Packer Central

New Packers RB Tyrion Davis-Price: ‘I’m Glad to be Here’

The Green Bay Packers have a new running back, Tyrion Davis-Price, who was a third-round pick by the 49ers in 2022. He talked to Packers On SI after his debut practice on Tuesday.
New Packers RB Tyrion Davis-Price
New Packers RB Tyrion Davis-Price | Bill Huber/Packers On SI

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – On July 17, about a week before the start of training camp, the Tennessee Titans released running back Tyrion Davis-Price.

By the standard calendar, it was less than four weeks between his release by the Titans and his signing with the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday. By the football calendar, with training camps having started about three weeks ago and with only two weeks remaining until roster cuts, it felt like eternity.

“Definitely. That’s why you’ve got to continue to work and trust in God,” Davis-Price said after his first practice with the Packers. “At the end of the day, I’m just glad to be here.”

The Packers are glad to have him. Davis-Price was a third-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 2022. He’s got the credentials, having rushed for 1,003 yards during his final season at powerhouse LSU. With 4.48 speed in the 40, he’s got athleticism. Having spent two seasons with the 49ers, he’s got an instant background into Green Bay’s offense.

The Packers are banged up in the backfield – though certainly not to the extent that they are at receiver. With Jalen White injured on Saturday against the Jets and Emanuel Wilson and MarShawn Lloyd coming back after extended absences, the Packers brought in Davis-Price for a visit on Monday. Turns out that was some good foresight, as Israel Abanikanda suffered a hamstring injury toward the end of Monday’s practice.

On Tuesday, the Packers signed Price and waived-injured White.

“Man, it’s the best,” Davis-Price said. “I’ve got to thank God. It’s a great organization. I’m glad to be here and being able to do my part and doing whatever I can with my opportunity.”

Sometimes, a fresh opportunity can change a player’s career. Just look at Wilson, who went undrafted in 2023 and signed with the Broncos. His career in Denver began and ended with the rookie camp. After lasting less than two seasons with the 49ers, playing in one game for the Eagles in 2024 and surviving about six weeks for the Titans this offseason, he’s embracing this opportunity with the Packers.

“I feel like I’ve been pretty blessed coming in,” he said. “Just continue to work and play this game.”

Davis-Price carried 34 times for 99 yards (2.9-yard average) as a rookie. While 2022 was a disappointment, 2023 began with promise.

“Ty Davis-Price, he’s really come a long way,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said in training camp in 2023. “I don’t know what the hell he was doing here at 5 a.m., but he was here and you’re seeing it on the field. He’s hitting the hole. He’s hitting it with the aggressiveness and that downhill style that we like, and he’s made himself a better receiver in the pass game. He’s made himself a better blocker in the run game.

“And Ty’s the type of player who’s going to shine more when the pads come on because he plays with a tremendous physicality.”

Instead, he played in only one game in 2023, rushing six times for 21 yards, before he was released. He joined the Eagles in 2024 but failed to make their roster and spent the year on the practice squad. He played in one game, rushing three times for 7 yards.

This year, the Eagles released him before the draft. He spent about a month-and-a-half with the Titans until he was released on July 17.

At 6-foot and 211 pounds, Davis-Price isn’t a big back. However, to Lynch’s point, Davis-Price said he has the mindset of a linebacker.

“Deliver the blow” and “punch him in his mouth,” Davis-Price said after being drafted.

He was a little more understated following his first practice with the Packers.

“I feel like I’m a pretty physical guy and can be whatever the coaches they need to be,” he said.

He’s more than just a bruiser, though.

“He has smaller-back attributes — jump-cutting, flowing through the hole after the jump-cut,” said Kevin Faulk, a former NFL running back, Davis-Price’s college position coach at LSU and the Giants’ current running backs coach. “He has those attributes. He just has to understand that he has to stay consistent with his weight and maintain that focus.”

Davis-Price has an uphill battle to make the roster. Josh Jacobs is the sturdy Pro Bowler. Wilson and Lloyd took team reps on Tuesday. Amar Johnson, an undrafted rookie, has been with the team since the draft.

So, what’s he got to do over the next two weeks to show he should get an extended look?

“My best self. Just do my best self,” he said. “Come in one day at a time and just work.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.