Mike Daniels is taking it on himself to add some toughness to the defense. Credit: Mark Hoffman

Green Bay — When bad turned to worse, there weren't answers inside the Green Bay Packers' locker room.

Aaron Rodgers was out, and the defense did not deliver. Running backs took turns shredding the front seven.

So here's Mike Daniels, putting his foot down. Surely you heard the (literal) fighting words.

"If something has to be said, I'm going to say it," Daniels said after a minicamp practice. "If somebody has a problem with it, we're grown men. We play a violent game. We get paid to be violent. So why not? If you deck somebody in the locker room because you have a disagreement, there's not going to be any sensitivity training.

"It's a barbaric sport. So that's how you're going to have to approach it. I'm tired of getting our face punched in by other teams. I'm not used to that."

Which is precisely what we didn't hear from players when LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson/Toby Gerhart, Reggie Bush/Joique Bell, DeMarco Murray and Le'Veon Bell gashed Green Bay for 1,096 yards on 194 attempts in seven games down the stretch.

It's OK to criticize, to publicly let loose, to turn nuclear. Anger can become contagious, and anger was absent when the Packers defense crumbled through November.

So teammates hear Daniels, loud and clear. They must play with a mean streak. Because, no, they don't want to risk a backhand.

"Yeah, I mean, he's probably going to do it," second-year linebacker Andy Mulumba said. "I don't see myself fighting that guy. He's pretty strong. I know his strength. I'm willing to do whatever he tells me to do."

Daniels is the right voice to force a real attitude adjustment.

Green Bay does have talent returning throughout the defense — quieter talent. Clay Matthews rarely speaks out. Both coaches and teammates have repeated Julius Peppers is not the vocal type. A.J. Hawk runs the defense, not his mouth. And on the back end, Tramon Williams has positioned himself as a voice of reason. But he's more apt to dissect routes with a young defensive back than demand blood.

Jerron McMillian talked a tough game, but couldn't play. Mike Daniels can.

Last year, the 6-foot, 300-pounder was tied with two others as the shortest defensive lineman in the NFL. The former high school wrestler/running back plays accordingly. Eternally overlooked, agitated. In August, Daniels shouted at teammates to "Pick up the (expletive) ball!" In early October, he said "If I'm not angry, I'll find a way to get angry."

And with 61/2 sacks in 2013, Daniels backed up his bark. Others now must follow. The defense, he repeats, must get meaner.

"I think that's been our biggest problem on defense," Daniels said. "So I'm personally going to really get the best out of everybody. I don't care if I have to hit somebody before we get on the field."

Such comments are not eye-roll bluster. Daniels' words have substance.

Mulumba said Daniels is a leader "everyone respects" because he "proved to all of us that he can play."

"He's aggressive. He's dominant at his position," Mulumba said. "And we have to take example from him, because when he steps on the field, it's all about beating the guy in front of him. And that's the mentality he wants all of us to have on defense. He's been preaching it ever since we started OTAs.

"Whenever he gets a chance to talk to you, he's going to relay the message. He wants us to be really aggressive."

What does "meaner," you know, mean?

It means not allowing 5.6 yards per carry when the season's at stake, for one. At its core, it's man-to-man combat. It's wasting the blocker in front of you, the approach Daniels used on the wrestling mat. Back then, 70 pounds ago, Dad would tell Daniels to "decimate" anyone who had the audacity to face him.

The Packers lacked such venom through November.

"We can be meaner. We can play — not reckless — but on the edge," Mulumba continued. "We have to play on the edge. We have to be really mean on the field. On defense, we are schemed to do that. But we just have to do it for 60 minutes. Every Sunday.

"You just have to have the attitude. It's all about attitude. You have to want to beat the guy in front of you every play. … You don't want to get beat up."

By the San Francisco 49ers or Mike Daniels.

There's reason for optimism defensively. The walking wounded return. Even at 34, Peppers should pose a matchup problem. The Packers have gone defense-defense-defense in three straight first rounds. Issues at safety? Addressed.

The oil change for the unit is now an attitude change. Daniels isn't a character players want to cross.

"No, no," Mulumba said, "not really."

Send email to tdunne@journalsentinel.com

This column appeared in Packer Plus Magazine

