GREEN BAY, Wis. -- For now, you'll have to take Kenny Clark's word for it when it comes to the Green Bay Packers' new defense and the man running it.
Or Xavier McKinney's.
Or Colby Wooden's.
Or Eric Stokes'.
Or anyone who's been involved in the transition from fired defensive coordinator Joe Barry to new hire Jeff Hafley.
At this point, in the middle of the offseason program, that's all anyone can go on.
OTA practices, of which two have been open for media viewing, won't show it; there have been few full-speed team periods. Perhaps next month's minicamp will offer a better look. But even training camp and the preseason won't be a show-all.
Everyone will have to wait until the Sept. 6 season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles to see what the Packers' defense will look like under Hafley. Between now and then, there will be talk of new roles and an aggressive style.
"I love Hafley," said Stokes, the Packers' fourth-year cornerback. "I love how his mindset is and everything ... He just wants you to ball. He's gonna put you in the positions. He ain't gonna make you overthink anything and all that stuff. He just wants you to go out there and have fun and just play 110 miles per hour, and that's what I love about Hafley, to where he always says, 'Imma go ahead and take the bullet [when things don't go well]. You just go out there and just have fun and you just play.' And it's different for every position."
While Hafley, a former defensive backs coach before he became the head coach at Boston College, sees the game from the back end forward, one of the biggest differences actually comes up front. The change to a 4-3 from the 3-4 base scheme that the Packers had run for the past 15 years means more to the defensive line than anyone else.
"I think it's going to be really good," defensive tackle Clark said. "It's one of the things where all my career I've been kind of playing this way but in more of a controlled way. And I think now this is giving us a chance to shut all that other stuff off. Just use your ability and just go up the field and be disruptive. I just think with my get-off and how I am, I think it's going to suit me well."
Not that the previous scheme didn't. After all, Clark appeared in three Pro Bowls since he entered the NFL as a first-round pick in 2016. But this could put Clark in even more playmaking situations.
Clark works out in the offseason with DeForest Buckner (Colts) and Arik Armstead (Jaguars). Both have played in 4-3 schemes throughout their careers. If Clark wasn't envious of their roles, he was at least intrigued by them.
"I would check up with them and see what it's like playing in that [scheme]," said Clark, who is coming off one of his best seasons with 7.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss. "I always wondered what it was like, but now that I'm in it, I see how they made so many TFLs [tackles for loss] and all those plays they were always making. It all makes sense."
In layman's terms, Clark said they were "just cutting it loose that whole time."
"I would say last year we were more reading," second-year defensive tackle Wooden said. "This year we're asked to just not think and go, which that plays into our favor. We would get stuck on, you know, play-action, they would hold us and because we're reading we can't get to a pass rush and so this year, we're not reading we're just going. Full stop running on the way to the quarterback."
Next to guys like Clark, Wooden, Devonte Wyatt, T.J. Slaton and the rest of the defensive linemen, players formerly known as outside linebackers -- such as Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare -- will play as defensive ends often with their hand on the ground instead of a two-point stance.
"It's an attack front," said defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich, one of the holdovers from Barry's staff.
Rebrovich, who last year coached outside linebackers, suggested watching tape of the 49ers, Texans and Jets.
"It's about TFLs and sacks," he said. "We're going to look to create havoc in the backfield. Every down, we're looking to penetrate and make something big happen. Offensive linemen, not moving so fast laterally, they're going to have to stay on the line of scrimmage a little bit longer with the movements and the ability for us to get in the backfield."
It's different, too, for the inside linebackers -- and not just because there is an extra one on the field in base. The Packers think 2022 first-round pick Quay Walker will thrive in this system, and they used a second-round pick on Edgerrin Cooper to fortify the inside linebacker spot. They also have Isaiah McDuffie, who played for Hafley at Boston College, and Hafley and LaFleur brought in a new linebackers coach in Anthony Campanile.
And then there's the secondary. While the top four cornerbacks -- Stokes, Jaire Alexander, Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine -- return, there was an overhaul at safety.
Upon his arrival in February, Hafley described the perfect safety for his scheme. Six weeks later, general manager Brian Gutekunst gave McKinney a $23 million signing bonus as part of a four-year, $67 million contract in free agency.
"All the stuff I explained to you in my first meeting, yeah, we think he can do all those things -- and he's shown that he can," Hafley said. "But the coolest part about him is, you don't find out about somebody and who they are and how hard they work until they get here. That's been the thing that's probably made us the happiest."
McKinney, who began his career with the New York Giants after playing at the University of Alabama, said he has not previously played in a scheme like Hafley's. So, in a way, he's starting from the beginning just like the three safeties Gutekunst drafted: Javon Bullard (Round 2), Evan Williams (Round 4) and Kitan Oladapo (Round 5). So far, second-year pro Anthony Johnson Jr. has been the second safety next to McKinney.
"I think we could be really special," McKinney said. "I think he's going to allow us to be really aggressive, a defense that can create a lot of turnovers, and just play with our instincts. I think that's the biggest part is just letting everybody have a personality about themselves, doing it obviously within the defense.
"Obviously we're building right now, but I know eventually we'll get to the point where he'll give us the keys and let us do our thing, and we'll just go off of his call, but I think the sky's the limit for us as a defense."