Here’s What Happened at Final Practice of Packers Training Camp
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ final practice of training camp closed with a bang as Jordan Love threw five touchdown passes and Anders Carlson booted a 50-yard field goal while being doused with water.
With the gates to the bleachers locked and giant screens blocking the view, here are all the highlights from Thursday.
Jordan Love’s Day
OK, Jordan Love’s five touchdown passes is a misleading description on his day. It’s true, he did throw five touchdowns, but red zone was the emphasis, so the degree of difficulty wasn’t as high as usual.
During the first period, he completed 5-of-7 passes with touchdowns to AJ Dillon on an extended play, Christian Watson on a bootleg and Watson again. On the second play to Watson, Rasul Douglas believed he had knocked the ball free before Watson established possession. Ever the competitor, Douglas chucked the ball across the field in protest.
In the next period, Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to rookie Jayden Reed. Reed was wide open over the middle on the first and hung on as Keisean Nixon tried to claw it loose on the second.
The next period was a move-the-ball drill. That did not go well, with Love completing just two of his eight attempts. Douglas broke up a pass to Romeo Doubs and safety Jonathan Owens made his best play this summer by poking the ball away from Samori Toure on a corner route. Reed had a bad drop and Love had a terrible throw to Luke Musgrave that the tight end knocked in the air for a near-interception by Darnell Savage.
Added together, Love went 12-of-23 for the day.
Afterward, Jaire Alexander was asked about the amount of trash-talking directed at Love.
“I don’t see Jordan get rattled at all, man. He’s pretty much the same,” Alexander said. “I’m always talking to him and trying to get in his head, but I don’t know, I don’t think it works. Maybe it does, I don’t know.”
For camp, Love’s 176-for-309 equated to a completion rate of 57.0 percent.
Jordan Love (Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images)
Player of the Day
On Wednesday, Rashan Gary got the play of the day. On Thursday, he gets the player of the day. Remarkably as he completes his comeback from a torn ACL, Gary needed just three practices to show that he’s back to being dominant.
The first play of the day was a receiver screen to Luke Musgrave. Gary would have had a sack. On the second play of the second period, Gary roared around Zach Tom for what might have been another sack but at least forced an incompletion. On the first play of the third period, Gary struck again for what would have been another sack.
Honorable mention to rookie Karl Brooks, with the sixth-round defensive tackle collecting a couple sacks to continue his strong camp.
Play of the Day
On the second play of the day, Jordan Love stepped up in the pocket and fired a laser up the numbers on the right side to running back A.J. Dillon, who made a leaping, spinning catch at the 2 for a 20-yard touchdown.
Honorable mention to undrafted rookie outside linebacker Keshawn Banks. He had a sack against … Pro Bowl guard Elgton Jenkins. Banks had a strong all-around day. He also foiled a screen to tight end Tucker Kraft. While Brenton Cox got all the hype, Banks has been at least as good.
Packers Injury Report
Left tackle David Bakhtiari was back in the lineup. It was his first time on the field since Day 2 of joint practices against New England exactly a week earlier.
A pair of starters, safety Darnell Savage and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, dropped out of Wednesday’s practice but were back on Thursday.
New Injuries: S Anthony Johnson (knee). The injury is not expected to keep him out for long.
Old Injuries: WR Dontayvion Wicks (hamstring), S CB Eric Stokes (PUP list foot), Tarvarius Moore (knee), RB Lew Nichols (shoulder), RB Tyler Goodson (shoulder), FB Henry Pearson (knee), LB De’Vondre Campbell (ankle), DT Jason Lewan (back), OT Luke Tenuta (ankle), WR Bo Melton (hamstring).
Returned From Injury: None.
Lineup Notes
- Rudy Ford worked with the No. 1 defense again at safety. As the winner of the safety dance, the job is, officially, his job to lose.
“He’s done a nice job,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think he’s going out there and executing his responsibility. He’s playing physical. Trusting what he’s seeing and playing fast. He’s done a really nice job. Communication is a big part of that position, making sure everybody’s on the same page, and I think he’s handled that pretty well. Hopefully, he can put together another good practice today and then go out there and compete in the game at a high level.”
- LaFleur also confirmed the obvious that rookie Sean Clifford would be the No. 2 quarterback.
“I think a lot of it is just his mental makeup,” LaFleur said. “We saw in the Cincinnati game in terms of his ability to rebound. The game’s not too big for him. So, I think when the moments are at their highest, which is typically in your 2-minute situation, he’s out there calm, cool and collected.”
Sean Clifford (Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images)
- The No. 1 line with David Bakhtiari was the same as always. The No. 2 unit had Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Sean Rhyan at left guard, James Empey at center, Royce Newman at right tackle and Yosh Nijman at right tackle.
Practice Highlights
- Jordan Love, smiling at the mention of old-school Oklahoma quarterback Jamelle Holloway, said he ran a few quarterback options at Utah State. He ran a few at Thursday’s practice, too, with mixed success. Corey Ballentine stopped one at or behind the line of scrimmage.
- As was the case a week ago, the Packers ran a jet-sweep-style flip to tight end Luke Musgrave. He might have scored, thanks to a good-enough block by David Bakhtiari against Kingsley Enagbare.
- While Musgrave looks like a stud, fellow rookie tight end Tucker Kraft has had his share of struggles. Sean Clifford threw a perfect pass to Kraft for what should have been a touchdown on third-and-7 but Kraft – open by a large margin against Jonathan Owens – dropped the ball. Kraft dropped to both knees in disgust after flubbing an easy play.
- AJ Dillon broke off a big run on a cutback behind Bakhtiari and left guard Elgton Jenkins.
- There were some random situations at the end of practice. The first: ball at the offense’s 35 with 28 seconds remaining and zero timeouts. Sean Clifford found Duece Watts streaking across the middle of the field for a big catch and run of almost 30 yards. Clifford was able to get the offense organized to clock the ball.
- On third-and-10 from the defense’s 40 with 17 seconds left, Jayden Reed made a sliding catch on a pass by Love around the 22. Love hustled the offense to the line and clocked the ball.
- On third-and-10 from the defense’s 42 with 9 seconds left, Love took off on a keeper, with Bakhtiari delivering the key block, and gained 7 yards before going out of bounds.
- Training camp ended with Anders Carlson making a 50-yard field goal. He went 6-of-8 on the day and wrapped up camp 55-of-80. That’s a feeble 68.8 percent, though that doesn’t quite tell the full story.
Packers Training Camp Schedule
Training camp is closed. The Packers will host the Seattle Seahawks at noon Saturday at Lambeau Field. The roster must be cut to 53 players by 3 p.m. Tuesday. The 16-man practice squad can be formed on Wednesday. When the team returns to the practice field, attention will be turned to Week 1 at the Chicago Bears.
The Seattle game will be the last opportunity for players on the roster bubble to make a statement.
“I think you take the whole body of work,” LaFleur said, “but, obviously, that’s the most recent game and it still has a big factor into some of those decisions, for sure.”
Quote of the Day
Cornerback Jaire Alexander on the end of training camp:
“I think it was lot of hard work honestly -- a lot of good, hard work. This might’ve been maybe the hardest camp since probably my first year being here. Feel like with a hard camp it will prepare us for the season.”
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