Packers Training Camp Highlights: Practice 6
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Through the first three days of padded practices, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had completed only 55.0 percent of his passes in 11-on-11 situations.
On Saturday, the sixth practice of training camp, Rodgers began to heat up. With Preston Smith not at all fooled by a bootleg and in Rodgers’ face, he slung a pass to the sideline to Equanimeous St. Brown for a big gain. In the next series, Rodgers connected with Davante Adams, who made a leaping catch against Darnell Savage, for a long gain. He then fired a bullet to Allen Lazard off play-action, hit St. Brown toward the sideline against Josh Jackson, had a deep throw go off Adams’ fingers and found Tyler Ervin between a pair of defenders.
Shortly thereafter, Rodgers might have made his best throw of training camp. Rodgers whistled a pass just over the fingertips of linebacker Christian Kirksey, who dropped deep into coverage, and hit receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in stride. On the next play, Rodgers escaped the pocket for perhaps the first time in training camp, suckered cornerback Chandon Sullivan with a pump fake and picked up a nice chunk of yards with his feet.
Unofficially, Rodgers completed 68.8 percent of his passes during team periods. On one of his few incompletions, he signaled for pass interference on cornerback Kevin King, who might have arrived a touch early on a pass to Adams.
“I thought he was extremely sharp and I also think the guys around him were a lot better today, too,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “A lot of times that takes a big role in the way quarterback’s perform.”
Injury Report
Missed practice: CB Jaire Alexander (unknown), S Adrian Amos (personal), OLB Za’Darius Smith (foot/ankle), RT Rick Wagner (unknown), DT Montravius Adams (toe).
Dropped out: None.
COVID-19: None.
PUP: LB Curtis Bolton (knee), OLB Greg Roberts, OT Yosh Nijman (elbow).
NFI: RB Patrick Taylor (foot), G Simon Stepaniak (knee).
Returned: WR Davante Adams (foot/ankle).
Of note, while Smith didn’t participate in practice, he worked technique before practice and at the end of practice with position coach Mike Smith.
Montravius Adams had a walking boot on his right foot.
Plays of the Day
Is there a rule that says the Play of the Day must be good? On Friday, rookie quarterback Jordan Love made a few throws during the “winning” two-minute drill that demonstrated why the Packers selected him in the first round. On Saturday, Love made the type of throw that showed why he sank deep into the first round. Facing jail-break pressure, Love chucked a ball downfield. The flutterball was easily intercepted by cornerback DaShaun Amos. It’s only one play and probably will mean nothing in what likely will be a redshirt season. Still, that’s the kind of throw that should under no circumstances be attempted.
Links of the Day
- On Friday, defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery had this to say about second-year player Kinglsey Keke: “Year 2 being in the system, it’s time to put up or shut up. He’s got to come, dive in and buy in to what we’re doing.” Saturday’s one-on-one pass-rushing drill showed Keke’s potential to make an impact on a unit that didn’t make much of an impact beyond Kenny Clark last season.
- Raven Greene is listed as the same 197 pounds as he was before the 2018 draft. That was two long years ago. Greene has bulked up and is a natural for the dime linebacker role. “Wherever they want to put me, they can. So I’m just making sure my skill-set is exactly where it needs to be.”
- If there was a knock on Adrian Amos when the Packers signed him to a big contract in free agency last offseason it was that he hadn’t been much of a playmaker. In four seasons with the Chicago Bears, Amos had only three interceptions. However, he’s got two interceptions to start training camp. “Getting the ball wins games,” he said.
The Next Day
Saturday’s practice was the first of four in a row. The team will return to Ray Nitschke Field for practice at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and Monday, and 10:10 a.m. at Lambeau Field on Tuesday.
“I felt like we got out today a lot of great effort,” LaFleur said. “I thought our guys battled. We’ll take a look at the tape, but tomorrow will actually be even longer and potentially more intense. Anytime you’re stringing together four days of practice, you’d better be mindful of what you’re asking your guys to do. We know we’re at our best when we have everybody healthy and fresh. This week is going to be a little bit of a grind on our guys and then we’ll adjust accordingly as we move forward.”
Last Word of the Day
WR Equanimeous St. Brown, on whether there were any difficult times following last year’s ankle injury, which cost him the entire season:
“I would say throughout my career I’ve heard about injuries and how tough they can be on players, so I feel like mentally I was pretty well-prepared for an injury if it ever came, which it did. At first, there were a few times where I got down, but I picked myself up pretty quick. I wasn’t too negative about it. I know I have a long career ahead of me, and I’m pretty young, so I was just looking forward at that point.”
