In the Green Bay Packers' way of thinking, the concept of freelancing on defense is as taboo as a husband telling his pregnant wife that he knows how she feels.
You just don't do it.
Unless, that is, you're Charles Woodson.
Woodson isn't married but as the Packers' 2006 leader in interceptions and one of the most offensive-minded defensive backs in the National Football League, he readily admits he freelances.
In fact, he said, "I freelance a lot."
Ask Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders about the aggressiveness with which Woodson goes after the ball on defense and he'll tell you that Woodson is a crafty, instinctive player who might take a chance or two but would never, ever freelance. When asked if he thought his teammates needed time to get used to Woodson's style upon his arrival through free agency last year, Sanders said not in the least bit.
"I don't think so because the way the defense is set up the calls let them know where everybody is supposed to be," Sanders said. "Everybody should know where everybody's at. It's not a matter of guys freelancing and people having to know him. That's not what Charles is about."
When told about Woodson's comment that he does freelance, Sanders chose to define it as something less objectionable because, he said, it takes place within the defense. Woodson describes it the same way, although the term freelance certainly doesn't leave much wiggle room in its definition.
"I'm not going to leave anybody out to dry," Woodson insisted. "But I know the game. Yeah, we may be in a certain coverage, but I know I may not have to play a certain leverage because I know what they're going to try to do.
"My thing is I'm looking at the quarterback a lot of times, so I'm trying to play games with him. So even though it may look like I'm out of position at the start, I know how to get back into position because I feel like I know what they're going to run."
Woodson said when he arrived last year from Oakland, it took his teammates awhile to understand how he approaches the game. When he watches film, he studies the opposing offense as it relates to him, looking for clues that will tip him off to certain routes and the potential for an interception.
Last year, Woodson picked off eight passes, the most by a Packers cornerback in 20 years, and had he not dropped three others he would have led the entire NFL. At the same time, Woodson gave up a considerable number of completions, although not a single long one when he was in man-to-man coverage.
"No question," Woodson said when asked if a player can get burned playing his style of coverage. "But you'll never make any plays if you worry about that. The thing they say about cornerbacks is you have to have a short memory, and that's the reality of it.
"You're going to get beat sometimes, but if you never trust yourself to go out there and make a play for the team, why are you out there?"
Almost anybody you ask on the team will tell you Woodson freelances a lot, but the fact he forced 11 turnovers (including three forced fumbles) and didn't allow a reception longer than 39 yards while playing cornerback speaks to the blind eye taken toward his approach.
According to wide receiver Donald Driver, who regularly faces Woodson in practice, the veteran cornerback will break general rules of coverage that almost no one else in the NFL does.
"He's watching the quarterback, not the receiver," Driver said. "He's looking to see if it's a three-step drop or a seven-step drop. If it's three-step he knows it will be short; if it's seven-step he knows it will be going deep.
"Other guys can't do that. He has the instincts to do it. It's not one of those things you develop. He just has it."
The safeties who play with Woodson insist they're not put at risk by him when he, for instance, gives up outside leverage (playing the sideline) so he can make a run at intercepting a slant route over the middle. They know what he's trying to accomplish and they figure that if he gets his hands on the ball, someone in the secondary, if not Woodson himself, is going to have a chance at an interception.
"When you're in there with certain people you have to know how to play with them," safety Marviel Underwood said. "When you're in there with Charles Woodson you know he's going to make some plays. When I was in there last year, he made my job easier. He's going to make that undercut, make that quarterback throw different and allow me to make plays."
When the Packers signed Woodson to what essentially amounted to a four-year, $20.7 million deal, almost half of which was paid in the first year, they knew they were getting an instinctive player with playmaking ability. Despite coming off a broken leg suffered the year before, the Packers thought he could still run well enough to play their bump-and-run style of coverage.
Early on, it looked as if they were wrong. Woodson blew some coverages, was beat a few times and looked as though he wasn't into playing for the Packers. Then it all turned around in Week 7 when he returned an interception against Miami for a 23-yard touchdown, turning the tide of a game the Packers badly needed after a 1-4 start.
He had another interception the next week and then after going three weeks without one, finished with a flurry, picking off six in his last six games.
"It took them awhile," Woodson said of his teammates getting used to him. "It took everybody awhile. We had a new coordinator, a new way of doing things. I think it took everybody awhile. But I think we're jelling pretty well."
Woodson started off this camp with a flurry, picking off three passes in two days, but he has since cooled off. Cornerbacks can't be judged just by interceptions and Woodson's contribution will continue to be the difficult task of covering slot receivers, blitzing quarterbacks and protecting the deep areas.
His advantages, Sanders thinks, are his ability to understand opposing offensive schemes and his willingness to take a chance.
"He's very, very smart," Sanders said. "He's a true pro. He gets himself in position and makes plays. The thing when you have a chance to make a play, when the ball is thrown in your area, he has a chance to make those plays. He's in position a lot. That's why he makes plays."
Woodson free to be himself
Woodson free to be himself
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