Highlights From Practice 10 of Packers Training Camp

Coach Matt LaFleur scaled back the tempo on Sunday at Packers training camp, but we’ve still got the Play of the Day, Player of the Day, notes from the depth chart and more.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love’s had a better training camp because he’s got better fundamentals.

Tom Clements, back for his second tour as Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach, is a stickler on footwork. Aaron Rodgers learned under Clements from 2006 through 2011 and blossomed into a Super Bowl champion, MVP and sure-fire Hall of Famer. Now, after a rookie season derailed by COVID-19 and a couple disappointing performances last season at Kansas City and Detroit, Love appears to be on the upswing.

“I feel like I’ve just got more a rhythm in my drops, keeping that same tempo, just being in rhythm,” Love said on Sunday, a couple days after throwing an impressive touchdown pass to Samori Toure on Family Night.

“When I first got here, I might have been rushing my drops a little too much, trying to go too fast. My brain’s just trying to process information quickly so it’s speeding my feet up. But I’m more relaxed in the pocket, more relaxed with my decision-making and just kind of slowing the game down I think has slowed my feet down. I definitely think my feet, so far through camp, have been a lot better than what they were the last two years.”

The first step for any player at any position is to take what’s learned during individual drills and displaying them during live practice periods. From there, it’s about taking those practice reps and displaying them during games. That’s what coach Matt LaFleur is eager to see in Friday night’s preseason opener at the San Francisco 49ers.

“I think he’s much more in rhythm, I think there’s much more decisiveness,” LaFleur said before Sunday’s practice. “I think you see it in his footwork. He’s not getting what I call ‘stuck’ at the top of the drop where both feet are hitting at the same time and he’s just kind of sitting there. It just looks more rhythmical, just looks more fluid, and I think it’s translated in his play. I think he’s definitely thrown the ball pretty accurately and has made pretty good decisions. You’ve got to give Jordan a lot of credit for taking the drill work to team and, hopefully, we can take the practice to the games.”

Play of the Day

Feeling like his team needed “another day to recover” from Family Night – a practice that capped a stretch of five consecutive practice days – coach Matt LaFleur put his team through a light practice inside the Don Hutson Center. So, really, nothing of relevance happened.

One play that did stand out – as much as a play can stand out during a half-speed practice: Aaron Rodgers extended the play to his right and threw an absolute bullet to rookie receiver Romeo Doubs, who went full extension for an all-hands catch.

Later, during a play near the goal line, Rodgers extended the play to his left and threw a behind-the-back touchdown pass to Allen Lazard.

Player of the Day

There are two sure things on the offensive line: Jon Runyan will start at left guard and Josh Myers will start at center. Runyan had to fight to make the roster as a sixth-round pick in 2020 and failed to win the starting job in 2021. Ultimately, Runyan started the final 16 games and logged 1,053 snaps. If he hasn’t taken every first-team rep this summer, it’s been darned close. What did he do on Sunday that stood out? Nothing, but he did go 2-0 against Kenny Clark in the one-on-ones on Family Night.

Packers Depth Chart Notes

- Cornerback Jaire Alexander got some work in the slot.

- The No. 1 offensive line, Part 1: left tackle Yosh Nijman, left guard Jon Runyan, center Josh Myers, right guard Jake Hanson, right tackle Royce Newman.

- The No. 1 offensive line, Part 2: left tackle Yosh Nijman, left guard Jon Runyan, center Josh Myers, right guard Royce Newman, right tackle Zach Tom.

- With starting safety Darnell Savage (hamstring) out, Vernon Scott joined Adrian Amos with the No. 1 defense.

- Linebacker Quay Walker, cornerback Rasul Douglas, cornerback Eric Stokes, tight end Josiah Deguara and running back AJ Dillon are starters/co-starters who were a No. 1 on punt and/or punt return.

- Jack Coco, as has been the case most of the summer, got the first snap during special teams periods. The incumbent and challenger, Steven Wirtel, had a low snap to punter Pat O’Donnell. Coco has been by far the better punt snapper during camp, an oddity considering Coco wasn’t a punt snapper at Georgia Tech.

Packers Training Camp Injury Report

The Packers are getting healthier, though the shortened injury list had nothing to do with key players like David Bakhtiari and Robert Tonyan.

Cornerback Keisean Nixon, who was the No. 4 cornerback all offseason, made his training camp debut after spending the first nine practices on the non-football injury list.

“He has a skill-set to play the position, and he’s a versatile enough guy to where he can kick inside and play nickel,” coach Matt LaFleur said before practice. “And then he gives you a lot of value on special teams, as well. So, he’s a guy that we’re excited to get back and hopefully he can pick up where he left off.”

Malik Taylor also practiced for the first time; he wore a red, no-contact jersey.

New Injuries: S Innis Gaines (hamstring), WR Randall Cobb (rest).

Returned to practice: CB Keisean Nixon (groin), RB Patrick Taylor (groin), OLB Randy Ramsey (ankle), WR Malik Taylor (shoulder).

Old injuries: S Darnell Savage (hamstring), C Cole Schneider (ankle), WR Osirus Mitchell (quad).

Non-Football Injury List: Empty.

Physically unable to perform list: K Mason Crosby (knee), WR Christian Watson (knee), RB Kylin Hill (knee), LT David Bakhtiari (knee), OL Elgton Jenkins (knee), TE Robert Tonyan (knee).

Watson and Crosby did a little on-field rehab work – a first (at least with reporters watching).

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The team practiced inside the Don Hutson Center for Sunday’s practice, a low-tempo session coming off Friday’s Family Night. Here’s what’s next:

Monday, Aug. 8 (10:30 a.m.)

Tuesday, Aug. 9 (closed to public)

Wednesday, Aug. 10 (10:30 a.m.)

The team will travel to San Francisco on Thursday and play at the 49ers on Friday. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. Central and will air on the Packers Television Network and NFL Network.

Extra Points

- With veteran Randall Cobb getting the day off, receivers Amari Rodgers and Romeo Doubs served as the punt returners for most of the period. Ishmael Hyman got a couple late opportunities.

- Again, the offense vs. defense sessions were conducted at half-speed, but linebacker De’Vondre Campbell was all over a wheel route to AJ Dillon. At about 6-foot-4, Campbell sure cuts down a quarterback’s passing window.

- A few plays later, Rodgers threw a jump-ball touchdown to tight end Marcedes Lewis. Most of the offense barked in celebration after the catch by “Big Dog.”

- After Family Night, coach Matt LaFleur lamented the team’s conditioning. Asked about it on Sunday, he hinted that the issues were more with bottom-of-the-depth-chart players who might get limited reps at practice: “I think that there are some guys who are where they need to be and then there’s a few guys that aren’t. That’s just part of being a professional. If you’re not getting the work in that you need to in practice to get in football shape, then you’ve got to do some extra on your own. I know our strength staff is monitoring those guys pretty closely. You’ll probably see some of those guys working after practice a little bit more.”

- This was a really good line from LaFleur when asked what jumped off the Family Night tape. “There was a lot of good things, and then there’s a lot of things to learn from and get better at. I think one of the things, at least from my perspective, is that football is an imperfect game, and guys are going to make mistakes, but how do you balance that with making sure that you’re giving your max effort all the time. There were some plays we pointed out where technically maybe somebody wasn’t doing the right thing, but they were going at 100 miles an hour and made a play. So, certainly, it’s just a balancing act of that, and we want guys to really go for it and not be afraid of making a mistake, because I just don’t think you can ever reach your full potential if you’re playing with a governor on. You’ve got to go for it.”

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