By Paul Bretl: 7/24/2024
The Green Bay Packers held their third training camp practice on Wednesday, which turned out to be a beautiful day at Ray Nitschke Field after Tuesday’s practice was held in a torrential downpour.
Practice would last one hour and 47 minutes. Here are my key observations and takeaways from it.
– Jayden Reed was activated off the PUP list and was back on the practice field, although the team is going to ease him back in. Elgton Jenkins did not practice with Wednesday being a vet rest day for him. Everyone else who has been sidelined, remained out.
Jordan Love (contract)
Corey Ballentine (NFI, hamstring)
Kitan Oladapo (NFI, toe)
MarShawn Lloyd (hip)
Donovan Jennings (PUP, knee)
Caleb Jones (PUP, hamstring)
Tucker Kraft (PUP, pec)
– There was a new starter along the offensive line on Wednesday. With Zach Tom still working his way back from a pec injury, he has only been going through individual drills. But during the team portion, we saw Kadeem Telfort at right tackle. That spot had belonged to Andre Dillard the past two days, but he had taken some lumps. For more from Telfort on his day, click here.
“It means a lot, you know,” said Telfort about playing with the starters. “I’m somewhat getting noticed now. Just taking advantage and taking it day by day. Taking the good with the bad.”
– It was another day dominated by the defense. It was the defensive line who dominated the first two days, particularly on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, it was the secondary, who as a whole came away with five interceptions. The offense has struggled to find its groove early on, but that is to be expected given that they are without Jordan Love, most notably, but also Tom, and Tucker Kraft, along with Elgton Jenkins on Wednesday and Jayden Reed the first two days.
– The defense as a group is really flying around. There have been numerous instances where we’ve seen a linebacker or member of the secondary making a play near the line of scrimmage.
– Early signs point to the battle for the second cornerback spot opposite of Jaire Alexander being a very good one. Over the last two days, we’ve seen Carrington Valentine have multiple pass breakups, while Eric Stokes came away with two interceptions on Wednesday.
“It’s great,” said Stokes about the competition. “I know for a fact that me and him are fighting for whatever the position it is. It just feels great. I know me and him are going to push each other no matter what. We’re all going to push each other in that room. Regardless, we want the best for each and everyone. If I’m not out there and he’s out there, I’m going to push him to be him. It is what it is. I know we all great in that back end, so it doesn’t matter who it is out there.”
– Today was Javon Bullard’s turn to take the starting reps at safety next to Xavier McKinney. Through three days, it appears that Jeff Hafley is alternating days between Bullard and Evan Williams in terms of who gets the starting reps. Williams has had an interception in each of the last two days. As expected, we are seeing more cover-1 looks under Hafley and a lot of movement from this safety position.
– After Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph both kicked on Tuesday, it was only James Turner who was kicking on Wednesday–as was the case on Monday. Turner would finish 4-for-6 on the day, missing from 46 yards and 39 yards. He is now 8-for-12 overall, having gone 2-for-3 in each of his four sessions.
– Given how the first few days of camp have gone, we are going to see some end-arounds to Bo Melton this season.
– In my position preview, I mentioned Grant DuBose as someone to watch this summer. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I expect him to make the final roster, but during OTAs and minicamp, he looked more refined and was a go-to target for both Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt. DuBose worked out with Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks this summer in south Florida. He’s off to a nice start in training camp.
– An interesting note, during individual position drills, the nickel cornerbacks were going through their own set of drills away from the boundary cornerbacks, and working alongside Keisean Nixon was seventh-round pick Kalen King. During offseason programs, Corey Ballentine lined up often in the nickel with the second defense, so with him out right now, it’s difficult to gauge if the Packers are truly seeing what King can offer from the slot or if he’s there because they’re without Ballentine. Bullard is seeing slot snaps as well from the safety position.
– During the third-down periods, which consisted of each quarterback facing a third-and-three, third-and-five, third-and-seven, and a third-and-nine, the offense as a group was 5-for-12 in moving the chains. Michael Pratt and Sean Clifford were 2-for-4 and Jacob Eason was 1-for-4.
– Admittedly, I may have missed some snaps here and there, but through three practices, Jordan Morgan has taken the majority of his snaps at right guard after being asked to play every position except center during OTAs and minicamp.