024 while stepping in for the injured Alexander, who played just seven games last season before getting released in June and eventually signing with the Baltimore Ravens.
Alexander’s exit means Nixon enters the season as the Packers’ likely No. 1 cornerback. He’s eager for the opportunity to face an opponent’s top receiver each week.
“My confidence level is just through the roof right now,” Nixon said Tuesday. “It doesn’t really matter who’s going to be out there. They’re going to have to see me just like I’ve got to see them.”
Nixon, 28, took a long road to get to this point.
He spent his first three NFL seasons with the Raiders, emerging as a key special-teams performer but never playing more than 15% of the team’s defensive snaps in any of those years.
Nixon joined the Packers in 2022 while his role on defense gradually expanded. He played 28% of the Packers’ defensive snaps in 2022, 73% in 2023 and 94% last season.
“With the Raiders, I wasn’t really able to do anything,” Nixon said. “I literally just sat there for three years, I guess making money just being on the team. They wouldn’t trade me or get rid of me, so I was just there. When I finally got to Green Bay, I just kept checking boxes, checking boxes. They asked me to do something, I did it. Gave me another role, I did that. Gave me another role. Now I’ve got the biggest role they can give me.”
Nixon made a career-high 88 tackles last season and was the only NFL defensive back to have at least three sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception. That has the Packers confident he can thrive as a full-time cornerback.
“He’s competitive,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “He can play man coverage, which is important. You have to be able to play man to be on the outside. Because he can run, he can cover, he can change direction, and I like that he’ll tackle. He’s a physical guy. Teams are going to try to get your corners one-on-one and force them to tackle. And he’s going to do that.”
Nixon prepared for his expanded role by studying film and paying attention to other cornerbacks. He singled out Washington’s Marshon Lattimore and Cleveland’s Denzel Ward as two of his favorites because of the way they play man-to-man coverage.
After being labeled by his perceived limitations, Nixon is eager to showcase just how well he can handle increased responsibilities.
“I just never let anybody put me in a box,” Nixon said. “My confidence and my skill level has always been there. I just had to find a role to just get to where I want to go. Everything they’ve ever asked me to do, I always did it at a high level. That’s just what it was. I’ve always been good at everything I do. That just comes with what God gave me. Now I’ve got the perfect way to show it on the biggest stage this year.”
Nixon also wouldn’t mind continuing to show off his ability as a kick returner.
After saying at the end of last season that he didn’t want to return kicks anymore, Nixon backed off that statement earlier this summer. Nixon said Tuesday he’d welcome the chance to keep returning kicks.
“With the game on the line, I want the ball in my hands, at the end of the day,” Nixon said. “I don’t think nobody can mess with me when I’ve got the ball in my hands. It’s just being a Swiss Army knife, being able to do it. Some of the greats did it: Deion (Sanders), Charles Woodson, stuff like that. I just want to put my name in that hat.”
NOTES: Packers coach Matt LaFleur said QB Jordan Love’s role in Thursday’s joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks would be “very limited.” Love has been practicing the last two days with his left (non-throwing) hand heavily taped, a week after undergoing thumb surgery. LaFleur said the joint practice could include 7-on-7 workouts to allow Love to participate. … K Brandon McManus served as a surprise side judge in Tuesday’s practice. “Anytime he saw I was trash talking, he threw a flag at me,” Nixon said. “Bogus.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
