A Lot on the Line During Final Week of Packers Training Camp (Pun Intended)

GREEN BAY, Wis. – This will be a hugely important week for the Green Bay Packers to solidify an offensive line that’s more wet cement than firm concrete.

The Packers will kick off their final week of training camp on Monday. The final practice of camp, a joint practice against the Cardinals, will be held on Wednesday. The preseason will conclude on Friday at Lambeau Field against Arizona. On Sunday, general manager Brian Gutekunst will handle the long, tortuous task of cutting the 91-man roster to the 53-player limit.

The line is filled with questions, with the coaches and standout former Packers lineman Mike Wahle providing answers.

Left Tackle: Jordan Morgan

Jordan Morgan has had a quietly good training camp. That, of course, is exactly the type of training camp you want from any offensive lineman. He’s just done his job and kept Jordan Love out of harm’s way.

“He’s done a nice job,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said of Morgan on Saturday, one day after the preseason win at Denver. “He’s just quietly gone in here and anchored down the left side. He’s been good. There’s not a whole lot to talk about because he’s gone in there, done his job and stepped up. I’m happy with him right now, for sure.”

Last year, standout Cardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat rushed from the defense’s right side and against the offensive left tackle about half the time. He hasn’t practiced during training camp due to chronic knee issues. If he comes off PUP, it would be a great test for Morgan if Sweat, who is coming off a season of a career-high 12 sacks, would be on the field for the joint practice.

“He's very athletic,” Wahle, who helps NFL linemen through his Process2Perform, said of Morgan. “He moves well off the line of scrimmage. I think his first step is really explosive. Obviously, can get into space really well.”

Wahle hopes more of Morgan’s power emerges through experience.

“I don't know if it's the way they're being taught, but they don't necessarily play with the power that is in that body from an athletic standpoint – like the hip pop, the snap extension with your hands. So, there's things like that that you can continue to improve on, both in the run and the pass game, but really good athlete.

“The thing that both those guys do well, talking about Zach (Bako-Bewele) and Jordan in particular, is they get into these spots where they are able to anchor down pretty well despite not maybe winning with their hands or being in a really upright position They're kind of catching those players and they're almost doing it by design.

“Guys like Terron Armstead made a career of doing this, where you're kind of by design catching a guy but you have the ability to sit down on it. For me, it's not the ideal way to play football, but Mark Tauscher made a career out of it and was pretty damn good.”

Left Guard: Aaron Banks

Because of a knee injury, the Packers’ $77 million man practiced sporadically for the first couple weeks of training camp before finally getting some 11-on-11 reps at practice last week. He has not played in the preseason. The starters probably won’t play in Friday’s game, so Banks will need the joint practice to show that he’s ready for the season.

Arizona’s defense features 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson at defensive tackle.

“At some point, we’re going to need him to go out there and put it all together for a string of time,” Stenavich said. “Otherwise, you won’t know if you can rely on him as the season goes. I think that’s going to be a big thing for me over these next two weeks is just getting out there on a regular basis, getting through practices and performing at a high level.”

Center: Sean Rhyan

It’s rather incredible to consider that Sean Rhyan, who has made eight career starts (including playoffs) at center, is perhaps the sure thing on the line.

“I like Sean Rhyan's want to finish,” Wahle said. “I don't know if he's ever going to be the most powerful guy in the world, but there's a guy that really is maximizing his athleticism because of his footwork and body position into contact.”

Right Guard: Jacob Monk

Jacob Monk has gone from battling for a roster spot to perhaps being the Week 1 starter at right guard. He replaced returning starter Anthony Belton before Family Night and hasn’t looked back. With rookie Jager Burton set to focus on center this week, the deck has been cleared.

“Monk, love his play style,” Stenavich said. “He’s a nasty dude. So, watching him play has been really fun.”

Monk has the play style that offensive line coach Luke Butkus prefers.

“I think Jacob Monk was born with a chip on his shoulder. He showed that at Duke and that’s one of the reasons we were attracted to him,” Butkus said. “He is a physical and violent human being when he steps on that football field. I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but when he gets on that field, he flips that switch. Love it, and that’s the play style we talk about.”

Wahle, who talked to Packers On SI before the Denver game, liked what he saw from Monk against the Steelers.

“I've always kind of liked that body type,” Wahle said. “He's a little bit shorter, but I like that as you get to play with great leverage. Looks like he's put some weight on – some good weight. I think he moves really well.

“The thing that stood out in the Pittsburgh game was the lateral run game; he really excelled at it. Obviously, he's got a quick burst out of his stance. He takes good footwork, has that leverage. He was really able to extend that backside hand, particularly on some of those outside-zone-to-the-left plays. You just like the ability to kind of get into those bigger opponents.”

The problem with being a shorter lineman is having shorter arms; Monk needs to avoid lunging out and overextending, which is why he was beaten by Broncos star Zach Allen on Jordan Love’s touchdown pass.

“That’s a huge learning thing for him at guard,” Stenavich said. “You go against really good players, you have to play with great fundamentals. Otherwise, you’ll get exposed.”

Right Tackle: Zach Bako-Bewele

The team’s best lineman suffered a knee injury at Denver last season and missed the rest of the season. The Packers are easing him back into things but “he’ll be ready to roll Week 1,” Butkus said.

Rookie: Jager Burton

With Aaron Banks’ on-again, off-again status, rookie Jager Burton has been Plan B at left guard throughout training camp, which has limited his ability to compete at right guard. This week, Stenavich said, Burton will focus more on center, which could make him the universal backup at all three interior spots.

Wahle has been impressed. Burton needs to play with better patience but is advanced in other facets.

“The guy does a really nice job of some real basic parts of playing offensive line and not just for a rookie,” he said. “Really good initial footwork. He's gaining leverage towards his opponent on every play. He comes in with a really great body profile. He stays square to the line of scrimmage in pass pro, for the most part.

“Again, nothing's perfect – it's not going to be as a rookie. My eye goes immediately to how good you are at the precontact basics of the sport, and he's really, really good at them. He's advanced for this group.”

Benched: Anthony Belton

Anthony Belton opened training camp as the presumptive starting right guard after stepping into the lineup for the stretch run of last season. Having lost the job early in training camp, he’s been filling in behind Zach Bako-Bewele at right tackle. Since being replaced, he’s barely played any left tackle and he hasn’t played any right guard.

“There were enough positive traits last year that I certainly thought, OK, this guy should be expected to make a jump at right guard or at least be able to compete for the spot right now,” Wahle said.

“I think Jacob Monk could be a good player in the league. It’s Year 3 for him, so it’s kind of that time where you got to prove it. Maybe they've just seen so much that they like. You know, we never know what's going on in the background, but it is really surprising that he wouldn't get reps at right guard. He didn't do anything last year to dissuade me from thinking he could play right guard. I don't know if he's going to be able to beat out Jacob Monk, but to not get the chance, maybe there's something going on that we don't know about.”

Depth

The stretch run to camp will determine the rest of the depth chart. After Burton and Belton, Darian Kinnard, Donovan Jennings, Travis Glover and John Williams are the front-runners for the final two or three spots.

Williams is a wild card. After not playing as a rookie due to a back injury, he spent the offseason and the start of training camp playing guard and center but has been locked in as the No. 2 left tackle for the past couple weeks.

“Last year, I don’t know if you guys even knew who John Wiliams was (because) he was banged up,” Butkus said. “To get him back this offseason and to see what he’s doing and his movement ability right now. We all know John’s smart – he’s a rocket scientist.

“We talk about all the time, you need to be a guy that probably needs to play all five. But to give him some opportunity at left tackle, and maybe the other side here, that’s something he has to do. But his ability, obviously his brain and his athletic ability are making it easier for him to do that.”

The Big Picture

Wahle said “the ability to move people off the spot is going to be at a premium” this season. He thought the potential physicality of an interior trio of Banks, Rhyan and Monk could help fix one of coach Matt LaFleur’s favorite plays.

“The biggest problem last year in my estimation was they kept running that shotgun, offset back, outside zone run that the three-technique just ate up the play it felt like seven times out of 10. It was just terrible.”

While there are questions at every position, LaFleur will help mitigate any problems with a lineman-friendly offense that includes a lot of quick passes, misdirection plays, moving pockets and a mix of shotgun and under-center plays.

“I guess the best way to put it is I don't know if they're a top-15, top-20 unit necessarily, but I think you can put up numbers as an offense that reflect they're doing a very good job with whatever it is they're being required to do for that specific offense,” Wahle said. “If these guys were dropping back in shotgun 60 times a game, you’d probably have some doubts. They're never going to be asked to do that.”

With a huge final week of training camp coming up,@JacobWestendorf predicts the Packers' 53-man roster. ⬇️https://t.co/ejqtzi5LSq
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 23, 2026

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