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Packers Day 1 Training Camp Injury Report, Including ‘Special Playmaker’

There was some pain and some gain on the Packers’ injury report on Wednesday at training camp.
Bill Huber|
Skyy Moore fields a punt at Packers training camp.
Skyy Moore fields a punt at Packers training camp. | Bill Huber/Packers On SI

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers training camp began on Wednesday with two of the shortest stints on the physically unable to perform list in the history of mankind.

After being placed on PUP earlier in the week, left guard Aaron Banks and defensive tackle Nazir Stackhouse were on the field for the first practice of training camp. Banks did individual drills while Stackhouse worked with the No. 1 defense. 

A total of 10 players did not practice. Nine of them are on PUP. The exception is cornerback Keisean Nixon. Coming off a Pro Bowl season in which he tied for sixth in the NFL with 17 passes defensed and entering his final season under contract, he is sidelined by a hamstring injury.

Rookie Brandon Cisse, the second-round draft pick and the team’s first draft pick, took the first-team reps.

“It feels great, [but] there’s just a long ways to go,” Cisse said. “Every day, I’m working to get better. I’m nowhere near as great of a player as I want to be. I never think I’ll be as great as I want to be. It’s always just working and working, finishing the little details. It’s good to get out there, experienced different speeds, get used to it.”

First, the Pain on Packers Injury Report

Here’s what we know about the rest of the injury report. Going in numerical order:

Edge Micah Parsons (knee) is expected to miss the start of the season following last year’s torn ACL. General manager Brian Gutekunst called him a “genetic freak” who “things come pretty easy for,” but … “We’ve invested a lot in him, so I think we want to make sure he’s ready to go before we even think about putting him out there.”

RB Chris Brooks (hamstring) will be in the running with MarShawn Lloyd to be the No. 2 back behind Josh Jacobs. Lloyd, who missed all but one game in his first two seasons, practiced throughout the offseason and again on Wednesday.

“Obviously, we know MarShawn’s gone through his fair share of things,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “To have him healthy, to have him out there, is great and, obviously, once we get into preseason, going into the season, that’s a guy we need to have out there, because I know he’s going to be a special playmaker.”

CB Kamal Hadden (ankle) missed the end of last season after breaking his tibia and fibula and dislocating an ankle after starting the second half against Baltimore. We’ll have more on him later, but he showed he’s got plenty of speed while running stride for stride with Marlon Jones’ during Jones’ pick-six.

LS Matt Orzech (calf) is the only long snapper on the roster. So, field-goal drills were scrapped.

“There’s some guys on the street (and) we’ll probably bring some guys in to work out,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “He’s got a little bit of a calf – nothing long term – but it does disrupt practice when you don’t have a guy who can snap it.”  

OT Brant Banks (hamstring) spent most of last season on Green Bay’s practice squad and will be in the race for a roster spot. Dalton Cooper took the second-team snaps at left tackle.

TE Tucker Kraft (knee) is finishing his comeback from last year’s torn ACL while waiting for a contract extension, which he hopes gets done “as soon as possible” so it doesn’t linger into his return to the field.

“My biggest thing, and always has been, [is], I'm trying to be the best teammate I can be,” he said. “So, I first and foremost am focused on my health. Ultimately, I know that people up there on the second floor are very intelligent people. They're going to work their best to get this thing done – my agent, as well – so I'm just going to focus on what I can focus on, and that's me making myself available for my teammates and coaches, putting a smile on my face, and continue to be the best leader I can be.”

TE Luke Musgrave (neck) had a big opportunity to seize a role at the start of camp with Kraft injured. Instead, Musgrave was on the field but not practicing due to a worrisome injury.

“Big year for him,” Gutekunst said. “We’re working through to see if it’s going to be something long-term or not. We’ve always around here with heads, necks and hearts, it’s a little bit more sensitive than some of the other injuries. You have to take that a little bit slower and make sure that what you know is what you know.

“This is a neck injury, so we’ll take our time and make sure we know what we know before we put him at any kind of risk.”

DT Jordon Riley (Achilles) had taken a key role on the defense last season when he went down against the Ravens.

DT Javon Hargrave (knee) is out but this is not a big deal even as he gets acclimated to Jonathan Gannon’s defense.

“No long-term concerns,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He’s a veteran guy that’s been through it (but) certainly [the defense] is new. It’s a new place for him, and even he was telling J.G., he’s like, the scheme’s a lot different than it was when we were together in Philly. So, there’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve, but nothing that’s a long-term concern for us right now.”

Now, the Pain on Packers Injury Report

Of note, right tackle Zach Tom and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, both of whom were dealing with season-ending injuries when the season imploded following Micah Parsons’ injury, were not placed on PUP at the start of camp and went through individual drills on Wednesday.

“Right now, I feel pretty good,” Tom said.

He said he’s looking forward to getting to do team drills at practice, going through the joint practice against Arizona and potentially playing in a preseason game.

“I wouldn't necessarily say I need it but, to me, if you can play, you play,” he said.

Wyatt not only was on the field but he was on the field with a fat wallet following a three-year, $59 million contract extension.

“Man, it's less stress off my plate,” he said. “Now I could just focus on football and do my job, just go out there, stay healthy.”

Two of the team’s free-agent additions, receiver/returner Skyy Moore and cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, practiced after dealing with offseason injuries. Moore missed the minicamp and St-Juste missed OTAs and minicamp.

Moore looked smooth fielding punts and caught a touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor.

“I love the things he does over here,” he said of LaFleur’s offense. “Coming from that style of offense over there in San Fran, it’s very similar. But the way Matt does his thing over here, it’s a lot of things that fit my playstyle. Getting the ball out of Jordan’s hands quickly and getting the ball into the playmakers’ hands so we can make plays.”

One player dropped out of practice, rookie center/guard Jager Burton. He called it precautionary after his hamstring didn’t feel right.

With Aaron Banks out and Burton not participating in the 11-on-11 work, Jacob Monk took the first-team reps at left guard. Monk, who played well when he started at center in Week 18 at Minnesota, suffered a torn biceps while on kick-protection duty in the playoff game against the Bears.

“I know I got to be healthy this year” Monk said. “That's my main goal this year, just being healthy and being available for this team. But one thing I've never done is lost confidence in myself. No matter what, there have been rough days, there have been good days, but I feel like the only thing I can do is give myself a pat on the back for keeping a level head and now there's a confidence in myself.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.