Highlights From Day 1 of Packers-Jets Joint Practices
GREEN BAY, Wis. – If the joint practices against the New York Jets amount to the only action for the Green Bay Packers’ No. 1 defense against another team before the regular season starts, the unit looks ready to roll.
In Day 1 of joint practices, Green Bay’s defense looked strong.
Generally, it won extensive third-down and red-zone periods and a 2-minute drill. Specifically, outside linebacker Preston Smith mostly dominated his matchup against touted second-year offensive tackle Mekhi Becton. Defensive tackle Kingsley Keke had two “sacks” and probably should have had a third. Inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell played high-quality defense. Cornerback Jaire Alexander dominated a red-zone drill.
On the first three plays of the day, Campbell stopped a run near the line of scrimmage, safety Adrian Amos broke up a pass and Smith set a hard edge to force a run back inside.
During a third-down period, the defense limited the Jets to 6-of-16. The pass rush was excellent. On consecutive plays against Jets rookie starting quarterback Zach Wilson, linebacker Krys Barnes and defensive lineman Willington Previlon forced a throwaway, Smith got under the 6-foot-7 Becton for a big-time pressure, and cornerback Eric Stokes blitzed untouched off the edge for a “sack.” Later, defensive linemen Keke (“sack”) and Jack Heflin (deflection) gave the defense wins.
The Jets ran 17 plays in the red zone and managed only one touchdown, from backup quarterback Mike White to receiver Jeff Smith against second-team cornerback Kabion Ento. On three consecutive plays late in the period, Amos dropped an interception and Alexander broke up back-to-back passes.
Finally, there was a 2-minute drill. With the Jets starting at their 25 with 1:20 on the clock, they got to the Packers’ 39 with a shot at a Hail Mary but, given the risk of someone turning an ankle on a jump ball, the drill was stopped. The Jets might not have gotten into scoring range if a third “sack” by Keke was allowed.
“I think it went really well,” Amos said. “We’re going to have to clean some stuff up in the meetings today. But I think we played well. It’s great to play against somebody else other than our offense, which we see every single day. It’s great to get that work in, get to see different bodies, different skill types.”
No Swag But Three MVPs
Growing up, Rodgers “100 percent” was Wilson’s favorite quarterback. However, while the quarterback at BYU, Wilson chided Rodgers for his lack of “swag.”
“As a player, I love how Aaron Rodgers plays,” Wilson said in December. “You know, he’s my guy. But as far as his swag, the way he dresses, he doesn’t have any. He has no swag. If he was to wear a cool helmet, get rid of that single-buckle chin strap, shave a little bit, get rid of the baggy sleeves, you know he could have some cool swag going for him.”
Rodgers and Wilson chatted during a special teams period on Wednesday. Did Wilson teach the three-time MVP anything about swag?
“Did you see what he was wearing out there?” Rodgers said. “Zach’s a good kid. It’s fun to see him. I got to talk to him various times throughout the offseason.”
When the conversation turned to football, Wilson was eager to pick Rodgers’ brain.
“I’ve talked to him before in the past and he’s got a lot of knowledge,” Wilson said. “He’s a smart dude, he knows what’s going on out there. It’s cool to ask him about footwork, what’s going on on the field, what he’s seeing. If I could spend more time with him and just keep asking questions, I would.”
Wilson was particularly impressed by the 2-minute drill touchdown that Rodgers led.
“He’s kind of just out there, almost like he’s just messing around, playing backyard football,” Wilson said. “He’s having a good time and he makes it work.”
Play of the Day
On one side of the field, it was Green Bay’s offense vs. the New York defense. On the other side, it was Green Bay’s defense vs. New York’s offense. I spent the day with Green Bay’s defense, so missed Rodgers’ bomb to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The most impressive plays were turned in at the end of the red-zone period. On third-and-goal from the 7, Wilson extended the play to his left and threw to tight end Chris Herndon in the back corner of the end zone and should have been intercepted by Amos. The next two plays were a third-and-goal from the 5 and a third-and-goal from the 2. On both, Wilson tried to hit top receiver Corey Davis at the goal line. Both plays were met with the same result, with Alexander knocking away the football. If you were to select an MVP of training camp, it would be Alexander in a landslide.
Packers Injury Report
New Injuries: WR Devin Funchess and OT Dennis Kelly were injured during 11-on-11 periods. It appeared Funchess injured a hamstring and Kelly a knee. If significant, Kelly’s injury would be a big deal as the best backup option at right tackle. RB AJ Dillon (calf) did only individual drills.
Old Injuries: QB Jordan Love (shoulder), WR Chris Blair (ankle), S Vernon Scott (hamstring), WR Juwann Winfree (shoulder).
Love seems unlikely to play in Saturday’s preseason game, meaning it will be The Benkert Show with perhaps a smattering of Jake Dolegala. “We’ll give him every opportunity (to play Saturday),” coach Matt LaFleur said before practice. “We just don't want to ever put him in a situation where it could make it worse.”
Returned to Practice: OLB Rashan Gary (groin), DT Dean Lowry (knee). Both players were limited to individual drills.
Non-Football Injury List: None.
Physically Unable to Perform List: LT David Bakhtiari (knee).
Some Quick Reads
– Green Bay’s offense has fallen short on just about every 2-minute drill this summer. On Wednesday, Rodgers and Kurt Benkert led touchdowns. Starting from the 30 with 1:20 on the clock, Rodgers converted a third-and-6 with a completion to tight end Robert Tonyan, then scrambled past midfield. On second-and-10, he hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling up the seam for 15 to the Jets’ 33. Rodgers clocked the ball with 19 seconds left, then missed MVS on a deep shot against excellent coverage by cornerback Bryce Hall. On third-and-10, Rodgers took advantage of a busted coverage and hit Valdes-Scantling for a 33-yard touchdown.
“Two-minute’s always really interesting because it’s such a pressure-packed situation,” Rodgers said afterward. “It’s hard to replicate that in practice based on, especially for us, not having any officials out there, which is advantage, defense. A lot of times in those situations, I’m working on certain concepts I want to see. Today, I kind of focused on, ‘Let’s get in the end zone.’ So, it may be less stuff that I’m trying to work on or see and more how I would want to call it in a game. I was happy we got in the end zone. It’s always nice to score. If we hadn’t done it, it wouldn’t have been a total loss at all. It’s practice. It’s important reps, for sure, but the execution is the most important thing, regardless of what period it is.”
– Up next, it was Benkert, and he sliced and diced the Jets’ defense. Starting at the 25 with 1:20 on the clock, Benkert connected with Equanimeous St. Brown for a gain of 10. Passes to the sideline to running back Dexter Williams gained 9 and 15 yards. Benkert then went deep to St. Brown, with the defensive back climbing over St. Brown’s shoulder for a pass-interference penalty. The 25-yard gain moved the ball to the 16. A swing pass to running back Patrick Taylor gained 14 to the 2. After a completion to St. Brown lost a yard, Benkert stepped up in the pocket and floated a pass to a wide-open St. Brown for the score.
– In the merry-go-round that is the guard competition, the first-team reps went to Jon Runyan Jr. (left) and rookie Royce Newman (right). Unlike Monday, when Ben Braden and Lucas Patrick also got first-team reps, this day was all about Runyan and Newman.
– Sticking with the offensive line, center Josh Myers was tested by the Jets’ attacking defense. “He had a rough day today,” Rodgers said. “This is a good learning experience for him, a new defense, not guys in similar spots, different numbers of IDs to make. But every one of these opportunities is definitely a good thing to lock away in the memory banks. Today, mentally, I don’t think he was as sharp as he’s been in the past, and I expect him to bounce back tomorrow. Overall, he’s done a really nice job, he really has. He’s comfortable in that position but we need to see the consistency when I’m in there because things move a little bit quicker. It’s a quicker tempo just against our defense compared to bringing in a team for some practice like this, which is probably as fast as a preseason game, but the regular season gets picked up even more. We’ve got to get him thinking as fast as I can think.”
– Mason Crosby appeared to go 7-of-9 during a field-goal drill. With Hunter Bradley’s snap coming up well short of holder JK Scott, Crosby missed wide right from 41 yards. He might have been wide right from 51, too; the NFL officials under the goalpost didn’t signal.
– For all the talk of the energy brought to the special teams by new coordinator Maurice Drayton, the Jets’ high-energy units overwhelmed Drayton’s squad during a drill presumably brought to town by the Jets. On one end, a member of the coverage unit took off running. On the other end stood a blocker, who was expected to keep that player away from a dummy representing the returner. It was one bad rep after another for Green Bay’s blockers. Cornerback Eric Stokes and tight end Dominique Dafney had two of the impressive wins.
When Green Bay’s players got to be the coverage unit, Dafney and Stokes again had high-quality wins, as did Kabion Ento, Reggie Begelton and defensive lineman Willington Previlon.
– The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman watched the offense. From his report: The Packers’ starting offense was good against the Jets’ starting defense, but not great. Rodgers diced up the second tier of New York’s defense with slants to Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and even 37-year-old tight end Marcedes Lewis, but too often there seemed to be miscommunication between Rodgers and his targets. Twice, Rodgers threw uncatchable passes in the general vicinity of Adams, who was wide open. Rodgers also missed a couple of throws we’re used to seeing him make, such as a throw to Allen Lazard on the run in the end zone that landed just out of his reach.
– A spectacular quote from Rodgers on the way he enjoyed last season – one he thought might be his last in Green Bay – and how he’ll do so again this season: “I took the headphones off and enjoyed the surroundings and the road trips and the time with the guys. Yeah, it’s a good template, for sure. I don’t want a farewell tour. I don’t know what’s going to happen after the season but I’m going to enjoy it with the right perspective, for sure, and not look at it as I’m getting through this. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of all of it.”
Packers Training Camp Schedule
The Packers and Jets will meet again at 10:25 a.m. Thursday. That is the final practice open to fans this summer. After an off-day Friday, Green Bay will host the Jets at 3:25 p.m. in the second preseason game.
