By Paul Bretl: 7/22/2024
The Green Bay Packers wrapped up their first training practice on Monday in front of what is a full crowd of Packers fans at Ray Nitschke Field. It was a shorter practice, just shy of 90 minutes, but here are my key takeaways from it.
– Of course, the big news is that Jordan Love won’t be practicing until a new deal gets reached. From Love’s perspective, it’s easy to see why he’s not participating because an injury could drastically alter these negotiations. And while Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur both want Love on the practice field, they understand why he isn’t. Love was at practice and has been in the team meetings, he just won’t be participating.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Gutekunst when asked if a deal could get done soon. “Again, you never know. We’re working really hard to get that done. I think it’s really important for us. At the same time, the thing that I have confidence in is we both want the same thing. We want Jordan here for a long time, give him that stability for him, and it gives us some stability for our group as well. Russ is doing a great job with David Mulugheta and their team. You’ve got two people who are very experienced with this, so I’m optimistic. These are big deals. It takes time. They’re not as easy as some people may think.”
– Without Love, the Packers have only two active quarterbacks, Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt. The fact that the Packers haven’t brought in a third quarterback to handle some of the workload is perhaps a sign that a deal with Love is close to being done. Clifford handled the reps with the first team offense and Pratt with the second and third team offenses during the red zone drills.
“That’s a great question,” said LaFleur when asked how long they can go with two quarterbacks. “Obviously we’re hopeful we’ll get something done here in the next–sooner than later. But that’s something that we’re gonna have to just adjust on the fly.”
– Players not participating due to an injury included Jayden Reed (toe), Caleb Jones (hamstring), Corey Ballentine (hamstring), Donovan Jennings (knee), Tucker Kraft (pectoral) and Marshawn Lloyd (hip), although it’s important to note with Lloyd that he was not placed on the NFI or PUP lists, so presumably he won’t miss much time. Reed mentioned that he “jammed” his foot up a little bit while at his youth football camp but that the injury is “nothing to worry about.”
– Along the offensive line, Zach Tom was activated off the PUP list, but will be eased back in. He went through individual drills but did not participate in team drills.
“Zach is going to come off PUP this morning. He’ll be out there today,” said Gutekunst. “He’ll be a little limited as we get going here but he is doing great. So Zach will be out there. Tucker is going to be a little bit longer but they’re both doing very well, probably ahead of the curve. I don’t think it’s anything we’re concerned about right now.”
– One starting offensive line configuration we saw was Rasheed Walker at left tackle, followed by Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Sean Rhyan, and Andre Dillard. During one of the red zone periods, we saw Rhyan at left guard, Jenkins at center, and Jordan Morgan at right guard. We briefly saw Jenkins at center during offseason programs, but today he played there a decent amount.
– The starting linebacker configuration remained the same with Eric Wilson, Quay Walker, and Isaiah McDuffie on the field when in base–with Edgerrin Cooper being rotated in for Wilson–along with Walker and McDuffie the initial starters when in nickel. Javon Bullard was starting next to Xavier McKinney at safety, while Eric Stokes was opposite of Jaire Alexander.
– I didn’t get the chance to watch Pratt during the red zone drill. I did watch Clifford, however, and three quick takeaways were: the pass rush looked really good, with Lukas Van Ness, Colby Wooden, Kingsley Enagbare, and Rashan Gary all making some noise. Clifford delivered two beautiful tight window throws in the end zone. And Dontayvion Wicks had a pair of really nice catches.
– The only kicker who kicked today was James Tuner. On six attempts, Turner would make four of them, missing right from 43 yards and 46 yards. Brian Gutekunst said they would carry three kickers as long as they have to, but one of the challenges will be getting all three consistent reps.
“As long as it takes,” said Gutekunst on carrying three kickers. “That’s an exceptionally important part of what we’re doing here. We have right now, at least we have the roster flexibility to carry three kickers. So until somebody wins that job we’ll keep churning it and moving down that road until somebody wins it.”