Unsung Hero Returns, Has New Position

The Green Bay Packers might not have made the playoffs last season without Corey Ballentine stepping up at cornerback. Now, he's working in the slot.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Corey Ballentine prevents a completion to the Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb during the playoffs. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Cornerback Corey Ballentine, who was one of the surprise keys to the Green Bay Packers’ trip to the playoffs last year and could be again, made his training camp debut on Friday after missing the first three practices with an injured hamstring.

Ballentine was one of the incredible stories from last season. For two full calendar years, he did not play a single snap on defense. When he started last year at Pittsburgh – the first of six starts over an eight-game span – it marked his first start in more than three years.

“It meant a lot to me,” Ballentine said after Friday’s practice. “It was kind of like a reminder that just persevere, push through all my circumstances and put my best foot forward. Always be ready whenever I’m called, and I think it’ll pay off on the back end if I continue to do that.

“Stay prepared, stay ahead, so that when I go out there, I’m not overthinking. I know what I’m doing, I’m prepared, so I can go out there and play – play fast, play free. I feel like that was one of my best years, one of my more productive years. I’m looking forward to stacking more of those and increasing that.”

Ballentine, who returned to the team on a one-year contract in free agency, is making himself more valuable by working in the slot. While his 488 defensive snaps last season were at cornerback, he played mostly in the slot for the Giants as a rookie in 2019.

On Friday at Packers training camp, he went through drills alongside incumbent starter Keisean Nixon. When Nixon was excused from minicamp, Ballentine replaced him at nickel with the No. 1 defense.

“Just trying to add more versatility under my belt,” he said. “I think adding some depth to the room, as well. Knowing that position, I feel like, helps me know where all my help is at corner. I feel like it’s good to be well-rounded.

“Having me in there to do some blitzes and also fit in the run (game) fit me well. I’m a little bit bigger of a body, so I think I can do that well. I don’t have a problem tackling. I think it’s been a good fit so far. It’s not a problem at all. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Ballentine was a sixth-round draft pick by the Giants in 2019. Between his release from the Giants in November 2020 through his addition to Green Bay’s practice squad in September 2022, Ballentine spent time with four other teams.

Did self-doubt creep in, that all his work might never pay off?

“I didn’t really look at it like that,” he said. “I think those were awkward positions. A lot of it wasn’t necessarily in my control, and I didn’t think it was a thing where I was never going to play on defense. It was just that’s kind of how it played out, whether it was because of injury or I just happened to bounce around and be on a new team or something like that.

“What I’ve learned in my football career is everything is a process. You’ve got to work your way through the rough patches. I think that’s what I had to do – weather the storms. Even when I first got here, I was on practice squad and I had to work my way onto the active (roster). It’s always a process. My last two years, I did that. I’ve kind of learned how to weather the storm and really put my best foot forward and be ready whenever. I feel like I’ve answered when I’ve been called on. I don’t have a problem with doing that; I’m looking forward to continuing that.”

Ballentine failed to make the initial 53-man roster last year and opened the season on the practice squad. In the NFL, things can change in a hurry. The Packers were projected to have one of the best and deepest cornerback groups in the NFL. Instead, Jaire Alexander couldn’t stay healthy, Eric Stokes couldn’t get healthy and Rasul Douglas was traded.

On Oct. 25, the Packers added Ballentine to the 53. Less than three weeks later, he was starting against the Steelers. During a five-game stretch, he played all but one snap on defense.

Ballentine wound up playing the second-most snaps among Green Bay’s perimeter corners. He was quite good, too. Of 109 cornerbacks to play at least 250 coverage snaps last season, he ranked 37th in catch rate (59.2 percent) and 28th in passer rating (81.3), according to Pro Football Focus. He recorded the first interception of his career in Week 17 at Minnesota.

His strong season proved to everyone that he can be a solid cornerback.

Just not himself.

“I already knew I could do it,” he said. “That’s something that I feel like a lot of other people probably had doubts – not necessarily in the building but people that weren’t familiar with me or my game were probably like, ‘Who is that?’

“My teammates have confidence in me, coaches, everyone here does, and I knew I could do it. It’s just I have to show everybody else that isn’t familiar with me that I can do it. I think that’s what that was about. It wasn’t really that I never had it in me. I got here. I’ve been here for a reason. I’m going on six years now. It wasn’t a confidence thing for me. It was just the opportunity.”

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