Paul Bretl | 8/22/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Training camp for the Packers wrapped up on Thursday afternoon, hosting the Baltimore Ravens for a joint practice prior to the two teams’ preseason matchup on Saturday. Practice would last two and a half hours.
With so much going on and the offensive and defensive units practicing on opposite ends of the field, I chose to focus my attention on just the defensive side of the football to see how this new look unit fared against Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, and others.
To begin, following some one-on-ones between the offensive and defensive lines, the Ravens offense started at midfield running a series of plays from that spot as both teams cycled through their first, second and third units. Below is what stood out to me as I watched:
Xavier McKinney was everywhere. One play you look up and McKinney, who was the lone deep safety, made his way to the far left sideline to help Eric Stokes in coverage. Then you see McKinney making a “tackle” at the line of scrimmage in the run game. A play or two later he’s making another tackle on a short pass to the flat, followed by a pass breakup over the middle. On top of that, you can see the command and control he’s in pre-snap as he’s communicating to the rest of the secondary.
As practice went on, the pass rush picked up steam. At least from the defensive perspective, I thought TJ Slaton was one of the players of the day for the Packers. He was a force in the middle, generating push, and helping to create pressure. But really, just about everyone along the front was able to find some success. Lamar Jackson was under pressure often and forced from the pocket.
“We just did what Green Bay Packers do,” said Rashan Gary. “Go out there, start fast and play physical. We don’t really care about the other team, what they have going, don’t matter they players. It’s about what we got in the building and what we believe and trust.”
Contributing to the success of the defensive front was the play of the secondary. There were a number of instances where, because of the coverage on the back end, Jackson had nowhere to go with the football, which gave the defensive front some additional time to get to the quarterback. After practice, Jaire Alexander would mention that he was targeted only one time.
“We definitely worked together and that’s what we’ve been preaching all week, especially coming off the Denver practice,” said Clark on the play of the defense. “Just make sure we’re communicating. Make sure we’re working together and just playing hard. Guys came out with the right energy, the right effort, and it was physical.”
Now, there are there notes I need to make. One is that in a practice, Jackson wasn’t going to tuck the ball and takeoff like he normally would when facing pressure. We also know that if pressuring Jackson is step one, step two is bringing him down, and that is arguably the more challenging part of the equation. So while the Packers were able to create pressure–do those turn into sacks? We won’t know.
“Lamar was not looking to run,” said John Harbaugh after practice. He was looking to stay in there and throw. I think he probably would have run more in a game than he did today. And that’s a problem for a defense too.”
Continuing on, Derrick Henry in the run game ripped off a couple of chunk runs. We all know how difficult he is to bring down and trying to determine how a running play ends up without live tackling isn’t always easy. Lastly, Ravens’ starting center Tyler Linderbaum was not practicing.
Highlights from the first period:
– Jackson connected on a corner route to Zay Flowers with Keisean Nixon in coverage for a good sized gain.
– Henry with an explosive run up the middle where he gets to the second level.
– A group effort to create pressure, followed by a pass breakup by McKinney on an over the middle throw.
– Jackson went deep to WR Deonte Hardy but Eric Wilson was tight in coverage. Incomplete pass.
– Pressure from Rashan Gary forces incomplete pass.
– Good pass protection from the Ravens. Jackson with time hits WR Tylan Wallace over the middle with Stokes in coverage.
– Quick throw to the flat, McKinney there for the tackle.
– At one point there were three straight pressures created by Gary, Enagbare, and Van Ness.
“This practice was important because it gives guys a little bit more confidence,” said Alexander. “We had one team we faced last week and could’ve did better. I think we did a little bit better today. So we’re taking strides in the right steps.”
Red zone period: The Ravens’ offense ran 15 plays inside the 20 yard line. The positive plays for the Ravens included two touchdown passes, a read-option keeper for Jackson, who looked like he was able to get around the edge, and then a pass interference penalty on Nixon. But, for the most part, the pass rush continued to get after Jackson.
Highlights from the red zone period:
– Wyatt with a tackle for loss against Justice Hill.
– Jackson’s touchdown pass was the tight end Charlie Kolar with Javon Bullard nearby and Isaiah McDuffie trailing in coverage.
– I counted two pressures for Kenny Clark and he drew a holding penalty as well.
– McKinney made another tackle in the flat on a quick throw.
– The Packers’ secondary created pressures for Smith and Arron Mosby on two separate plays.
– It looked like Smith and Karl Brooks would have had a combined sack.
“Oh man, I’m just excited to see them Week 1 and throughout the rest of the season,” said Alexander of the defensive front. “Those guys are gonna make our jobs easier and then we’re gonna play off them. It’s gonna be a show.”
Move the ball period for the starters:
– First down: Jackson threw incomplete to Flowers on a deep out. It did look like Flowers had beat Stokes but couldn’t come down with the pass inbounds.
– Second down: Few yard run for Derrick Henry.
– Third down: Good coverage from the Packers. Enagbare gets the initial pressure but Jackson escapes and picks up first down.
– First down: Justice Hill ran right and was pushed out of bounds by McDuffie for about three yards.
– Second down: Jackson completes a pass to Isaiah Likely for a moderate gain, who found the soft spot between McDuffie and Stokes.
– First down: A five-six yard gain for Henry on a run up the middle. “Tackle” made by Quay Walker.
– Second down: Throw to Hill in the flat; tackle made by McKinney.
– Jackson completes a touchdown pass to Malik Cunningham in the back right corner of the end zone. He was being defended by McDuffie.
Move the ball period for the second units: During the first attempt for the Ravens offense, the Packers defense forced a “punt.” Wilson was in to make a “tackle” on a first down run. A second-down throw to the flat went for little thanks to Ty’Ron Hopper. Then a false start penalty backed the Ravens up. On third down, the pass was completed but short of the sticks.
On the second time through this drill for the second units, the drive started with a big play up the seam to Qadir Ismail with Ballentine in coverage. Quarterback Josh Johnson then found Riley Sharp on first down for a five yard gain. On second down, Anthony Johnson made the tackle in the flat for a few yards and then a tackle for loss on a third down toss play. The Ravens would kick a field goal.
The two-minute drill. The situation was each offense began at their own 30 yard line, down 24-27 with 1:30 on the clock and one timeout.
Packers first team offense: The drive was sparked by a 15 yard slant to Jayden Reed. On the third play, Love connected with Romeo Doubs for a 42 yard gain. Doubs beat his defender on what looked like a go route down the left side and the safety didn’t come to help in time. A screen to Josh Jacobs on the next play lost four yards. Love then attempted back-to-back throws to the back right corner of the end zone to Wicks. The first was overthrown and the second was broken up by Ar’Darius Washington.
“I think it was a good practice today,” said Love at his locker. “We started a little slow to start, the team-run period I don’t think was our best. But we definitely picked it up and started moving. I think red zone was a great period for us. We were able to execute at a high level down there and then finish a two-minute drive. Obviously I wish we could get that touchdown, but ended with a field goal, so it was good.”
Ravens first team offense: The drive began with a sack by Clark and Wyatt. Jackson would then complete the next two passes. Having to go for it on fourth down, Jackson completed the pass to Rashod Bateman to move the chains. The next two plays were completed over the middle on a shallow route and then in the flat. With nine seconds left, Enagbare forced a pressure and Jackson threw the ball away. Justin Tucker would come up short from 62 yards and into a slight breeze.
“I mean it just helps so much in the back end having a front seven like that,” said Evan Williams. “Just the confidence in those guys to go get ’em up front because you have a clock in your head as a DB, right, and if it gets to like three seconds with our front seven, the ball’s gotta be out at that point. Otherwise, Lamar’s out there scrambling for his life, so just yeah, having that confidence that those guys are just gonna wreak havoc throughout the game is just a great feeling from a guy in the back end.”
Pratt and Clifford: Both quarterbacks would lead drives that ended in field goals. Pratt connected with DuBose on a deep out, Merriweather in the flat, Sims, and a slant to Toure. Joseph made the kick from 51 yards. Clifford picked up moderate gains on passes to Messiah Swinson. The big play came on a 25 yard corner route to Henry Pearson. The next two passes were incomplete, followed by a modest gain on a completion to Stanley. Carlson then made the kick from 51 yards.
Ravens second team offense: The drive ended quickly for the Ravens, following an interception by Evan Williams. This was his fifth interception of training camp.
“It felt great,” said Williams of his interception. “I was just kinda dropping into interior zone, right, and had a strong side to my right and I’m allowed to kind of be a free player in that situation, kind of play off the quarterback, use my instincts in that sense and yeah, No. 1 kinda eliminated so I knew routes were coming to my side from the front side and shifted over a little bit, able to make a play, get down, just looked at my team. Everybody’s running on the field. It was a good moment, for sure.”
What about the kickers? Carlson finished the day 5-of-5 and Joseph 3-of-4. It was a better day from Joseph, but over the last week-plus, Carlson has been the more steady of the two. There really isn’t much of a runway left for Joseph to make up ground with only one preseason game remaining. Carlson has made 81.9% of his kicks in camp and Joseph 78.1%.