Cheese Curds, 8/8: Packers work on solving secondary issues and slimming down

This offseason was one of reshaping and reimagining for the Green Bay Packers.

While several of the team’s players focused on bulking up and adding muscle this spring and summer — think of defensive linemen Dean Lowry and Kenny Clark, among others — a few players were spending their time slimming down. One such player was rookie wideout DeAngelo Yancey, who had to burn off a few extra pounds that he put on during the grind of traveling and interviewing with teams leading up to the NFL Draft this April.

While that was going on, the Packers’ coaching staff was hard at work trying to fix one of the most significant problems that plagued the team’s defense last season. A goal of all defenses is to limit the number of explosive plays it allows; this is no different for the Packers, and that is the focus for the team this summer. Changing personnel groupings is just one way to do it, and today’s Curds feature a look at one example of the team tweaking the lineup in an effort to limit opposing offenses.

Packers' defense must take the 'explosive' out of 'explosive gains' - ESPN
Cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt is on a mission to prevent the kind of big plays that crushed the defense last season, and he has a simple mantra for this season: "If the quarterback and cornerbacks play well, we'll win."

Damarious Randall seeks redemption as Packers' 'star' cornerback | Packersnews.com
Is Randall the man in the slot because he's the right man for the job, or is it because he's being beaten out by Quinten Rollins for a starting job on the outside?

Renewed focus paying dividends for DeAngelo Yancey | Packers.com
Yancey had a quiet spring, but he showed up in a big way on Monday when he caught a deep pass from Aaron Rodgers when playing on the scout team. This came after Yancey slimmed down significantly during the summer, dropping around 10 pounds from 228 to around 218.

Forgotten man Richard Rodgers having his ‘best camp’ for Packers | Packers Wire
Lance Kendricks was referred to as a "forgotten man" recently, but Rodgers is truly the tight end who is under the radar. He appears to be a bit lighter and more agile this season and his head coach says he looks the best he has since coming into the league in 2014.

Jay Cutler: 'Won't take long' to get back into shape - NFL.com
Say this for Cutler: his sense of humor is in midseason form: "The good thing is I play quarterback, so I dont really have to be (in) that good of cardiovascular shape," he said.