Everything I Saw From Practice 10 of Packers Training Camp, With Brewing Battle

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jonathan Gannon’s defense is causing widespread devastation on the Green Bay Packers’ practice field.

Handoffs frequently result in the ball-carrier getting hit at or behind the line of scrimmage. Passes frequently wind up with Jordan Love escaping the pocket and trying to make something happen.

“It’s definitely confusing, just the way he coaches and the way he aligns his safeties, aligns his corners,” receiver Bo Melton said. “You know, sometimes you don’t even know what coverage it looks like. And I’m like, ‘Man,’ so it kind of screws with our rules as a receiver. So, it’s very complex. He’s a smart guy, and he’s definitely calling some great coverages because it’s hard to see.”

Let’s use that as a segue to dive into everything that happened on Monday, the 10th practice of Packers training camp.

Which Unit Won the Day?

From this perspective, the defense won each of the first eight days of training camp. On Sunday, with linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin not on the field, we gave the win to this offense.

On Monday, with Cooper and Franklin back in the lineup, the defense – not coincidentally – rolled to another win.

We’ll see what it means for when games are played that count. But the defensive line has done nothing but inflict carnage on the offense. Whether it’s the starters or the backups, it doesn’t matter. Jonathan Gannon has blitzed from here, there and everywhere. And when he doesn’t, it’s the interior defensive line that has wrecked play after play.

On the first snap of the day, Franklin, who got the day off on Sunday after traveling back from the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies to see in the induction of former teammate Adam Vinatieri, clobbered MarShawn Lloyd. That set the tone. On the last snap of the day, cornerback Jaylin Simpson had a 99-yard pick-six.

For the starters’ third-down period, the defense went 3-1. On the first play, Jordan Love hit Christian Watson for a first down. On third-and-6, Love threw incomplete to Skyy Moore while pressured by Karl Brooks and Collin Oliver. On third-and-9, Love had to check it down to tight end Drake Dabney, who gained maybe a couple yards. On third-and-2, Barryn Sorrell had a sack, though the play was allowed to keep going and Love and Isaiah Neyor were on the same page on the scramble drill.

“It’s been good, man,” said Brooks, who seems poised for a bounce-back season. “We been picking it up. We been learning it. Guys are making plays. It's real simplified compared to the last one. Not a lot of thinking required to just allow us to play fast use our play decision.”

Packers Training Camp Injury Report

New injury: S Javon Bullard (foot).

Bullard was wearing a walking boot at practice but not when he talked to reporters.

He’ll be fine, in other words.

“I need a new foot, huh?” he joked. “Nah, so my rookie year, we ended up taking a bone out of my foot. It was something that was lingering from college. This right foot’s been giving me a little trouble lately. This one is not as excruciating as the last one.

“That’s good news. It’s nothing crazy. I’ll be back in no time. If we had a game tomorrow ,I’d play. It’s nothing crazy. We’re just trying to proceed with caution right now instead of letting it linger and be dealing with it later on.”

If he followed his mom’s advice, he’d “put a little dirt on it” and be “all right.”

PUP: Edge Micah Parsons (knee), LS Matt Orzech (calf), TE Luke Musgrave (neck), DT Jordon Riley (Achilles).

Old injuries: WR Matthew Golden (toe), RB Josh Jacobs (groin), WR Jayden Reed (ankle), CB Domani Jackson (unknown), CB Carrington Valentine (hamstring), TE Josh Whyle (neck).

Returned to practice: LB Edgerrin Cooper (foot), LB Zaire Franklin (personal).

Play and Player of the Day

It was impossible to pick only one Play of the Day.

Our daily Play of the Day and Player of the Day features two Plays of the Day, including Bo Melton's highlight-reel catch over Keisean Nixon and what it means for earning the trust of Jordan Love by catching a 50/50 ball.

Plus, two bubble stars.⬇️https://t.co/FqlJuEKMnt
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 10, 2026

Training Camp Lineup Notes

– On Sunday, Benjamin St-Juste replaced Keisean Nixon with the starters for one period and one period only. On Monday, Nixon once again played with the starters for the first period, St-Juste replaced him for the second period and they rotated for most of the day.

At this point, it appears to be a full-fledged battle between St-Juste, who was signed in free agency, and Nixon, who would like a contract extension.

“I think there’s always competition,” coach Matt LaFleur said before practice. “All these guys got to be prepared for that. As far as the substitution, that’s not something that I’m always micromanaging. A lot of that’s on the position coach.”

Meanwhile, rookie Brandon Cisse is going solo at the other corner position with Carrington Valentine sidelined.

Brandon Cisse remains with the No. 1 defense. pic.twitter.com/B8yUmS7RfB
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 10, 2026

– Once again, the No. 1 offensive line included left tackle Jordan Morgan, left guard Jager Burton (for Aaron Banks), center Sean Rhyan, right guard Jacob Monk and right tackle Zach Tom. Tom played close to half of the team reps. When he was not on the field, Anthony Belton played right tackle. When Belton was shaken up for a moment, Travis Glover entered the fray.

– The No. 2 line had John Williams at left tackle, Dillon Wade at left guard, Donovan Jennings at center, Darian Kinnard at right guard and Glover at right tackle.

– With the injuries at every position group, this was the No. 1 skill group for a 2-minute drill: MarShawn Lloyd at running back, Drake Dabney at tight end and Savion Williams, Bo Melton and Skyy Moore at receiver.

– With Javon Bullard out, undrafted rookie linebacker TJ Quinn joined the No. 1 punt team.

Tucker Kraft looking better and better every day. pic.twitter.com/FdFycQw6Q1
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 10, 2026

Big Plays from Training Camp

– The best thing the No. 1 offense has done during camp is throw the ball to Christian Watson on the move. So, after the day started with Zaire Franklin stuffing MarShawn Lloyd, Jordan Love having to throw it away while pressured by Evan Williams and Devonte Wyatt and Love throwing inaccurately to Skyy Moore, Love hit Watson on a slant for a big play.

That’s assuming Love would have gotten the ball off in a game, because Karl Brooks was coming in hot.

– After the play, Franklin ruined an end-around to Skyy Moore and Dani Dennis-Sutton’s pressure ruined a bootleg.

– With the No. 2 offense on the field, four running plays might have gained 0 yards. Isaiah McDuffie stuffed Pierre Strong, Damien Martinez tripped at the line of scrimmage, rookie defensive tackle Chris McClellan pushed rookie guard Dillon Wade into the path of running back Jaden Nixon and Nixon went nowhere as cornerback Jaylin Simpson came screaming into the backfield.

– Kyle McCord is taking charge of the No. 3 quarterback battle. On his first pass, he showed deft touch to hit Will Sheppard downfield.

– Back to the starters, Benjamin St-Juste destroyed a running play by MarShawn Lloyd. Keisean Nixon is a good tackler, to be sure, but St-Juste bring a whole other element of physicality.

– A few plays later, a handoff to Strong disappeared into the midsection of McClellan for a tackle for loss.

– Either Watson dropped a pass by Love or Evan Williams got there for a bang-bang breakup.

– We’re not allowed to talk about trick plays, but since the fans were there, we’ll describe a handoff to Lloyd in which he lateralled the ball back to Love, who threw a bomb to Melton for a touchdown.

“I think it was like a fourth-and-1, so I guess the defense wasn’t expecting it,” Melton said. “So, we got the defense and it was a great play.”

– Tyrod Taylor and Sheppard had impressive days. On one play, they teamed up for a big play down the left sideline against an obvious coverage bust.

– On the next play, Taylor ripped a slant to J. Michael Sturdivant between Simpson and safety Murvin Kenion.

Taylor is making due with a banged-up receiver corps that includes some fresh faces.

“That’s part of it, especially in training camp,” Taylor said. “You get new faces. Unfortunately it’s part of the game when guys go down. There’s a healthy rotation of guys that’s going in and out with the group that I’m running with, and it’s just up to me to communicate, get them in the right position but also give them a chance to make plays. We’ve got a ton of playmakers at our skill positions.”

– On the next play, Nazir Stackhouse absolutely destroyed an end-around. That’s part of the Player of the Day segment.

– The starters and backups each ran one 2-minute drill. The situation was ball on the 30 with 1:10 on the clock.

For the starters, Love converted a third-and-4 with a 7-yard pass to Sturdivant and a third-and-10 to Savion Williams for a gain of 15 to the defense’s 42. It was a big-time throw by Love, who was pressured by Brenton Cox. Two short completions to Drake Dabney and Pierre Strong put the offense in field-goal range; the ball was not kicked.

For the backups, Taylor hit Kisean Johnson on an in-breaker for a gain of 32. Johnson was signed on Sunday; passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable ran to the line of scrimmage to coach up Johnson before the play. Completions of 8 yards to Johnson and Sheppard put the offense in field-goal range; the ball was not kicked.

– Later, during a third-down period, McCord fired one up the seam to Sheppard for a first down. On the next play, Kyron Drones had to throw it away but not before an impressive blitz-pickup by undersized running back Jaden Nixon.

– Collin Oliver had a good day. He used a big-time inside move to pressure Jordan Love. Later, he and Chris McClelland would have sacked Love.

– Love’s final pass with a 9-yard touchdown to Skyy Moore against Kitan Oladapo.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers will practice again at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. From there, the team will travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and face the Steelers at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The team will take Friday and Saturday off before returning to action. There are practices scheduled for Sunday and Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. – presumably, there will be a closed-to-the-public practice on Monday – before playing at the Broncos next Friday night.

The Last Word

Goes to Javon Bullard. Is it difficult to play with a revolving door of cornerbacks?

“Sh**, we want competition in the room. That breeds the best character of a player. We want competition. Hell, the safeties, we’re competing. I compete with Evan (Williams) and X (Xavier McKinney) every day. We want to challenge each other because that brings out the best in each other, and I’m pretty sure the corner room’s the same way.

(Brandon) Cisse, (Benjamin St-)Juste, Kei(sean Nixon), Simp (Jaylin Simpson), you’ve got guys all over, Kamal (Hadden), everybody making plays. You challenge yourself because you want to be the best. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to challenge not only yourself but your peers. I think that’s what’s going on right now. It’s training camp. What a time to be challenged. The season’s right around the corner, so we want to put our best foot forward.”

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google