Starting inside linebackers Desmond Bishop and A.J. Hawk have both been ruled out for this Sunday’s game against the New York Giants. The Green Bay Packers will go with rookie D.J. Smith and Robert Francois in their place. Smith will call the plays for the defense.
Smith practiced with the speaker inside his helmet all week and the coaches believe things went well enough to allow him to handle the communication from the defensive coaches.
Teams can designate two players ever week to have speakers inside their helmets. Safety Morgan Burnett will be the other defensive player this week to have the communication device.
Last week at Detroit, Bishop and Hawk had the speakers and both were lost during the game, forcing the Packers to get plays into their defensive via hand signals and as Mike McCarthy put it at his news conference last week, a lot of yelling.
