For Professor Sirmans, RB class has been in session throughout camp

Running backs coach Ben Sirmans has had to deal with a lot of upheaval in his position group.

Ben Sirmans might as well be handing out nametags along with playbooks.

While players come and go throughout training camps across the NFL, it’s possible no position coach in the league has had to deal with as much upheaval as Green Bay Packers running backs coach Ben Sirmans has this summer.

Training camp started with Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, rookie Dexter Williams and Tra Carson at running back and Danny Vitale and Malcolm Johnson at fullback. With injuries to Jones, Jamaal Williams and Vitale, the Packers added Corey Grant, Darrin Hall and Keith Ford at running back and Tommy Bohanon at fullback.

Grant didn’t last long and Hall was released on Saturday. The others remain in the hunt for roster spots as the last week of training camp leads into the preseason finale against Kansas City.

“It has [been challenging] from the standpoint of having to teach and re-teach,” Sirmans said on Saturday. “Some of these guys, they come in, they can equate what we’re doing to stuff they’ve done in the past. So, you try to utilize that as much as you can as a transition for them, but every time you re-teach something it helps you because it’s a new system for me that I’m learning. It helps to kind of reinforce my own knowledge with the system.”

Sirmans’ first job out of college was as a teacher. Good thing, because Sirmans’ ability to teach has been tested frequently. Sirmans was hired by former Packers coach Mike McCarthy in 2016. That was the season when Ty Montgomery moved from receiver to running back and became the featured back after Eddie Lacy and James Starks stumbled through inferior play and injuries. In 2017, the Packers drafted Jamaal Williams in the fourth round and Aaron Jones in the fifth round. Last year, it was the midseason release of Montgomery and in-season additions of Tra Carson, Lavon Coleman and Kapri Bibbs.

This year, the revolving door in the backfield started early. A couple days into camp, Grant was signed with a $60,000 bonus on July 26. A day later, the team claimed Hall off waivers from Cincinnati. On Aug. 6, the team claimed Ford off waivers from Indianapolis. On Aug. 12, with both fullbacks injured, the Packers signed the veteran Bohanon.

“You typically have them all together” for additional meetings, Sirmans said. “Some guys may have been there a few days earlier than the other guys, but I still have them all in the same room, go through some of the same things because they all want to hear it again, because the more and more they hear it and get it saturated in their brain, the easier it is for them to make the transition when they get on the field.”

Jones and Williams have returned to practice, meaning the backfield situation no longer is in dire straits as the Packers begin to turn their attention to the season-opening game at Chicago on Sept. 5. There is, however, a battle for the No. 3 spot that will be waged between sixth-round pick Williams, Carson and Ford. Williams has been the most explosive runner but has struggled in the passing game.

Fixing that is just something else on Professor Sirmans’ agenda.

“He’s better than he was before but still needs to work to hit that plateau that we want when we say, ‘We feel really great about him in this situation,’” Sirmans said. “He’s making progress in that direction. Some guys, they come out, boom, they get it right away no issues, no problems, and some guys, it just takes them a little bit to get to where you want them to go. The biggest thing is he’s putting forth the time into it because he knows – all those guys know – we have to be able to trust you out there on the field. That’s part of our deal in that room. He’s making progress toward being at that level where we say, ‘OK, this guy is good to go.’”