Here’s What Happened at Day 2 of Packers-Patriots Joint Practices
GREEN BAY, Wis. – On a day in which the New England Patriots’ defense swatted away passes like flies at a picnic and there were more fights than on a UFC card, it practically took a miracle for the Green Bay Packers to score a touchdown during Thursday’s second day of joint practices.
“It can get frustrating,” running back AJ Dillon said. “These are the dog days of camp right now and everybody’s sore, everybody’s tired. There’s a lot mentally that you’ve got going on, you’ve got another team here we’re practicing against. There’s a lot of variables, but that’s what training camp is. It’s not new, it’s not going anywhere.”
Here’s our daily review of what was the Packers’ 14th practice of training camp.
Jordan Love’s Day
Jordan Love was 14-of-31 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He should have had at least one more touchdown. He also could have finished with three or four interceptions.
An early red-zone period sort of summed it all up. Love’s first pass was a 12-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson, who got wide open on a post against veteran cornerback Myles Bryant. His sixth pass of the period was a 2-yard touchdown to Watson, who showed off his vertical jump.
“It was just a spacing concept,” Watson said. “Went in there, felt it kind of go off-schedule a little bit so, I found a window and he put it where no one else but me could get it and it worked out.”
However, the four passes in between were incomplete. Two were broken up and one was intercepted.
During the next period, Love started 1-of-5 with the lone completion perhaps losing yards. However, his second-to-last pass of the period was perhaps his best ball of the day, a hole shot to rookie Dontayvion Wicks along the sideline for a gain of about 20.
His 2-minute drill should have ended with a first-pass interception but the offense was given a mulligan. He went 5-of-12 on the next drive to at least get into scoring range, but Josiah Deguara lacked the vertical jump (and perhaps ball-judgment skills) to make a leaping catch in the end zone and Luke Musgrave dropped what should have been an 18-yard touchdown on the final play.
By our count, Love has completed 56.0 percent of his passes in camp.
Before practice, coach Matt LaFleur wouldn’t divulge if Love would play in Saturday’s preseason game vs. New England.
Player of the Day
I spent most of the day watching the offense. Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com, who spent the day on the defense’s end of the field, said the starting defensive line of Kenny Clark (back in action after missing a couple days with a sore back), Devonte Wyatt and TJ Slaton had active days.
Play of the Day
Going back to the top of the story, it’s the miracle touchdown during the backups’ 2-minute drill.
On third-and-7 from the defense’s 43, Sean Clifford threw one over the middle to rookie receiver Grant DuBose, who made a leaping, twisting catch at the 21. Clifford and Co. ran to the line and clocked the ball with 4 seconds to go.
“What do they say? Send up a prayer,” Clifford said.
Everyone went deep. Clifford felt pressure and chucked one toward the end zone. Two Patriots defenders were there. Both players should have had an easy interception. Instead, they both deflected the ball and undrafted rookie and Packers shareholder Cody Chrest caught the ball for a touchdown.
“When you see DBs go up for the ball, you know they’re probably going to collide and there’s going to be a rebound opportunity,” Chrest said. “I just tried to get over there as soon as I could. I knew there was going to be an opportunity to rebound the ball and that’s what happened. …
“I think it was tipped twice and one of the guys on the ground tried to scoop it up but he lost it and it popped right into my hands.”
Just about everyone in a Packers uniform ran into the end zone to celebrate.
“Definitely a cool moment,” said Chrest, who fixed his own dislocated pinkie later in practice. “That’s just the brotherhood we got here. We want to support each other. We all want to see each other succeed. That’s just kind of our culture here. When anybody makes a big play like that, we’re going to go storm them. We’re going to have a good time. We’re going to celebrate with them.”
Josh Myers and a fan arrive at practice. (Photo by Sarah Kloepping/USA Today Sports Images)
Injury Report
David Bakhtiari was back and took most of the first-team reps at left tackle. He was excellent, as usual. Rookie receiver Jayden Reed, who dropped out of Wednesday’s practice, was back with the offense and on punt returns.
New Injuries: None.
Old Injuries: CB Eric Stokes (PUP list foot), RB Lew Nichols (shoulder), CB Corey Ballentine (stinger), S Innis Gaines (quad), RB Tyler Goodson (shoulder), LB De’Vondre Campbell (ankle), OT Caleb Jones (ankle), OT Luke Tenuta (ankle), WR Bo Melton (hamstring), TE Tyler Davis (knee).
Returned From Injury: LB Tariq Carpenter (back), DT Kenny Clark (back).
Lineup Notes
- The merry-go-round at safety continues. For most of two weeks, Jonathan Owens took the No. 1 reps alongside Darnell Savage. On Wednesday, Tarvarius Moore replaced Owens and appeared to have a good day. On Thursday, the Packers were back to Owens.
- Rasul Douglas once again proclaimed himself a “starting safety.” Once again, he played only cornerback, even though cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles told reporters that, yes, Douglas is a starting safety.
Given kudos for having fun with it all, Douglas said he didn’t play safety on Thursday but he did on Wednesday. This reporter, having watched the defense on Wednesday, called Douglas’ bluff. So, the story changed to Douglas only plays safety during the practices that are closed to reporters.
- With linebacker De’Vondre Campbell out with an ankle injury, Isaiah McDuffie worked with the No. 1s.
“It was very” beneficial, McDuffie said. “Any snaps I get I feel like are very, very critical for my development and for me to take that next step.”
- David Bakhtiari returned to practice and took most of the first-team reps at left tackle. For the 2-minute drill to end practice, Rasheed Walker replaced him.
Practice Highlights
Let’s start with the main events: the 2-minute drills.
- Both starting units failed. On defense, Rasul Douglas gave up a 45-yard touchdown catch from Mac Jones to DeVante Parker. The ball was thrown perfectly to Parker, who had a step on Douglas. The touchdown came moments after fellow cornerback Jaire Alexander was chirping at the Patriots’ sideline.
- Both of the No. 2s failed, as well. Bailey Zappe hit rookie receiver Kayshon Boutte for a 1-yard touchdown against Kiondre Thomas. The big play was a fourth-and-15 conversion from Zappe to receiver Raleigh Webb, who found a hole in the middle of the defense.
- Green Bay’s No. 3 offense got a chance, too. Alex McGough completed a couple passes to rookie receiver Jadakis Bonds. Running back Emanuel Wilson dropped a pass on third-and-5 and defensive back Rodney Randle drilled rookie receive Duece Watts on fourth down.
Moving out of 2-minute …
- Patriots third-round pick Marte Mapu brought the wood a couple times. He hit rookie tight end Tucker Kraft to force a fumble and briefly knock Kraft out of practice. A few plays later, he whacked tight end Austin Allen.
- Green Bay’s two best runs of the day, up the middle by Nate McCrary and around the corner by AJ Dillon, ended in scuffles. Another solid run had Aaron Jones following a lead block by tight end/fullback Josiah Deguara.
- In a red-zone period, Sean Clifford was almost intercepted on one pass but threw a touchdown to Allen on the second. McGough, meanwhile, had both of his passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.
- The deep backups on the offensive line have had their problems. During one segment, McGough was sacked on back-to-back plays.
- On the defensive side of the field, according to those who watched, inside linebacker Jimmy Phillips and cornerback Tyrell Ford had interceptions of Zappe.
Packers Training Camp Schedule
The Packers will host the Patriots in their second preseason game at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Only two open practices remain on the schedule: Tuesday and Wednesday, with practice times to be announced.
Quote of the Day
Cody Chrest’s father spent time with the Packers and he’s a shareholder. On Saturday night, he will play in his first game at Lambeau Field.
“It’s going to be great. I have all my family coming. I have like 17 ticket requests; I couldn’t fill all of them. I wanted to, but I couldn’t get all of them. It’s going to be a great experience. It’s going to be a special moment. Really excited to have all my family here, really excited to get to go out on Lambeau and have this experience, take advantage of this opportunity.”
More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News
Patriots swat away Green Bay’s offense in Day 2 of joint practices
Fights, ejections mark Day 2 of Packers-Patriots joint practices
Thursday LaFleur: Making magic with Musgrave
Highlights from Day 1 of Packers-Patriots joint practices
Rasul Douglas proclaims himself a “starting safety”
Could Packers move Rasul Douglas to safety?
Mac Jones, who replaced Tom Brady, has advice for Jordan Love
