Highlights from Closed-to-Public 13th Practice of Packers Training Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Monday at Green Bay Packers training camp, Jordan Love took the snap and handed the ball off. It’s one of the most rudimentary fundamentals in football for a quarterback.

A few times on Monday, it was different. On running plays to the right, Love had the ball toward the palm of his right hand and delivered a one-handed handoff rather than using two hands. The unorthodox approach kept his left hand – specifically his thumb, which was wrapped throughout practice – out of harm’s way.

After practice, the 13th of training camp, Love had a lengthy conversation with coach Matt LaFleur and a couple trainers.

Love did not appear in the locker room after practice to discuss the extent of the injury, how it happened or long he could be impacted.

Jordan Love’s Day

You wouldn’t expect an injured left thumb to impact the accuracy of a right-handed quarterback. And it didn’t.

Jordan Love had perhaps his best day of training camp, so let’s cut right to the chase.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) against the New York Jets on Saturday. | Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Player of the Day: Jordan Love

Jordan Love completed 17-of-24 passes (70.8 percent). OK, that’s good. This is even better: Of the seven passes that weren’t caught, three were throwaways, one was dropped, one was caught by Romeo Doubs but out of bounds, one would have been caught had Tucker Kraft not slipped and fell to the turf and one was intercepted when nobody was open on a two-point play.

On the first pass of the day, with three tight ends on the field, Love threw a bullet to John FitzPatrick, who was running diagonally from left to right, for a big gain. On the next pass, Matthew Golden made a sensational all-hands catch of what was one of only a couple slightly inaccurate passes. Moments later, he hit tight end Luke Musgrave in stride on a crossing route.

During a third-down period, Love was 5-of-5 passing but probably gained only a pair of first downs. On third-and-8 to start the drill, Love was “sacked” following a game by Lukas Van Ness and Devonte Wyatt. Van Ness looped up the middle and produced the most pressure.

On third-and-7, it appeared linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and cornerback Keisean Nixon rallied to stop a checkdown to Josh Jacobs. On third-and-6, Love’s completion to tight end Tucker Kraft appeared to be stopped short of the sticks.

A checkdown to Jacobs gained a first down on third-and-5 and a checkdown to Golden was stopped short by Carrington Valentine on third-and-4. Finally, on third-and-3, Love had a month of Sundays before firing one to the sideline to Romeo Doubs, who made a leaping catch in front of Micah Robinson for a first down.

In a move-the-ball period, Love had to throw it away on third-and-3, but Malik Heath beat Nixon at the sideline on fourth down.

Practice ended with a two-point period. On the first, Love’s pinpoint placement resulted in a completion to Savion Williams between Edgerrin Cooper and Evan Williams. On the second, Kraft was all alone behind the defense but fell. On the third, nobody was open so Love chucked it in the general direction of Golden, but Nixon grabbed the interception.

Play of the Day: Johnathan Baldwin’s Interception

On third-and-7, Malik Willis threw a bullet over the middle to Cornelius Johnson. Rookie seventh-round cornerback Micah Robinson had great coverage and deflected the pass into the air, with undrafted rookie safety Johnathan Baldwin grabbing the interception.

Robinson was injured on the play and went to the sideline for a moment but returned to practice.

Packers Injury Updates

New injuries: CB Isaiah Dunn (knee).

Old injuries: WR Christian Watson (knee), WR Jayden Reed (foot), WR Dontayvion Wicks (calf), CB Nate Hobbs (knee), S Xavier McKinnney (calf), RB Jalen White (foot), S Zayne Anderson (knee), linebacker Collin Oliver (hamstring), offensive lineman John Williams (back).

Returning from injuries: RB Emanuel Wilson (knee), RB MarShawn Lloyd (groin), CB Corey Ballentine (unknown), CB Kamal Hadden (hip), WR Savion Williams (unknown).

Here’s Corey Ballentine. pic.twitter.com/0C2QdUsfSE
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 11, 2025

Packers Practice Highlights

- We hit on this briefly earlier, but Jordan Love’s second pass of the day was caught by Matthew Golden on a crossing route. The pass was too far in front of Golden, but he reached forward and made a terrific all-hands catch. Lukas Van Ness ducked under Josh Jacobs to apply pressure.

In his preseason debut on Saturday, Golden beat All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner twice for third-down conversions. After the game, they talked.

“I talked to him and Garrett Wilson,” Golden said. “They gave me some feedback and just told me to keep going, rookie year, just stay confident, keep playing hard.”

- Linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who had a forgettable preseason debut, got past a couple blockers for a tackle for loss on a toss to Chris Brooks.

- Brooks’ next attempt didn’t go much better, as Kingsley Enagbare continued his strong training camp to make the play for a minimal gain.

- Amar Johnson provided one of the few highlights on Saturday but dropped the toss on his first snap on Monday.

Green Bay Packers running back Amar Johnson (46) runs the ball during the second half against the New York Jets at Lambeau Field. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

- Rookie defensive tackle Nazir Stackhouse isn’t just a run-stopper. He flushed Malik Willis out of the pocket.

- “No block, no rock” is a phrase said frequently in the Packers’ receiver room. Mecole Hardman had a nice block to spring Israel Abanikanda.

- Josh Jacobs had a big run to the left, with left guard Aaron Banks and right guard Sean Rhyan out front. Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich was fired up, especially for a downfield block by Matthew Golden.

- New receiver Isaiah Neyor made a nice leaping catch for a gain of about 25 from Willis.

- Cornerback Corey Ballentine, who was banged up on Saturday, had a TFL against Abanikanda.

- Love and Willis ran 2-minute drills. The scenario put the ball on the 45 with 1:00 on the clock and one timeout.

For the starters, Love hit Romeo Doubs at the sideline for a gain of 9 against Keisean Nixon. On the next play, Nixon got his revenge. Doubs made a leaping catch but Nixon was able to get him out of bounds for an incompletion. Third-and-1 became third-and-6 after a false start (perhaps by center Elgton Jenkins), but Love’s checkdown to Josh Jacobs turned into a gain of 21 when Jacobs caught the ball, planted and accelerated forward.

Jacobs was stopped at the 30 and the offense called its timeout with 30 seconds to go. On first down, Malik Heath dropped a pass near the 10; Doubs blew past Nixon for what might have been a touchdown had Love noticed. Heath made the play on the next snap, though, for a gain of 10 to the 20. Love clocked the ball with 10 seconds to go. On the next play, nothing was open so Love threw it away. The drill oddly was stopped with time on the clock.

Up next, it was the backups. The drive didn’t last long as Willis threw it right to Kitan Oladapo for an interception. Was it the easiest interception of Oladapo’s life?

“Maybe,” he said with a laugh.

- During the two-point period, Willis fired one to Heath at the pylon for the conversion against Corey Ballentine. It was a good way to end practice for Heath.

“In my mind, I know I got great hands so, when I drop something, it’s me just not all the way locked in – like my eyes not all the way locked in on the ball or things like that,” he said. “So, I know I got great hands and I just try to [have a] next-play mentality. I try to live like a DB. DBs, they get beat, short-term memory. That’s how I live life, too. When you drop a pass, short-term memory. So, I’m trying to go out there and make up for that play.”

- Irish-born kicker Mark McNamee arrived in Green Bay at about 11 p.m. Friday and kicked off on Saturday. He had his first field-goal periods in the NFL on Monday, making 2-of-3 in both sets. His big leg, though, was obvious on a few kicks.

Packers Lineup Notes

- Without Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, how did the offense compensate? By running a few three-tight-end sets consisting of Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave and John FitzPatrick.

- With Xavier McKinney injured, Zayne Anderson started against the Jets on Saturday. With Anderson out now, too, the No. 1 safeties in the base defense were Evan Williams and Javon Bullard. When the defense went into nickel, Bullard assumed his customary role in the slot and Kitan Oladapo moved into the lineup at safety.

- With returning starting left tackle Rasheed Walker limited to individual drills as he works his way back from a groin injury, Jordan Morgan took all the No. 1 reps at left tackle. He was joined, as usual, by Aaron Banks at left guard, Elgton Jenkins at center, Sean Rhyan at right guard and Zach Tom at right tackle. Jacob Monk got a little work at center and Anthony Belton took a couple snaps at right tackle.

- Quay Walker, who is coming back from offseason ankle surgery, took most of the reps at middle linebacker. Mostly, he worked with Edgerrin Cooper in nickel and was flanked by Cooper and Isaiah McDuffie in the base defense.

- With injuries in the secondary, the No. 2 alignment consisted of Bo Melton and Micah Robinson at corner, Kalen King in the slot, and Omar Brown and Johnathan Baldwin at safety.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

There are only three open practices remaining in training camp. One of them is on Tuesday, with a 10:30 a.m. start time at Ray Nitschke Field. The Packers will practice in Westfield, Ind., against the Colts on Thursday afternoon and will play the Colts in Indianapolis at noon Saturday.

Quote of the Day

First-round pick Matthew Golden was targeted twice against the Jets. Both were on third down and both produced first downs, with one catch and one defensive penalty.

“For me, it was just trying to get my feet wet, first NFL game, get back out there, get the feeling of just playing football again. The first two catches or the first catch, it felt good. First catch of my career, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do and I’m ready for what’s in front of me.”

More Green Bay Packers News

The #Packers gave Isaiah Simmons a lot of snaps vs. Jets.

“Yeah, I think when you look at the body of work so far in camp, it’s been really good,” LB coach Sean Duggan said. “I think last night, he’d be the first to say he wished he had some plays back.”https://t.co/3RPg7UpeY1
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 11, 2025