GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Mike Pettine has defense written all over his face.

As someone who admitted earlier this year that his "natural resting gaze is not a pleasant one," he was seemingly made to coach the tough-guy side of football.

And that might be exactly why the Green Bay Packers' new defensive coordinator was the perfect person to address the entire team on the first day of training camp.

To be sure, Pettine wasn't the only coach to stand in front of the entire roster of 90 players and speak during the opening team meeting of the 2018 season -- fellow coordinators Joe Philbin (offense) and Ron Zook (special teams) took their turns as well -- but it was the hard-nose, no-nonsense Pennsylvanian, schooled and raised in the NFL by the vociferous Rex Ryan, who left people in awe.

Specifically Aaron Rodgers.

"It's a different mindset," Rodgers said last week, the day after the coordinator speeches. "That was what was talked about a lot yesterday. Coach Pettine got up in front of the squad and gave, I don't want to beef it up too much but it was a near all-timer. I've been around here for 14 years, and that was a really, really good talk to the team. So, as an offensive player, to hear the defensive coordinator get up there and talk about defense the way he did and goals and mindset, that was pretty impressive. And that gives you a lot of hope."

It was a first for McCarthy as he began his 13th season as head coach. Typically, after his opening address to the team, the players split into the offensive and defensive meeting rooms. The change spoke to the importance of this season with a new general manager in charge (the more aggressive Brian Gutekunst), an overhauled coaching staff and a willingness to shake things up by McCarthy even as he's in a tenuous position with only one more year left on his contract after this season.

"I thought it was important for the coordinators to speak to the whole team," McCarthy said. "I wanted the offensive guys to see Mike talk and just give his overview, the approach on defense. No different with Joe, I wanted the defense to hear him. Then we let Ron talk again because I didn't want him to feel left out. But I thought all three guys did a great job."

Much of the hope for this season rests with Pettine -- who replaced long-time defensive coordinator Dom Capers -- and with Rodgers' health. If Rodgers can make it through all 16 games, unlike last year when he broke his collarbone, and Pettine is an upgrade over Capers' inability to adjust or hold players accountable, then the Packers should be a Super Bowl contender.

Rodgers, of course, is healthy, and Pettine's approach, based on aggressiveness and accountability, came as a welcome change in the locker room.

"We don't want to be seen like the weak link on this team," second-year cornerback Kevin King said. "We know we have a great quarterback -- the best quarterback in the league -- so the better we are, the better we are as a team."

Which is why McCarthy wanted Rodgers and his fellow offensive players to hear what Pettine had to say.

"The theme of it was just our mentality and it was what I spoke on in the spring here: mindset over scheme, that it doesn't really matter what we're playing, it's more how we play it," Pettine said. "That speech was a probably a little spicier than what I talked about in here in the spring, but that was essentially the theme of it.

"I give credit to Mike because coach McCarthy giving us the opportunity to do it is something that he hadn't done before and I had never seen before. ... I just think maybe some of the offense had never heard a defensive guy lay out expectations before. But no, I'd like to think it was well received, but at the end of the day it's talk. And that was a big part of the message. Everybody's talking about it right now. How do we separate ourselves from the other 31 teams that are talking about winning the Super Bowl?"

Perhaps by showing it has the defense to match what Rodgers can do on offense.

In five training camp practices, there's evidence to suggest that. Pettine's defense has picked off Rodgers either six or seven times, depending on how one play would have been officiated.

"Seven to be exact," Pettine deadpanned.

"I think it gives our guys confidence. What a gift we have on defense to be able to go against one of the most elite quarterbacks to ever play the game. You talk about wearing ankle weights, that's a tremendous thing for us and for us to have that success, it's a challenge for him. He's not going against the same defense that he had gone against and maybe he got used to over years and years and years that he figured out. He's still trying to figure us out, and there's that element. I just love the competition part of it. It's great when our guys can make a play, and I think that from the beginning of camp that's the bottom line, we've had some great competition."