Paul Bretl | 8/3/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers were back on the football field for their 10th training camp practice, but tonight’s practice was not like the previous nine before it–it was Family Night, with the Packers practicing in front of 60,887 inside Lambeau Field.
“What an atmosphere, man,” said Matt LaFleur after practice. “It never gets old, going into Lambeau, the environment, the energy the fans brought.”
With practice being held in front of a full stadium and televised, as LaFleur said, it was very vanilla play-calling on both sides of the ball. With that in mind, here are my key observations and takeaways from what took place.
Who was in and who was out? Josh Myers was back after missing Thursday’s practice for a personal reason. Josh Jacobs went through warmups but did not practice. Jacobs did not practice Thursday with a groin injury but said at his locker afterwards that if it was a game he would have been out there. Still not practicing was Tucker Kraft, Carrington Valentine, Edgerrin Cooper, Donovan Jennings, Deslin Alexandre, Keshawn Banks, and a new addition to the injury report was JJ Enagbare with a hamstring injury.
“We already knew,” said Jacobs after practice about only going through warmups. “Like I said, I could have practiced the other day. It’s not that serious of an issue. I’ll be OK.”
Zach Tom should be returning to 11-on-11s soon and Kraft should be back at practice soon as well.
“That is the plan,” said LaFleur when asked about Tom returning next week, “so he’s looked great. Hopefully we’ll get tucker back in some capacity next weke as well but we’ll see how it goes.”
What’s going on at swing tackle? After a handful of practices where Kadeem Telfort was taking the majority of the starting right tackle snaps, tonight-and Thursday–that role belonged to Andre Dillard. The Packers are trying to figure out who the swing tackle will be this season. For what it’s worth, earlier in the week Adam Stenavich discussed Telfort’s consistency while also mentioning that Dillard had to get more comfortable on the right side. Then near the end of practice, we saw Caleb Jones get his first starting right tackle reps of training camp.
“I think coming into this it’s always been a question for me about I didn’t come from a heavy pass-blocking, any organizations before this,” said Jones after practice. “So it’s always been a question, how will he do in pass blocking? I think that’s the biggest improvement on my part, just learning how to pass block and learning how to use my hands. Learning what sets to use at what times. It’s always just a blessing.”
What about the rest of the offensive line? The rest of the line was as expected with Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Elgton Jenkins at left guard, Myers at center and Jordan Morgan at right guard. The second unit was made up of Caleb Jones at left tackle, followed by Royce Newman, Jacob Monk, Sean Rhyan, and either Telfort or Dillard. Rhyan saw some left guard snaps with the starters and for the first time since camp began, we saw Jordan Morgan at a position other than right guard, with him lining up at left tackle with the twos to end practice. Stenavich said he’s been at right guard because they believe that is where he has the best chance to compete for a starting role.
The defensive alignment remained the same. Tonight it was Javon Bullard’s turn to start next to Xavier McKinney. The nickel linebackers were Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie, while TJ Slaton was next to Kenny Clark on the early downs.
Some of the notable one-on-one results I was able to catch:
- Lukas Van Ness beats Caleb Jones
- Christian Watson catch vs. Eric Stokes
- Karl Brooks beats Royce Newman
- Jayden Reed with a catch vs. Kalen King
- Kadeem Telfort beats Van Ness
- Javon Bullard with a PBU vs. Dimitri Stanley
- Jacob Monk beats Jonathan Ford
- Julian Hicks catch vs. Corey Ballentine
- Dontayvion Wicks catch vs. Stokes
- Jaire Alexander keeps Malik Heath out of end zone
- Xavier McKinney PBU vs. Luke Musgrave
- Alexander beats Romeo Doubs
It was another impressive showing for Doubs. On one reception, he did a really good job of boxing out Alexander and making the contested catch. During the red zone period, Doubs had back-to-back touchdown receptions, beating Stokes on a slant and then making another catch over Keisean Nixon. Near the end of practice, he caught a deep crosser from Love.
“Just repetition,” said Doubs about his red zone touchdowns. “Just make sure I rep it out with Jordan or any other QB as much as I can, get the timing down.”
I know I’ve said this already, but Marshawn Lloyd’s ability to change direction is supremely impressive. There was one run, in particular, where there was nothing open up the middle and he jumped cut to the right to get to the outside in a flash.
In part, you’ve got to give credit to the linebackers and safeties, which I know I’ve mention before have done an excellent job swarming to the ball carrier around the line of scrimmage, but the screen game and outside runs have been tough sledding for the offense.
The play along the offensive line has improved in recent practices, but the defensive front is still largely controlling the line of scrimmage, making it tough on the quarterbacks. The cohesiveness of the offensive line has improved, but particularly in one-on-one situations they are losing those matchups, which is a credit to the defensive front. Rashan Gary was again really impressive.
“It’s tough on the O-line right now,” LaFleur said. “Certainly I think the D-line gets frustrated at times bc in practice we use a lot of chippers, I’m like hey man that’s a credit to you guys, that’s the ultimate complement, we feel we have to get four hands on you to block you. It’s going to happen during the season. I think our D-line is solid, hopefully they continue to get better and improve and just keep coming off the ball the way they are.”
It’s early. Obviously things can change, but my guess right now Tyler Davis ends up ahead of Ben Sims on the depth chart. From what we’ve seen I think he’s been more sound and steady as a blocker. The run game is more difficult to decipher given that there isn’t live tackling.
I thought we saw a nice practice from Quay Walker in coverage. On one rep, he found himself in space against Grant DuBose and remained tight throughout the route to force the incompletion. On another play, he tipped a pass from Love to force an incompletion.
In game scenario: Love and the offense started at their own two yard line. Love completed the first pass to Bo Melton for about seven yards. Second down was a run to Dillon for about a yard, and then on third down Love connected with Reed for a good gain and a first. The drive would stall, however, after a run of two yards and then two incomplete passes from Love–one of which was a miss on his part and the other he tried to fit into too tight of a window. I just have a feeling, based on what we’ve seen in two-minute and other red zone situations, that in a real game Jeff Hafley is blitzing or trying to force the issue when the offense is backed up.
It wasn’t perfect and there are throws he will want back, but I thought tonight we saw more of the Sean Clifford that we remember from the preseason. He was “letting it rip” as LaFleur will say. Meaning, he was on time and in rhythm with his throws, and trusting what he was seeing. To end practice, Clifford went 5-for-9 in the two-minute period to get the offense in field goal range.
Anders Carlson responded well after a rough practice Thursday, making 8/9 of his attempts. Joseph was again solid, but had his first miss in a while, finishing 7/9. Overall, Carlson is 33/39 and Joseph 35/39. Through the ups and downs that Carlson has had, he does always seem to bounce back.
“I would anticipate that,” said LaFleur when asked if the kicking competition will go through training camp, “but things change.”
We did get to see a live tackling period tonight with the third team offensive and defensive units. Michael Pratt began the drive connecting with Dimitri Stanley for 19 yards. The next two plays were runs by Ellis Merriweather for 7 yards and four yards to move the chains. We haven’t seen much of Merriweather, but he runs hard. On first down, the Packers ran an end-around that the defense sniffed out, resulting in a loss of five yards. On 2nd and 15 with pressure closing in, Pratt finds Julian Hicks for 23 yards on an in-breaking route.
Two minute drills: Love and the offense began at their own 25 with 2:00 remaining. The first pass was incomplete to AJ Dillon with McDuffie tight in coverage. His second pass was batted down by Kenny Clark and third down was an over throw, this time with Alexander tight in coverage. On fourth down, Love’s initial read wasn’t there so he threw to Musgrave in the flat where Bullard made the “tackle.”
Two other standouts: Javon Bullard was around the ball, forcing a few incompletions, and Kalen King had a pass breakup during the red zone period and a “sack” on a nickel blitz.
“Ever since OTAs, he’s been making plays,” said Doubs about Bullard. “Glad to have a guy like him on the team. I believe his growth is going to be really good because we have really experienced guys on our defense. Sky’s the limit for him.”