Packers Training Camp Highlights: Practice 12
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers was ruthlessly efficient in Sunday’s scrimmage at Lambeau Field.
Unofficially, Rodgers completed 25-of-31 passes against Green Bay’s No. 1 defense and top backups. Of the six incompletions, three were intentional throwaways.
While his completions gained only 192 yards, the officials had a quick whistle and eliminated the ability for receivers to break a tackle for additional yards after the catch. Throughout the day, Rodgers took what was there and turned down opportunities to extend plays to look for shots downfield.
On his nine passes on third down, he moved the chains five times and set up a pair of fourth-and-1s with completions. Three of the third-down conversions went to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, including a third-and-6 on a “winning” two-minute drill. On his final sequence of plays, he threw a 23-yard touchdown to Allen Lazard on third-and-8.
“It sure seemed like the operation was smooth,” coach Matt LaFleur said after practice. “I thought we were able to move the ball. Didn’t get a lot of chunk plays, which is great from a defensive perspective. Defensively, I thought our pass rush showed up. I think there were a couple plays in there that definitely could have been ruled a sack if we’d have been going live, where guys pulled off. So, I think there was good on both sides of the ball.”
Tim Boyle went 6-of-11 for 120 yards. Five of his completions covered at least 16 yards, including touchdowns of 21 yards to Darrius Shepherd and 45 yards to Malik Taylor. First-round pick Jordan Love started horribly, going a combined 3-of-9 for 31 yards in his first two segments. However, he was 5-of-5 for 68 yards in his final sequence. On the final play of practice, he connected with Malik Turner for a 4-yard touchdown. That gave him a total of 8-of-14 for 99 yards and the touchdown.
Injury Report
Missed practice: WR Equanimeous St. Brown (unknown), S Raven Greene (unknown), LB Oren Burks (unknown), CB Kabion Ento (foot), CB Will Sunderland (unknown), OLB Randy Ramsey (unknown), DT Montravius Adams (toe), DT Treyvon Hester (unknown).
Dropped out: None.
COVID-19: None.
PUP: LB Curtis Bolton (knee), OLB Greg Roberts.
NFI: RB Patrick Taylor (foot), G Simon Stepaniak (knee).
Returned: TE Marcedes Lewis.
Plays of the Day
When general manager Brian Gutekunst cuts his roster to 53 players on Saturday, the decisions to be made at receiver will be especially intriguing. Davante Adams, Lazard, Valdes-Scantling and receiver/returner Tyler Ervin are locks. Jake Kumerow’s grit makes him a good fit for what LaFleur wants to do. Equanimeous St. Brown remains filled with potential. Taylor and Turner have made plays, too.
Shepherd, who made the roster as an undrafted rookie last year but failed to produce in the regular season, is putting together quite a closing statement. He caught the touchdown pass from Boyle and added a 35-yard gain on a deep ball from Love. On both plays, he aligned in the slot and got behind the defense.
“I definitely think I’m a better player” than last year, Shepherd said after practice. “After the offseason, I wrote down a plan, figured out what I wanted to improve on. I think I’ve improved in areas as far as beating man coverage at this level. It’s a lot different than college. Last year being my first experience, guys are faster, they have better technique. So learning about that, and taking lessons from Davante. Just improving overall, film study, learning how Aaron wants things done in this offense, so I feel a lot better about it now.”
Links of the Day
– Rodgers perhaps woke up on Sunday morning with fresh reason to wonder about his team’s offensive line. Overnight, the Minnesota Vikings acquired defensive end Yannick Ngakoue from the Jacksonville Jaguars. In four seasons with Jacksonville, Ngakoue recorded 37.5 sacks and 14 forced fumbles. Since entering the league in 2016, he’s one of only four players with 35-plus sacks and more than 10 forced fumbles. For Green Bay, who will block Ngakoue and who will block Danielle Hunter?
– Receiver Reggie Begelton took quite the winding road to get to Green Bay. He walked on at his hometown university, Lamar, to get a “regular person” job. He went undrafted and battled through two years of injuries in the CFL before a breakout season for Calgary last year. That got him a shot with the Packers.
– Speaking of unheralded receivers, Darrius Shepherd is at it again.
The Next Days
LaFleur is transitioning to an in-season schedule, meaning no practice on Monday and Tuesday and practices Wednesday through Friday.
Last Word of the Day
Much of Sunday’s practice had a game-like feel with one notable exception: no live tackling. Other than for the team’s young players, there has been no tackling in training camp.
“That was something that we talked about, but we want to have all our horses for the race coming in two weeks,” LaFleur said. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re healthy because I know this: We’re going to be at our best when we’ve got all our guys out there. It was something that we talked about today, even during that practice, was whether or not with some of the younger guys if we were going to give them another live reps. But some of the circumstances dictated us going in a different direction there right at the end.”
