Watch: Packers-Bengals 7-on-7 Drills

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Aug 10, 2023 2:33 PM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Putting together a joint practice requires some compromise between the coaches. Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s compromise was the 7-on-7 drill.

A 7-on-7 drill is a bit of a misnomer. There are six players on offense – the quarterback and his five skill-position players – facing the seven linebackers and defensive backs. A quarterback surveying a defense in a clean pocket isn’t “realistic” to LaFleur.

“I think there is some good benefit from it, but I think just in terms of, specifically for the quarterbacks, you’re throwing in ideal circumstances and that’s not how the game’s played,” LaFleur said. “There’s going to be chaos going on around you, especially up front, so I’m more of a believer of that. That’s something that Zac [Taylor, the Bengals’ coach] wanted to do so I said, ‘No problem, we’ll do that.’”

Several plays from 7-on-7 are included in the accompanying video. Reporters were supposed to zoom in as much as possible on the action rather than show the full field and route combinations. So, there’s some guesswork involved on which receiver to record in the video.

The play of the period comes late in the video when No. 3 quarterback Alex McGough ripped a perfect deep shot to rookie receiver Malik Heath. Tight end Tyler Davis started to celebrate the moment the ball reached Heath’s hands.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who is expected to start Friday’s preseason game against the Bengals, had a strong day against one of the top defenses in the NFL.

Of 7-on-7, Love said: “A little warmup to practice, get everybody[‘s] mind right for what’s about to come with 11-on-11 and just get loose. They had some good guys out there on defense.”