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New York - It took Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Mike Daniels about a week of doing nothing to get over the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

By the time the divisional playoffs rolled around the following weekend, he was already on to next season and ready to start hitting it hard again.

The 49ers loss left a bad taste in his mouth and his response was to vow he wouldn't sit still and accept the 2013 season as the defensive standard. After two years of being one of the "young guys", the hard-working and fast-talking Daniels said he's done messing around.

"I am not afraid to step up as a leader now," said Daniels, who was in town for a couple of media engagements tied to the hoopla surrounding Super Bowl week. "I’m in my third year, I’ve made some plays. I’ve earned some respect in the locker room. I feel as though it’s time for me to fully let my personality go. Just be myself. There’s nothing holding me back now."

Daniels said he has already started training for next season and is leaning on some others to do the same.

Daniels, who finished second on the team in sacks playing mostly as a nickel rusher, said he thought the defense was on the right track in training camp. He said the committment to being a hard-nosed unit was there all through camp and the early part of the season.

But either through numerous injuries or the mental grind of the season, he said that toughness waned. He said it is his mission to make sure that he and second- and third-year players like Datone Jones, Casey Hayward, Jerel Worthy, Nick Perry and Josh Boyd live up to the challenge of being as tough as the 49ers and Seattle Seahawks defenses.

"We were doing very well with it," Daniels said. "We were. Everyone witnessed it. But you could still see where that was not the norm yet. That’s what Coach (Mike) McCarthy is doing; he wants to make that the norm, as do I.

"And guess what? It’s going to become the norm. And that will be our reputation because you can see it with those second and third-year guys. And we want to bring the rookies up just like that. You can already tell, we’re here to bring that. But we have to keep it like that. We have a lot of tough, aggressive football players on our team. But for some reason or another, that started to dwindle away.

"I don’t know if that gets mentally draining at some point, but that’s when we have to pick each other up. Like the Seahawks, that whole Legion of Boom or whatever in the secondary. They’re like, 'You have to go. There is no time to relax or take it easy. No time to get complacent.' I think a lot of teams can learn lessons from that, just that leadership and accountability."

Daniels said he was kept in contact with Jones, Hayward, Worthy and the others since the season ended. He was going to text them today to keep the fire lit.

"We have to get this done," Daniels said. "We’re third-year guys. Seems like yesterday we were rookies, but we’re no longer rookies. It’s time to go. It’s time for us to be leaders and so let’s lead. Instead of complaining about we need leaders, be the leader."

Check back later tonight on JSOnline website for more on Daniels and his vision for the Packers defense.