Paul Bretl | 8/20/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers were back on the practice field for the first time since Sunday night’s preseason game in Denver. It was a beautiful day for football, a bit cooler with a breeze, and practice was a bit shorter, lasting just under an hour and a half.

As always, let’s open up the notebook and dive into what took place during practice, along with some pre and post-practice quotes from Matt LaFleur and the team.

New additions to the injury report: AJ Dillon (stinger), Spencer Waege (concussion), Andre Dillard (shoulder), Tyler Davis (shouler), Preston Smith (illness). Carrington Valentine and Jordan Morgan continued to go through individual drills. Before practice, LaFleur said they would see how today and Wednesday went before deciding if Morgan would participate in Thursday’s joint practice. Rob Demovsky would report that Dillard’s injury is not considered serious.

Returning to the practice field was Edgerrin Cooper, who participated only in individual drills. Donovan Jennings was back after missing the preseason game in Denver, while MarShawn Lloyd was still out, and from the sounds of it, may not practice this week.

“Best feeling ever,” said Cooper about being back on the field. “I think that was the longest I’ve been without playing football and just missing out and stuff like that. It was mentally tough, but that the thing about being a pro and just do what you have to do.”

Roster moves: The Packers announced that they released UDFA running back Jarveon Howard, who had been dealing with an ankle injury and brought back Henry Pearson to fill his roster spot.

LaFleur wasn’t happy with how the team performed in last week’s joint practice and in the preseason game, specifically the execution–LaFleur said he didn’t have a problem with the effort. Early last week, he announced that the starters wouldn’t be playing against Denver in the game. This week, however, he is taking a different approach and said it is “to be determined,” whether or not the starters will play against Baltimore on Saturday and will be determined by how the week goes.

“I think we’re working through things,” said LaFleur before practice. “Some different stuff from a scheduling perspective in terms of what are the alternatives if we don’t play them, what are the benefits if you do play them? So I’m kinda working through that right now. We’ve had a lot of discussions internally and, like I said, to be determined.”

Jacob Monk gets a chance with the starters. With Morgan still not in the team portion of practice, Sean Rhyan was starting at right guard–as has been the case–but a change today was Monk was in the mix at right guard with the starters as well.

It was a rough practice overall for the Packers’ kickers. Greg Joseph would finish the day 2-for-5 with three straight misses. Anders Carlson was 4-for-5–missing from 47 yards. While Alex Hale was 3-of-5–missing from 49 yards and 46 yards. Now with only two practices left, Joseph and Carlson are almost identical on field goal makes versus misses, both are trending in opposite directions. Joseph has struggled the last week, while Carlson has been fairly consistent.

The starting offense looked very good today. Through two move the ball periods and the two minute drill, I had Jordan Love completing 14-of-17 passes, including two really well-placed balls to Romeo Doubs, one on a corner route with Eric Stokes in coverage and another down the right sideline between two defenders. Contributing to Love’s success was the offensive line, who held up very well in pass protection.

“We’ve got to take it one day at a time – for real – and just try to be as consistent as possible while learning and building on the offense,” said Elgton Jenkins. “I think we’re heading in the right direction, for sure. We’ve got a lot of guys who know how to play football. We’ve got one goal in mind.”

Practice would end with three two-point conversion attempts. On the first two attempts, the offense was unable to score with both passes broken up by Keisean Nixon and Jaire Alexander. In the offense’s defense, passing the ball in such a confined space is not easy. Then on the final attempt, Love tried to fit the ball in a tight window but it was batted up in the air by Quay Walker. It was Jenkins, however, who caught the ball just outside the endzone and he seemed to be pushed across the goal line by his teammates.

So did Jenkins actually score? Well, it depends who you ask. Evan Williams says no. But, of course, Jenkins disagreed.

“One-hand, man,” said Jenkins of his catch. “The ball was in the air and I seen the opportunity. You feel me? Once you see the opportunity, you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to make a play. Score a touchdown and win the game.”

Tucker Kraft and YAC. We all know from last season Kraft’s ability to pick up yards after the catch and he showcased that today, turning two catches around the line of scrimmage into 10-plus yard gains. He looks really fast right now.

Javon Bullard was still the “starting” safety with Xavier McKinney, but he continues to get quite a bit of work from the slot. My gut instinct right now tells me that the nickel defender–whether Bullard or Keisean Nixon–will be dependent upon the opponent.

“We’re trying to get our best players out there,” said LaFleur about the secondary. “The guys that give us the best chance to win, and there’s nothing to say that you can’t have multiple groupings as well. I know a lot of teams will do that, just depending upon what they want to play. Do they have a lot of different bodies in there. Some teams will have a big nickel or they get more of the safety body type in there versus their regular nickel, it’s just however it shakes out.”

Paul Bretl | 8/19/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The good thing for the Packers following their 27-2 loss to the Broncos is that wins and losses in the preseason do not matter. What does matter, however, is how they respond to what has a humbling four days in Denver.

It wasn’t only in the preseason game where the Packers were pushed around, but the starters in Friday’s joint practice took their share of lumps as well.

“That was a long night,” said Matt LaFleur after the game. “Certainly, I think I was hoping our guys would come out with more strain, effort, grit after kinda getting humbled the other day in practice.

“And then to have it happen again (is) not where you want to be. I think it’s a good lesson for our guys in terms of, it doesn’t matter who’s out there. If you don’t put your best foot forward each and every time you go out on that field, these things happen to you. We’re going to have to regroup, take a long, hard look in the mirror. We’ve got to get better. We need that urgency from everybody.”

In addition to putting up only two points, which were obviously scored by the Packers’ defense, the offense totaled just 168 yards and averaged an abysmal 3.1 yards per play. The Packers also turned the ball over twice and picked up only 10 first downs.

With 31 players not suiting up, the Packers second and third string players had the challenge of going against the Broncos starters on both sides of the ball for a large portion of the first half. That talent gap was then magnified by the team’s inability to capitalize on advantageous situations that they found themselves in.

That is where the frustration for LaFleur lies. As we’ve heard LaFleur discuss previously, particularly during this time of the year, it’s not all about the results, but rather the process, with the thought being that consistently executing the process will lead to the right results.

So regardless of what unit is on the field, executing on the “simple” things needs to happen, especially when those opportunities present themselves. At halftime of Sunday night’s game, LaFleur mentioned that a lot of “simple things” and “Day 1 installs” were being busted. Even in going against Denver’s starters, the Packers had premiere plays–or ideal looks based on their play-call–that they were unable to execute on.

“It was great to see a lot of our younger players go up against NFL starters,” said LaFleur. “I thought there was more resiliency and fight in the second half, especially defensively there were some good moments. Certainly getting that interception, a safety, there was a couple I want to say three-and-outs. I think the defense was in some tough situations with some of those sudden changes, where the field position was flipped and we were backed up.

“But all in all, offensively, just want to see more fight from our guys. That was frustrating, just the lack of ability to move the football, both in the running game and in the passing game. We’ve definitely just got to re-evaluate and take a long, hard look at everybody.”

Those issues on offense started with underwhelming play from the Packers’ backup quarterbacks Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt. Combined the duo would complete 16-of-26 passes for 80 yards with one interception that was thrown by Clifford. Their collective quarterback rating was just 52.6.

Clifford has been turnover-prone throughout training camp and has battled consistency issues. Oftentimes when we’ve seen him throw interceptions, Clifford’s timing is off–which isn’t uncommon for quarterbacks–and his rhythm is disrupted. Or he’s just trying to do too much. With the offensive line struggling against Denver, Clifford was rarely able to find a rhythm. A good example of when he did was on that out route to Malik Heath when the offense was backed up in it’s own territory.

Then on his interception, that was a throw that never should have been made and seemed desperate at the end of the half with Clifford wanting to make something happen. We’ve often heard LaFleur mention Clifford’s bounce-back ability, but in terms of generating big plays, that hasn’t been the case this training camp–only an overwhelming number of negative plays.

“Definitely humbled today,” said Clifford after the game. “Just did not make plays when they were there, just a lot of opportunities missed today. (I’ve) got to be better. I pride myself on making those plays, especially in critical moments, third downs, and just wasn’t able to convert. So lots to work on.”

Overall, Pratt was inaccurate and it looked like things were moving a bit quickly for him. While he has certainly made strides since arriving in Green Bay, whether it’s LaFleur, Adam Stenvaich, or Tom Clements who is asked about Pratt, they all mention that the learning curve he is navigating right now is quite steep, and we were watching those growing pains in real time.

While all the attention will be on the play of Clifford and Pratt, it’s not as if everything around them was perfect either. The offensive line really struggled, resulting in pressures and an inability to get the run game going, which put the offense behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations.

“I think the production kinda speaks for it, but I think it wasn’t just on them,” said LaFleur on the play of Clifford and Pratt. “It’s everybody. It’s all 11. We’ve got to block better up front, we’ve got to finish runs better, we had a couple drops. So I think it’s just collectively all 11 have got to be better in order for us to have any success offensively.”

Even for the best teams in the NFL, adversity is going to strike over the course of a season–that’s just how it goes. So the odds are this won’t be the first time the Packers hit a wall in 2024.

However, there’s also no need to hit the panic button either—I repeat, the Packers were without 31 starters. If I’m able to glass-half-full guy, going through some humbling experiences, particularly during the preseason and in practices, can end up being a net positive, even if in the moment it’s tough to handle.

Without question, this is a team with high expectations this season with the focus being on getting to and winning a Super Bowl. But it’s these moments during Friday’s joint practice and Sunday’s preseason game that can serve as a reminder that if the Packers want to accomplish their big goal this season, it begins with the little daily tasks and executing the processes correctly. Then you’re at least in a position for everything else to have a chance of falling into place.

“You always want whoever you put out there to go out there and compete at the highest level,” said LaFleur. “The thing I challenged our team on is, I said, ‘You’ve got to check yourself. On every play, are you giving your max effort? Are you straining the way that we want you to strain? Is the style of  play what we want to see?’ I think it’ll be a good opportunity for all of us to evaluate and see the guys that really want to put it all out there, not only for themselves but for the team.”

Paul Bretl | 8/18/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — From the sounds of it, after a joint practice in Denver on Friday, most of the Packers’ starters aren’t going to suit up for the preseason game with the Broncos. However, with roster cuts looming, there will still be plenty to watch for with playing time and roster spots up for grabs.

Here are the key positional battles that I’ll have my eyes on as Sunday’s game unfolds:

Backup quarterback: Both Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt are in a critical stretch right now, in the midst of playing three preseason games and two joint practices in a two week span. While experience is what perhaps mainly gave Clifford the edge early on, that window does seem to be closing, with Pratt seemingly making up ground.

Although Matt LaFleur was quick to dismiss it, during Tuesday’s practice, after a pair of interceptions from Clifford, Pratt ran the red zone and two minute periods with the second team offense. On Wednesday, it was back to Clifford taking those reps with LaFleur saying he expected Clifford to start against Denver with Jordan Love not playing.

Clifford has a gamer quality to him–playing his best when it matters most. Two of Clifford’s better days this summer have come during Family Night and in Cleveland. LaFleur has also often used the word resilient to describe Clifford with his ability to bounce back after a negative play. Those abilities are his superpowers, but a lack of consistency in practice, which sparked by being out of rhythm and trying to making things happen, has resulted in an overall up and down training camp.

Whether it’s LaFleur, Tom Clements or Adam Stenavich being asked about Pratt, there is always this initial pause before they respond. The pause is not a negative or a knock on Pratt, who is doing all the right things and continuing to make plays on the practice field. The pause comes from him being a first year quarterback, who is learning a new offense, which LaFleur equates to drinking water out of a fire hose.

Although navigating that learning curve, you can see Pratt’s comfort and understanding of the offense growing with his decision-making, timely throws, and ball placement. With the installs now in, Pratt is going through it all for a second, third, and fourth time, which is only going to help his comfort level grow.

“For Mike and I, it’s about battling every single day,” Clifford said. “We know we’re in a competition. It’s super-healthy. I respect him so much. He’s a great quarterback, so it’s awesome for me because, if I slip up, he’s going to come back and make a play. It’s balancing that back and forth and just knowing the situation, too. We know what’s at stake but you can still be friendly and have a good, competitive room and just want to win, because that’s what we’re here to do.”

Emanuel Wilson: There’s no question that Wilson has real playmaking abilities with the ball in his hands. We saw it last preseason when he averaged 5.9 yards per carry. We saw it in a small sample size during the 2023 regular season when he averaged 6.1 yards per carry. And we saw it in Cleveland when Wilson averaged 5.2 yards per carry.

However, to make the team over AJ Dillon–who is still getting the backup running back reps–pass-blocking and the ability to be a reliable pass-catcher very much matter. The pass-blocking specifically, is still an area for Wilson that, while improving, is a work in progress.

“We’re still working on that part of it,” said running backs coach Ben Sirmans about Wilson being a three-down back. “He has shown whether it’s 1-on-1s that when he does attack things with the proper technique that he can block people, and I think the other thing besides that is he’s shown whether it’s a walkthrough or different phases we’ve put him in where we’ve brought pressure that he’s much more I guess educated at what his assignment is and making really good decisions.

“So I think that’s something that we’re working towards, but we’ve just got to continue to put him in those situations to get a full answer on that. but my trust level is growing with him.”

If we assume the running back room is healthy, with Josh Jacobs handling the workload at the position and then MarShawn Lloyd’s ability to make defenders miss, it’s not as if there are going to be many–if any–opportunities each week for the third running back to touch the ball. So in what other ways can that player impact the game? Special teams and being a capable blocker in obvious passing situations are likely Wilson or Dillon’s best avenue to seeing snaps, especially with Lloyd still learning in that regard.

Can Grant DuBose do it again? In the preseason opener, DuBose caught 5-of-6 passes for 66 yards. Afterwards, Jordan Love said he wasn’t surprised by this performance from DuBose, and frankly, I wasn’t either because he’s been regularly making plays in practice since OTAs began in April.

Not only is DuBose making an impact in the passing game, but he’s been praised for his ability in the run game as well, with LaFleur even showing clips of DuBose blocking to the entire team as an example of the effort he wants to see.

Now, the next step for DuBose is build off the very strong foundation he’s already established.

“You know, you just got to go out there and do the things that you’ve been taught,” said DuBose about repeating last week’s performance. “Do the things that you’ve been coached to. Not let the moment get too big for you because that’s when you play out of whack I guess, whatever you want to call it.

“Try to make the plays, just doing what you’ve been coached to do. The ball finds good energy. That’s the mentality. Did it last week now just got to do it again this week and the week after.”

What about right guard? The first question here is, will Jordan Morgan play? Talking with Morgan at his locker after Wednesday’s practice, at that time he was uncertain about if he would be available or not. While it’s being called a competition at right guard by the coaching staff, when Morgan is healthy, this doesn’t appear to be a competition at all, with him taking all of the first team reps at this position.

Not only is Morgan making the jump from college to the NFL, but he’s also moving from tackle to guard and from the left side of the line to the right side. A transition that certainly came with a learning curve, but one that Morgan is now much more comfortable with.

“I’d say just technique,” Morgan said when asked about playing guard. “I mean, the footwork and the hand placement. I’m used to punching with my left then getting out there and having to punch with my right. It’s so different and you’ve got to get used to the timing and pick up everything quicker.

“It’s been going smooth now,” Morgan added. “I picked it up pretty well the past couple of weeks.”

If Morgan can’t play, then we will likely see Sean Rhyan–although Jacob Monk did take some starting snaps during Friday’s joint practice. Rhyan is Morgan’s primary competitor for the starting right guard job, but is being cross-trained to play all three interior positions in the event that he ends up as a backup. Consistency and improved condition are what the Packers are looking for from Rhyan. Monk, meanwhile, has seen more opportunities with the ones as of late, and brings a ‘rip your lips off’ mentality to the football field.

“I’m just trying to get crackerjack at both,” said Rhyan. “Trying to minimize that lag just so that I can flip both sides real quick. So that whether something happens, left, right or center, I can just be able to–they can be like ‘alright go in,’ and I don’t have to worry about ‘is this pass set gonna’–you know? Are his hips aligned? Are his hands good? It’s all of that type of stuff. Just trying to minimalize that lag.”

The cornerback depth chart: We know who the first four spots on the cornerback depth chart belong to, but after that, things become a bit more murky. Realistically, at best, there are two roster spots up for grabs if the Packers choose to keep six. However, keeping five cornerbacks is also in the cards, which would mean only slot is available for either Corey Ballentine, Kalen King, and Robert Rochell.

From what we can glean in practice, both Ballentine and King are working out of the slot during individual drills. However, when the second defense is lined up in nickel, Ballentine and Rochell are on the boundary with King inside. Of the three, Ballentine appears to be the first boundary option, taking some starting snaps here and there when Jaire Alexander or Eric Stokes need a breather. I would categorize Javon Bullard as the true backup nickel at this time–not King.

Defensively, Ballentine proved to be a capable boundary starter last season. King has acclimated well to the slot, bringing a level of physicality to the position, and has made some splash plays, including two interceptions in practice, a “sack,” and a tackle for loss against the Browns.

“He’s just really instinctive,” said LaFleur about King. “He’s a really good football player. The more opportunities he gets the more he seems to show up and make plays.”

Rochell, who did have a nice performance against Cleveland, would be more of a special teams contributor, which is going to matter at the back-end of this position group. Rochell and Ballentine have both been core special teams contributors during their time with the Packers, while King got a lot of work there in Week 1, playing the third-most snaps on the team.

Who is starting at safety and what does the rotation look like? If you ask LaFleur, the competition to find Xavier McKinney’s running mate is still unfolding. However, it’s been a number of practices in a row where Bullard has been the “starting” safety, with Evan Williams being rotated in after him.

“I think that all those guys are doing a pretty good job,” said LaFleur. “So I think we’ll let them play out. I know you guys want to know like yesterday, but I told you, don’t pay attention to those depth charts. They don’t mean squat right now.”

Bullard is a very physical player and when not at safety, has seen his share of snaps in the slot as of late. Williams was all over the field in Cleveland making tackles, and continues to come up with the splash plays, having totaled four interceptions in training camp and a forced fumble in the preseason game.

Eventually, a starter next to McKinney is going to be named, but both Bullard and Williams are going to have fairly big roles this season. I anticipate there being quite a bit of movement, with the weekly game-plan dictating who is lining up where and how often. Right now the emphasis for the Packers is to put the rookies in as many different situations as possible to get them acclimated to the variety of hats they may have to wear in season.

Having this level of versatility among multiple players to the safety position generates a layer of unpredictability to the Packers’ defense. Pre-snap, opposing offenses won’t be able to necessarily get a beat on what responsibility each player has or where they might end up as the play unfolds based solely upon who is on the field or where each safety is initially lined up. 

Don’t forget about special teams: During the preseason, always keep your eyes on who is starting on special teams. While this may not be everything, it can provide us with some insight into where things stand at some of those back end roster battles, particularly at linebacker, cornerback, and safety–heavy special teams positions.

Paul Bretl | 8/14/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers were in full pads on Wednesday for a practice that lasted two hours-and-eight minutes. Thursday will be a travel day for the team, as they head to Denver for a joint practice on Friday, followed by their preseason game on Sunday.

As always, let’s open up the training camp notebook and catchup on everything that took place.

Roster moves: It was reported on Tuesday that the Packers made a pair of roster additions. With Jarveon Howard and MarShawn Lloyd still sidelined at running back, the Packers signed Nate McCrary, who spent time with the team during the 2023 training camp. At linebacker, with Ty’Ron Hopper still not participating in the team portion and Edgerrin Cooper out, they signed Cooper’s Texas A&M teammate Chris Russell. The corresponding moves to make room on the roster for these two players included waiving safety Tyler Coyle and long-snapper Peter Bowden.

Who was in and who was out? Both Quay Walker and Jacob Monk would drop out of Tuesday’s practice but were on the practice field Wednesday. Carrington Valentine was back for individual drills after missing time with a hamstring injury. Hopper and Jordan Morgan continued to do individual drills as well, while Cooper, Lloyd, Howard, and Keshawn Banks were all still sidelined.

“I feel like I got a little bit of freedom, a little bit of a taste of what freedom tastes like,” said Valentine about being back at practice. “It was good, though. Just to get back on the grass, I love football, especially when something like that happens, it kind of gets taken away from you for a little bit. So just to get back out there, it felt great.”

What was happening on the offensive line? For the team portion, as has been the case, Rasheed Walker was at left tackle, followed by Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Sean Rhyan, and Zach Tom. On the second unit, Andre Dillard and Kadeem Telfort continued to take turns at both right and left tackle, and we again saw Travis Glover get some right tackle snaps with the twos as well. With Rhyan starting, the three interior players with the twos have been Lecitus Smith, Royce Newman, and Jacob Monk. Caleb Jones was at tackle with the third team.

Other lineup notes: For what seems like a week now, Javon Bullard again was starting at safety next to Xavier McKinney. With Hopper and Cooper both out during 11-on-11s, Kristian Welch and Ralen Goforth were the nickel linebackers with the second defense. With the third team defense was Kitan Oladapo and Benny Sapp at safety. As Oladapo works his way back, he only played special teams in the preseason opener, but should be ready for some defensive snaps on Sunday as he plays catchup after missing quite a bit of time.

Some notable one-on-ones with Andy Herman providing the assist on the wide receiver vs. cornerback matchups:

Rasheed Walker beats Preston Smith
Jacob Monk beats Jonathan Ford
Brenton Cox beats Travis Glover
Devonte Wyatt beats Elgton Jenkins
Kadeem Telfort beats JJ Enagbare
Josh Myers beats TJ Slaton
Lukas Van Ness beats Caleb Jones
Kalen King PBU vs. Samori Toure
Romeo Doubs catch vs. Corey Ballentine
Jaire Alexander PBU vs. Christian Watson
Xavier McKinney PBU vs. Luke Musgrave
Dontayvion Wicks catch vs. Keisean Nixon
Ben Sims catch vs. Evan Williams
Malik Heath catch vs. LJ Davis

Both Corey Ballentine and Kalen King have been working out of the slot in individual drills during training camp, but when the two are on the field together with the second unit, King is lined up in the nickel and Ballentine is on the boundary. However, when one of the starting cornerbacks gets a breather, it is Ballentine who is in before King. If the Packers only roster five cornerbacks, I would pick King over Ballentine because of his upside, but my guess is they find a way to get both on the roster. Although King primarily played on the boundary at Penn State, with more opportunities from the nickel, he is making more plays, including an interception and a “sack” during Tuesday’s practice.

“He’s just really instinctive,” said LaFleur about King. “He’s a really good football player. The more opportunities he gets the more he seems to show up and make plays.”

The offensive line’s performance in pass protection has steadily been improving throughout training camp, but I thought the last two days in particular they’ve been quite good in that regard. Jordan Love has often had plenty of time, even instances where there is good coverage downfield and nowhere to go with the ball. In the run game, however, there haven’t been many opportunities–although, as Matt LaFleur mentioned recently, that may be a product of no live tackling, where Josh Jacobs’ skill set can really shine.

“He’s just a tough, rugged runner,” said LaFleur last week, “and I don’t think we’ll truly get to appreciate his value until we get into live tackling situations ’cause I think that’s really what he’s known for is just he’s a punishing runner.”

The second offensive line unit continues to have it’s ups and downs, particularly today on longer developing plays, like play-action, with Sean Clifford frequently facing pressure in those situations. The defensive front made up of JJ Enagbare, Devonte Wyatt, and Lukas Van Ness has been causing problems for the second offensive line.

Over the last week, we’ve seen more two-split running back sets, with Jacobs and Dillon in the backfield. Dillon had a really nice block on Preston Smith that helped Jacobs get to the second level as the ball carrier. The blocking aspect is where Dillon has a distinct advantage over Emanuel Wilson. And speaking of Wilson, he continues to look dynamic with the ball in his hands.

“I think naturally he’s a pretty quiet guy, but he’s really talented and that’s obvious,” said LaFleur before practice. “And we’re going to keep coaching him to try to get the most out of him. But he’s been a great addition to the locker room, he’s a great teammate. He’s really good in the room. And it’s funny ‘cause I always try to get him to smile each and every day because he is very, very, I don’t want to say introverted, but he’s just a quiet guy. So, it’s good to get him to smile.”

During Tuesday’s practice, following a second interception from Sean Clifford, Michael Pratt took over running the second team offense. However, outside of one series today, Clifford was back with the second team. With Jordan Love not playing in the preseason game against Denver, LaFleur said he expects Clifford to get the start.

“It’s super-healthy,” said Clifford about the competition with Pratt. “That’s the thing, I’m honored to compete with Mike just because I respect him so much as a quarterback. When you come in and you have an opportunity to get better every single day and you know that if you take a day off, he’s not, it raises the level of the competition in the room. I think ultimately, we’re all here to put the best product on the field for the Packers. That’s the only thing that matters is that we’re in Super Bowl contention every single year and we can win the North.

“For Mike and I, it’s about battling every single day. We know we’re in a competition. It’s super-healthy. I respect him so much. He’s a great quarterback, so it’s awesome for me because, if I slip up, he’s going to come back and make a play. It’s balancing that back and forth and just knowing the situation, too. We know what’s at stake but you can still be friendly and have a good, competitive room and just want to win, because that’s what we’re here to do.”

As of late there’s been some good on-ball production from the linebackers. Isaiah McDuffie had a tipped pass today that Quay Walker was able to intercept. On Tuesday, Kristian Welch had a pass deflection while with the ones, and Eric Wilson was positioned well in coverage against AJ Dillon on a downfield pass that fell incomplete.

Clearly there was an emphasis today for the offense on running RPOs, with Love, Clifford, and Pratt running multiple of them. This can be a great way to throw-off an attacking defensive front and catch them off guard, which we saw on the first RPO of the game, with Love picking up a big gain down the left sideline. But as practice went on, particularly with the second and third units, those plays became less effective.

Tucker Kraft was again participating in the team portion of practice, and today had two receptions. One came during a red zone period with Kraft picking up 11 yards on an out route. Over these last few days, we are seeing Luke Musgrave get more opportunities as well.

“I think it’s well documented his growth was really good,” said tight ends coach John Dunn about Kraft. “I think towards the end he had a really good feel of doing it. You know, the effort, the toughness, all those things are there. And then so much of the run games about technique, and footwork, and hand placement, hat placement.

“He had a pretty good understanding of that. It’s kind of going back to you’re previous question, now it’s getting back into the saddle and doing it again and feeling it out. But I thought he grew a lot there. Obviously he can continue to improve there, but that’s something that he works at daily.”

Not the best day for the kickers. After Alex Hale really struggled on Tuesday, it was Greg Joseph and Anders Carlson’s turn on Wednesday. Joseph finished the day 3/6, missing left from 55 yards and 45, and then right from 49 yards. Carlson would go 4/6 missing right from 55 yards and 41 yards. If the Packers had to make a roster decision today, I’m not sure which direction they’d go. Given that things have largely been equal, my guess is Carlson with his upside and potential, but either way I’m not sure the team would feel all that great.

Two minute drill: The scenario for Love and the starters was that they began at their own 35 yard line down 21-28 with not timeouts and 1:40 left on the clock. Love started the drive by connecting with Doubs on an inbreaking route. The offense hurried, snapping the ball with Love then finding Jacobs over the middle on what was a nice catch while running with the ball slightly behind him. With a new first down, Love steps up while facing pressure and finds Jacobs on the sidelines who gets out of bounds. On second down with 1:01 left, Love finds Musgrave who had a step on Isaiah McDuffie on an out route. He gets out of bounds, picking up a first down and stopping the clock. At the opponent 35, Love throws an incomplete pass to Jacobs. On second down, he finds Christian Watson on a curl between Bullard and Ballentine. A new set of downs and the clock running, Love leads Watson a bit too far along the sidelines. On the next play, he finds Musgrave. The offense hurries to the line of scrimmage, Love snaps the ball and completes a pass over the middle to Wicks. The offense tries to spike the ball but time runs out. The offense falls short at the 11 yard line.

Clifford’s turn at the two minute: The second offense also had 1:40 on the clock but were down only three points an at their own 35. The drive started with two really nice passes from Clifford. The first was in rhythm and on time as he connected with Grant DuBose on a comeback route between two defenders. Hurrying to the line of scrimmage, Clifford then hit Sims down the seam for a big gain. On first down, Clifford completed a pass to Ellis Merriweather who was brought down from behind by Wyatt after a decent gain. The offense then picked up a first down after Clifford hit DuBose on a curl. With 35 seconds left, Clifford threw an incomplete pass on first down. On second down he found Samori Toure in the front right corner of the end zone but Toure couldn’t get both feet in. On third down, Clifford was sacked. With the clock running, they tried to get the field goal off but ran out of time and Telfort didn’t get off the field before the ball was snapped either.

“It’s on me,” said Clifford of the two minute period. “I thought that we were in the same situation as Jordan where we were down seven and we were down three. I need to check but I just assumed that we were down seven, so I was thinking a little bit differently than I probably would’ve thought if we were down three, which is a bummer because it looked weird at the end. That’s just knowing the situation and being able to relay that with the coaches. I should have checked, ‘Hey, same deal here?’ I thought we moved it pretty efficiently, regardless. I’m happy about it. I think I would’ve done something probably different on that last play if I would’ve known but that’s on me.”