Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,854
- 0
Kirksey managed to get his deal with Green Bay done just before national stay-at-home orders went into effect to battle the current COVID-19 pandemic. He's spent the rest of his offseason training at home in hopes of a comeback season.
"I want to get back to playing great football," Kirksey said. "Re-establishing myself and getting my name back out there and letting people know Christian Kirksey is back, Christian Kirksey is a great linebacker in this league. That's what I'm shooting for.
"For those who may have slept on me or said, 'Oh, he's injury prone,' or 'He's not the same player he used to be,' I'm here to prove them wrong and prove to myself that I've still got what it takes to be one of the best linebackers in the league."
Kirksey's background in Pettine's defense has served him well during his short time with the Packers. Despite a four-year layoff from Pettine's scheme, Kirksey opened the playbook and felt back at home aside from a little new terminology.
Pettine told Green Bay reporters last month neither he nor the organization had any reservations regarding Kirksey's recent string of injuries. It's their hope the two unrelated episodes are nothing more than a blip on the radar for a linebacker who personified durability during his first four seasons in Cleveland, a stretch in which he played 64 consecutive games.
"I just think it was a great signing for us for a lot of reasons," Pettine said. "We're not just bringing a really good player into the room. This is a guy who has great leadership ability. He already has a head start on learning the system.
"Certainly, it's a risk when you look at it but it was a risk that we were more than willing to take. We're excited about it."
While the Packers' offseason program has been entirely online, Kirksey said he has had a chance to meet left tackle David Bakhtiari in-person, and has enjoyed getting to know Preston Smith and his fellow linebackers over Zoom calls.