Highlights from Practice 4 of Packers OTAs
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The story of Tuesday’s practice at Green Bay Packers organized team activities wasn’t the absence of Aaron Rodgers or several other starters. It wasn’t an impressive day by a rookie. Nor was it the strong day by a veteran in need of a bounce-back season.
While all those things took place during the fourth voluntary OTA, it was the wind that took center stage.
Hats blew across the practice field. Passes sailed over receivers’ heads or fluttered short of their destination. During a two-minute drill, center Josh Myers’ shotgun snap bounced short of quarterback Jordan Love. Rather than it being ruled a fumble and a loss of down, the coaches gave them a mulligan – a first in this writer’s 15 seasons covering the team on a daily basis.
The peak gust was 39 mph at 1 p.m., according to Luke Sampe of WFRV-TV in Green Bay.
“It’s not a fun one,” quarterback Danny Etling said. “Luckily, in New England, we always practiced outside, so you got a little bit used to it. You just know nothing’s going to be as sharp as you want it to be. You’ve just got to make sure to calm your mind and have really good mechanics and really good read discipline. All your mistakes are exacerbated when there’s wind. It’s definitely my least favorite element to play in but you’ve got to get used to it.”
Rookie receiver Romeo Doubs joined veteran Randall Cobb as the punt returners during an early special teams period. Doubs returned punts all four seasons at Nevada with a career average of 12.5 yards per return. With the ball being fired out of a JUGS machine, Doubs looked like he had never fielded a punt in his life. But, showing his incredible potential, he quickly adjusted and caught the rest of his tries.
“It was a little crazy,” he said. “The good thing on my end, I had just a little experience in college playing punt return.”
Two-Minute Drills
The major competitive periods on Tuesday were 11-on-11 two-minute drills.
In the first, Jordan Love and the No. 1 offense went three-and-out against the No. 1 defense. After a 3-yard completion to Aaron Jones, Love’s pass to tight end Tyler Davis was almost intercepted by cornerback Rasul Douglas, who showed his superior anticipation skills and burst to the ball. After the bad-snap mulligan, Love was forced to fire the ball into the flat to Jones, who was stopped by linebacker De’Vondre Campbell for a loss of 2.
Up next was Kurt Benkert and the backups. A 24-yard completion to Doubs set up a 49-yard field goal by Mason Crosby.
Love and the starting offense got another crack and manufactured a field goal. Two completions to running back AJ Dillon and two more to Doubs set up Crosby for a 56-yard field goal that might have been good from 66 because of the wind. Love was 4-of-6 on the drive. One incompletion was a throwaway and the other went over the head of Samori Toure; the ball seemed catchable to perhaps the rookie wasn’t ready for the ball or had his view obstructed.
Play of the Day
The Benkert-to-Doubs completion of 24 was a thing of beauty. Benkert threw a perfect back-shoulder pass and Doubs, a fourth-round pick with a big-play history at Nevada, made an excellent in-air adjustment to make the grab against unsuspecting cornerback Kabion Ento. It would have been a pretty connection had it been from Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams.
“That was definitely designed,” Doubs said. “It was a great ball by Kurt. Tomorrow’s a new day, so it’s really important that I just focus on what I can focus on.”
Player of the Day
No jobs will be won in May but Crosby is off to a fast start in his kicking battle against Dominik Eberle. Eberle went 4-of-6 in front of reporters last week; Crosby went 6-of-6 on Tuesday. With rookie Jack Coco and incumbent Steven Wirtel handling the snapping and veteran punter Pat O’Donnell doing the holding, Crosby was good from 43, 45, 45, 47, 49 and 56.
After one of his makes, Crosby and new special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia exchanged a high-five.
“I have a lot of respect and a lot of love for Rich,” said Crosby, who is coming off a dismal season. “He's done it at a high level for a long time as a coach. He's who he is every day. I love his consistency. He's going to be the same person every time you approach him and he gives everybody a fair shake. He's going to tell you how he feels and where you stand. He'll applaud you when you do it well and then he'll correct it right away whenever it needs to be adjusted. I love just the clear-cut, ‘This is what’s expected.’ That's how I operate. There's no gray area there. There’s a high expectation and you can feel it in our meetings already, just guys needing to know exactly what they're doing at a high level and be responsible for that.”
Taking Attendance
Not at practice: QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Amari Rodgers, WR Sammy Watkins, WR Allen Lazard, RB Patrick Taylor, TE Marcedes Lewis, OLB Rashan Gary, OLB Jonathan Garvin, OLB Randy Ramsey, OLB Preston Smith, CB Jaire Alexander, S Adrian Amos.
Rehab group: LT David Bakhtiari (knee), OL Elgton Jenkins (knee), TE Robert Tonyan (knee), RB Kylin Hill (knee), DT Dean Lowry (unknown), DT Hauati Pututau (unknown).
Amos was at his sister’s graduation. Some other players had travel issues, LaFleur said.
Regardless, LaFleur wasn’t exactly thrilled that so many players were absent.
“I’m not comfortable with anybody not being here,” he said. “I’d like them all here. It’s their choice. Next week is mandatory minicamp, so there’s consequences obviously for not coming.”
Extra Points
- The practice didn’t start well. During the first 11-on-11 period, which was held at a jog-through tempo, Love and Jones botched a handoff. Next, Jones dropped a pitch. On the next play, Love’s wobbly pass was destroyed by the wind.
- Receivers Christian Watson and Juwann Winfree had drops.
- Douglas and Eric Stokes were the No. 1 cornerbacks and Keisean Nixon entered as the slot. Shawn Davis stepped in for Amos at safety.
- Green Bay used its first-round picks on linebacker Quay Walker and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt. Neither have been handed starting jobs. At linebacker, Campbell and Krys Barnes formed the No. 1 tandem. On the defensive line with Lowry out of action, Kenny Clark, Jarran Reed and TJ Slaton were the starting trio.
- The No. 1 offensive line: left tackle Yosh Nijman, left guard Jon Runyan, center Josh Myers, right guard Royce Newman, right tackle Cole Van Lanen. Watching individual drills, Nijman is so athletic and powerful. His two-hand punch (into a dummy, since these are noncontact practices) stands apart from the other blockers.
- Safety Innis Gaines made two impressive plays in coverage during a seven-on-seven drill. And, for a second consecutive practice with reporters present, receiver-to-cornerback convert Rico Gafford had a standout play. He was beaten deep by Winfree but turned on the jets to prevent the completion.
What to Watch During Week 2 of Packers OTAs
Quarterbacks
Rookie (Mental) Wall
Knock, Knock. Who’s There?
June 1 Coming
Alexander vs. Rookies
Coming Up
