Brian Hoyer Has Been in Malik Willis’ Shoes

Malik Willis is expected to start for the Packers against the Colts on Sunday. Veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer has been there, done that and knows the keys to making it work.

New England Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer started against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in 2022. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers acquired Malik Willis on Aug. 26. On Sunday, exactly 20 days after the trade, Willis is expected to start in place of Jordan Love at quarterback against the Indianapolis Colts.

Longtime NFL quarterback Brian Hoyer has been here.

Hoyer played 15 NFL seasons, including one start with the Raiders last season. In 2012, Hoyer was a fourth-year player with zero starts and 43 passing attempts on his resume when he was claimed on waivers by the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 10. Exactly 20 days later, he made his first NFL start.

So, Hoyer, who started games for eight teams in his career, has a good feel for the process in Green Bay, the mentality of Willis and the keys to making it work.

“I think they’re going to go through the week and say, ‘OK, here’s the game plan,’ and then on Friday after practice you sit down and you say, ‘All right, Malik, which plays do you like best?’” Hoyer said on Friday. “It may be limited, but that’s what you have to do to make sure that he’s comfortable out there.”

There are a couple of obvious concerns headed into Sunday. First and foremost is the newness factor. No matter how smart Willis is, it’s impossible to believe he can know the offense well enough to run it at peak efficiency. If the first read is taken away on a pass, does he know where to find his second or third options? If the Colts have the perfect look, can he get the offense into something better?

Hoyer took that a step further.

“For me, it was cramming and studying and meetings,” Hoyer said. “When you are established in your role or whatever it may be as a starter or backup, you know the offense pretty well, so you can spend a lot of time on the defense.

“For me, in that situation, I was cramming so much about just learning the offense that I didn’t really put too much weight into studying the defense, so to speak. There’s only so much bandwidth you have. You’ve got to physically be ready to play and you don’t want to be burning the midnight oil doing those things. I think at a certain point, you say, ‘I’ll try to nail down knowing this offense as best as I can and the defense is a defense, and I’ll go out there and play and go out there and react.

“I think the priority is obviously knowing what you’re doing first and then from there then worrying about what the other team’s doing.”

From that perspective, it will help that Willis was a third-round pick by the Titans in 2022 and started three games as a rookie. There are some similarities between the offenses.

“I don’t think it’s going from Spanish to Chinese. It’s probably going from Spanish to Italian,” Hoyer said. “There’s probably enough similarity there that he probably walked in and was like, ‘OK, I understand some of this. This is what I’ve been doing.’”

A second challenge is that Willis lacks that Love-like connection with the receivers. From the pure basics, a slant to Romeo Doubs is going to look different than a slant to Christian Watson.

“He’s not going to go in there and be like Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams,” Hoyer said. “But I think once you get to a game and you know what the play is and people are in the same area, we’re all professionals and so you make it work. Is it better to have a better connection and have a training camp or a few years under your belt? Yeah, but in reality, football is football and the guys are the guys and a slant route is a slant route.

“Would you like to have more time together? Yes, but when I went out to Arizona, it was like, ‘All right, Larry Fitzgerald, just throw the ball in his vicinity.’ I know that they don’t have a Davante Adams anymore, but these young guys, Watson and Jayden Reed and things like that, they’re good players and I’m sure they’re getting a ton of reps this week.”

The end-of-the-week conversation between LaFleur and Willis will be a critical component. LaFleur got into that this week, saying he’d “‘X’ out” plays Willis doesn’t like and dial up plays he does like and is comfortable running.

Hoyer said Willis must be honest during that process.

“The one thing I would say, and I didn’t learn this until later in my career, is be an advocate for yourself,” Hoyer said. “If there’s a play that you don’t love or you don’t feel 100 percent comfortable with, go to Coach LaFleur and say, ‘Maybe save this one for next week. I just don’t feel comfortable.’

“Because the worst thing you can do is be in a situation, it’s the third quarter or fourth quarter, it’s a tight game and it’s third down and, all of a sudden, the play call comes in and you’re like, ‘Man, I’m not really quite sure about this one.’ Because sometimes you’re trying to please the coaches, too, and be like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m good with that one, I got it.’ But deep down, you know you’re not.”

Having that sort of honesty can be difficult for a young player who is trying to make a good impression and restart his career.

“I remember going back to when I was in Cleveland, trying to just earn a job and keep my job with Johnny Manziel behind me, the amount of times that I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I like that play,’ and I didn’t, because I didn’t want anyone to have any reason to be like, ‘Well, he’s not believing in the plays that we’re doing’ and things like that.

“So, there was a lot of plays where I was kind of like 50-50 on, and then I got to a point in my career where it was like if I’m going out there, you’re calling the plays but I’m out there and I hold the ball in my hands and I’ve got to feel comfortable with the plays that are being called.”

If those honest conversations take place, Willis should be set up for success.

Running back Josh Jacobs, who Hoyer played with in Las Vegas last year, is the “ultimate competitor” and capable of carrying the load. If the Colts gear up to take away Jacobs, Willis can turn to a much better receiver corps than he played with in Tennessee.

Is this an ideal situation for Willis? Obviously not, but he’s talented and his teammates are talented. He’s got a real shot at being successful.

“Sometimes being naive is good because you don’t have to worry. There’s things that you don’t know what to worry about yet,” Hoyer said. “You’ve got some young playmakers. Try to get the ball in their hands quick, make them not read a bunch of passes and coverages and things like that, and just try to keep a simple game plan and let it take you there.

“When you get out there and the play is called and you feel confident about it, go out there and don’t second guess anything.” 

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