GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers think they know exactly what they’re getting in veteran outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks.

The day before Brooks’ deal to come to Green Bay was being finalized, Packers outside linebackers coach Winston Moss was asked for his opinion on the former San Francisco 49ers standout.

“Tough. Tough. Physically imposing,” Moss said of Brooks. “A rusher. Can play very, very well versus the run. Can play stout versus the tight end. He can do everything that we would ask him to do in our scheme. He can play to the tight-end side; he can play to the open-end side. He can play the outside linebacker; he can play the elephant. If he were to be placed on our roster -- however that decision goes down -- he could come right in and fit right in.”

The Packers have a little more than a week to get Brooks acclimated to their defense. That shouldn’t take long, considering Brooks played in a 3-4 system in San Francisco until the 49ers switched to a 4-3 this offseason, which is one of the reasons they released him.

The Packers believe Brooks has plenty of production left in him. He has had no fewer than six sacks in each of the past six seasons and has been ultra-reliable, missing only five games since the start of the 2011 season.

It also gives the Packers the luxury to keep fourth-round pick Vince Biegel on the physically unable to perform list to start the season. Biegel hasn’t practiced since he underwent foot surgery in May and while he might be close to being cleared to play, it would have been difficult to get him ready to contribute early in the season after missing so much practice time. Moss said it would be a “major challenge” to get Biegel ready for the Sept. 10 opener.

“We would all love for him be in game-ready, be in season-ready condition, but that’s not the case,” Moss said. “But we’ll take it a day at a time, we’ll take it a week at a time, and whatever it takes. If he’s on the 53, we’ll work with whatever process and whatever measures it’s going to take for him to evolve into getting into condition, getting into shape, getting his techniques honed down. Or if he’s put on the PUP, then we’ll deal with that as it comes.”

It also gives the Packers some insurance in case Clay Matthews and Nick Perry suffer further injuries. Both dropped out of last week’s preseason game -- Matthews with a groin injury and Perry with an sprained ankle. Neither injury is believed to jeopardize their availability for the opener, but the Packers never were able to develop any consistent depth behind them this summer after losing Julius Peppers and Datone Jones in free agency.

Last week, Matthews said he knows the defense is counting largely on him and Perry to apply pass rush from the outside after general manager Ted Thompson essentially crossed his fingers that Matthews and Perry will not only stay healthy, but return to form. Matthews, 30, hasn’t posted a double-digit sack season since 2014 and Perry, who had a career-high 11 sacks last season, has a long injury history.

“The reality is that the pass rush this year, the majority of the impact that we anticipate, has got to come from me and Nick,” Matthews said.

Not anymore, now that Brooks is in the mix.