GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers practiced for more than two hours on Wednesday and will hold a walkthrough Thursday before flying to Denver for Friday’s joint practice with the Broncos.
Here are 10 things you should know from practice No. 15 of training camp.
1. The Packers and Broncos won’t do one-on-ones between pass catchers and defensive backs on Friday because of the high likelihood of fights. The Packers did them on Wednesday in Green Bay, however, and they carried high entertainment value. Romeo Doubs made what looked like a one-handed catch near the front left pylon for a touchdown on the first play against Corey Ballentine, then beat Ballentine in the same spot later for a two-handed catch. In a drill heavily catered to offensive players, Kalen King and Xavier McKinney forced incompletions on slants to Samori Toure and Luke Musgrave, respectively, but Musgrave got McKinney back. One of the best reps of the morning was between Dontayvion Wicks and Keisean Nixon, who blanketed the receiver in the back right corner of the end zone before Wicks high-pointed a fade and wrestled the ball away.
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Anthony Johnson Jr.’s coverage was so tight on a Bo Melton slant attempt that Melton was redirected and had to change his route. Coach Matt LaFleur was fired up when LJ Davis had a late pass breakup against Grant DuBose, who looked to have caught a fade in the back left corner before Davis knocked the ball loose. Malik Heath then caught a nicely thrown shallow fade against Ballentine from Jordan Love and the play of the session came when Jalen Wayne made an acrobatic one-handed grab just inside the right side of the end zone against Gemon Green. DuBose made a diving catch with Benny Sapp III in coverage, while Christian Watson dusted Jaire Alexander across the back middle of the end zone for a catch after Alexander bit toward the back right corner and Melton left Javon Bullard in his wake near the goal line (defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley couldn’t help but smile).
2. Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph resumed kicking field goals after Alex Hale’s day Tuesday and it wasn’t the best day for either. Carlson went 4-for-6 with makes from 33, 45, 47 and 49 yards and misses from 41 wide right and 55 short into a wind. Joseph had an even worse day, going 3-for-7 with makes from 33, 41 and 47 and misses from 45 off the left upright, 49 wide right, 55 wide left and 35 on the last play of practice. On that play to end the backup offense’s two-minute drill, the field-goal unit had to rush on the field with no timeouts remaining and Joseph missed the kick as time expired while assistant equipment manager Bryan Nehring didn’t even have time to fully wheel the goal posts into position.
Since camp started, including the preseason opener, Carlson is 49-for-61 on field goals (counting 33-yard kicks in practice as field goals but not including in-game extra points), which equates to an 80.3 percent clip, and Joseph is 50-for-61 (82 percent). Each guy missed three kicks in vicious wind during a recent practice that likely won’t be that strong in any stadium, so the Packers will probably cut them slack for that day, but they both still have left some to be desired.
3. Green Bay’s defensive front seven was active during the first team period, continuing its impressive preseason. Rashan Gary pressured Love on the first 11-on-11 snap of practice after getting around Zach Tom. Isaiah McDuffie popped running back AJ Dillon, who’s hard to pop in practice, on a toss to the right. Kingsley Enagbare threw running back Emanuel Wilson aside like a rag doll on a run right. Jonathan Ford beat Lecitus Smith and stuffed running back Ellis Merriweather up the middle. Devonte Wyatt had another sack, this one of Sean Clifford on a delayed screen play. Even cornerback Robert Rochell got active near the line of scrimmage, bulldozing through a Heath block to blow up a screen to receiver Samori Toure.
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4. Steph Curry’s “go to sleep” celebration made its way to Ray Nitschke Field. After Wicks beat Ballentine during a red zone drill for a touchdown catch, he “slept” on the ball and a couple of other offensive players joined him in taking a power nap (while walking, so I guess it wasn’t much of a power nap).
5. Seventh-round rookie corner Kalen King continues to make plays and has been a welcome addition to the Packers’ nickel group. After intercepting his college teammate Clifford on Tuesday, he had a nice pass breakup of Michael Pratt’s deep ball to Melton down the right sideline on Wednesday.
“He’s just really instinctive,” LaFleur said of King, who was projected as a 2023 first-round pick before he returned to Penn State and fell off on the field. “He’s a really good football player. The more opportunities he gets, the more he seems to show up and make plays.”
6. Alexander had a solid day during 11-on-11s, breaking up an end-zone fade to Doubs from Love and intercepting Love later in practice on an off-platform throw to Musgrave down the right side.
7. Love would’ve had another interception if not for executing an Aaron Rodgers staple to perfection. Love’s hard count caused defensive tackle T.J. Slaton to jump and on the free play, McDuffie tipped a ball over the middle intended for Tucker Kraft and linebacker Quay Walker came down with it.
Packers backup quarterback Sean Clifford took the blame for a two-minute drill failure on Wednesday. (Ken Blaze / USA Today)
8. Both the starting and No. 2 offense moved the ball well during the end-of-practice two-minute drill, but neither unit capitalized. The first group had 1:40 remaining on the clock at its 35-yard line, trailing by seven with no timeouts left. They ran out of time because of poor clock management after Love completed a slant to Wicks in the red zone. The backup group trailed by three to start its drive and finished with the missed field goal. Before that, Clifford, who didn’t take two-minute snaps with the twos on Tuesday, marched the ball downfield nicely and had a big completion to tight end Ben Sims down the seam a la Pratt’s completion to Sims down the seam in two-minute on Tuesday.
Clifford said he thought they were in the same situation as the starters — down seven, not three.
“It’s on me,” Clifford said. “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 (Clifford was sacked by defensive tackle Spencer Waege) if I would’ve known, but that’s on me.”
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9. Walker and Jacob Monk returned to practice after dropping out early on Tuesday and cornerback Carrington Valentine returned after missing about two weeks with a hamstring injury. The Packers released undrafted rookie long snapper Peter Bowden and safety Tyler Coyle to make room for running back Nate McRary and linebacker Chris Russell. Running back MarShawn Lloyd missed his second practice in a row with a hamstring injury and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper remained sidelined with a hip injury.
10. Patriots coach Jerod Mayo made news this week when he said that any players who get into practice fights and need to play in preseason games will instead not play. LaFleur said the Packers have done the same for the past couple of years, but defensive end Keshawn Banks got kicked out of joint practice against the Patriots last season for throwing a punch, then played 31 snaps in the game against New England. LaFleur also said the Packers and Broncos will only do one-on-ones between the offensive and defensive line.
(Top photo of Malik Heath: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
