Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon
eager to keep proving skeptics wrong as he adapts to expanded role
[August 20, 2025]
By STEVE MEGARGEE
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon has heard the
criticism about how the Packers’ pass coverage could struggle
without departed two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Nixon takes those words in stride. He notes that he’s been doubted
ever since arriving in the NFL in 2019 as an undrafted free agent
from South Carolina.
Even as he developed into a two-time All-Pro kick returner, Nixon
remembered getting labeled as merely a special-teams guy or later as
a nickelback. Nixon then played primarily cornerback in 2024 while
stepping in for the injured Alexander, who played just seven games
last season before getting released in June and eventually signing
with the Baltimore Ravens.
Alexander’s exit means Nixon enters the season as the Packers’
likely No. 1 cornerback. He’s eager for the opportunity to face an
opponent’s top receiver each week.
“My confidence level is just through the roof right now,” Nixon said
Tuesday. “It doesn’t really matter who’s going to be out there.
They’re going to have to see me just like I’ve got to see them.”
Nixon, 28, took a long road to get to this point.
He spent his first three NFL seasons with the Raiders, emerging as a
key special-teams performer but never playing more than 15% of the
team’s defensive snaps in any of those years.
Nixon joined the Packers in 2022 while his role on defense gradually
expanded. He played 28% of the Packers’ defensive snaps in 2022, 73%
in 2023 and 94% last season.
“With the Raiders, I wasn’t really able to do anything,” Nixon said.
“I literally just sat there for three years, I guess making money
just being on the team. They wouldn’t trade me or get rid of me, so
I was just there. When I finally got to Green Bay, I just kept
checking boxes, checking boxes. They asked me to do something, I did
it. Gave me another role, I did that. Gave me another role. Now I’ve
got the biggest role they can give me.”
Nixon made a career-high 88 tackles last season and was the only NFL
defensive back to have at least three sacks, three forced fumbles
and one interception. That has the Packers confident he can thrive
as a full-time cornerback.
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“He’s competitive,” defensive coordinator Jeff
Hafley said. “He can play man coverage, which is important. You have
to be able to play man to be on the outside. Because he can run, he
can cover, he can change direction, and I like that he’ll tackle.
He’s a physical guy. Teams are going to try to get your corners
one-on-one and force them to tackle. And he’s going to do that.”
Nixon prepared for his expanded role by studying
film and paying attention to other cornerbacks. He singled out
Washington’s Marshon Lattimore and Cleveland’s Denzel Ward as two of
his favorites because of the way they play man-to-man coverage.
After being labeled by his perceived limitations, Nixon is eager to
showcase just how well he can handle increased responsibilities.
“I just never let anybody put me in a box,” Nixon said. “My
confidence and my skill level has always been there. I just had to
find a role to just get to where I want to go. Everything they’ve
ever asked me to do, I always did it at a high level. That’s just
what it was. I’ve always been good at everything I do. That just
comes with what God gave me. Now I’ve got the perfect way to show it
on the biggest stage this year.”
Nixon also wouldn’t mind continuing to show off his ability as a
kick returner.
After saying at the end of last season that he didn’t want to return
kicks anymore, Nixon backed off that statement earlier this summer.
Nixon said Tuesday he’d welcome the chance to keep returning kicks.
“With the game on the line, I want the ball in my hands, at the end
of the day,” Nixon said. “I don’t think nobody can mess with me when
I’ve got the ball in my hands. It’s just being a Swiss Army knife,
being able to do it. Some of the greats did it: Deion (Sanders),
Charles Woodson, stuff like that. I just want to put my name in that
hat.”
NOTES: Packers coach Matt LaFleur said QB Jordan Love’s role in
Thursday’s joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks would be “very
limited.” Love has been practicing the last two days with his left
(non-throwing) hand heavily taped, a week after undergoing thumb
surgery. LaFleur said the joint practice could include 7-on-7
workouts to allow Love to participate. … K Brandon McManus served as
a surprise side judge in Tuesday’s practice. “Anytime he saw I was
trash talking, he threw a flag at me,” Nixon said. “Bogus.”
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