Everything That Happened at Practice 3 of Packers Training Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – As he headed back to his office after the third practice of Green Bay Packers training camp, coach Matt LaFleur probably wasn’t very happy.

With new starting center Elgton Jenkins missing practice, shotgun snaps were sometimes an adventure – though not to the extent of Thursday’s practice. There were too many turnovers. And there was too much contact for a noncontact practice.

First, the contact. Cornerback Nate Hobbs was the primary culprit. Early in practice, Hobbs knocked receiver Dontayvion Wicks to the ground after a catch. Later, Wicks was open over the middle but was hit in the back by Hobbs, which forced an incompletion but earned Hobbs a conversation with LaFleur.

“It happened twice today, but it’s all good,” Wicks said. “We’re football players at the end of the day. We’re going to have to take some hits but it’s cool. I’m good. …

“Coach always stresses team first, so he always talks about keeping each other up. That’s the main thing in practice, especially with no pads on. But some stuff happened. It happens. I’ve just got to control emotions and go onto the next play.”

For the most part, the offense played relatively clean football during the first two practices. However, on Friday:

- Running back Josh Jacobs ran for a first down but had the ball punched out; it appeared Hobbs forced the fumble. Receiver Romeo Doubs was there for the recovery.

- On the first play of a 2-minute drill, Malik Willis telegraphed a pass into the flat, which Kalen King almost intercepted.

- One play later, Willis was intercepted, though that was due to incidental contact between receiver Julian Hicks and cornerback Carrington Valentine in which Hicks hit the turf and Valentine grabbed the pass.

- On the second play of a 2-minute drill, Jordan Love’s pass into the flat was almost intercepted by Xavier McKinney.

- On third down in the red zone of a 2-minute drill, with the offense only needing a field goal, Sean Clifford was almost intercepted in the end zone by cornerback Tyron Herring.

- During a third-down period, Tucker Kraft caught a pass, split two defenders and picked up the first down, but Javon Bullard forced a fumble that was recovered by McKinney.

- During the same third-down period, Willis threw one right to safety Zayne Anderson for an interception on the second-to-last play of the day.

Physical mistakes will happen. The hits in a no-pads practice perhaps bothered LaFleur more than anything.

As he said before the first practice, “When you don’t have pads on, I told the guys, if we lose one person, that hurts our football team. So, they’ve got to respect each other enough to be able to compete but within the guidelines of how you play football without pads. So, I think that’s always the challenge.”

Jordan Love’s Day

For a third consecutive day, Jordan Love’s completion percentage was significantly over 50 percent. On Friday, he was 12-of-17.

The first two plays of the day showed the full arsenal. First, on play action, he rifled one to the left to Dontayvion Wicks for a gain of about 20. Next, he showed finesse and touch by dropping one over the linebackers to Romeo Doubs, who made a leaping catch for a gain of about 15.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love throws a pass at training camp on Friday. | Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Love and the No. 1 offense got two shots in starters vs. starters 2-minute drills. On the first, Xavier McKinney almost made a tremendous interception when he jumped a pass to the flat to Tucker Kraft on second down and Love couldn’t run through the pressure of Kenny Clark and Lukas Van Ness for a sack.

While that drive stalled, his second drive found the end zone. Starting once again from the 35 with 1:20 on the clock and one timeout, Love on third-and-5 connected with Kraft in the flat. McKinney quickly made the stop and the ball was initially ruled short of the first down before Kraft was credited for a 5-yard catch.

After a checkdown to Emanuel Wilson gained 6, Keisean Nixon was beaten by a step but recovered to break up an underthrown deep shot to Romeo Doubs. That set up a third-and-4 from the defense’s 49 and set the stage for the next segment in the story.

Play of the Day: Touchdown to Dontayvion Wicks

Jordan Love took the snap and took a couple steps to his left before firing a bomb to Dontayvion Wicks, who was running deep and to the right. With Xavier McKinney the closest defender, Wicks caught the ball near the goal line for a 49-yard touchdown.

“We had to get down the field to win the competition,” Wicks said. “We called a play and I knew I had the post. I had a man on me. I released, ran full speed. I knew X was over the top, so I stemmed out a little bit and broke flat across. It was a runaway and J-Love gave me the ball, and I ran under it and that was all from there.”

It was the first big win of the summer for the No. 1 offense.

“It’s a lot of competition out there, a lot of good guys to go against,” Wicks said. “They always say iron sharpens iron, so going against them guys out there makes it easier for when you get in the game and going against some of the top players in the league. It gives you confidence.

“It’s a real confidence boost doing it in practice and preparing for the games. We ain’t got a game till five weeks from here. We’re just trying to get better every day and stack the wins and stacking the chemistry. It’s always good to get some opportunities in practice and capitalizing on them. I think it gets you right and helps with that confidence and boosting that confidence for the games.”

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden (22) rides a young fan’s bicycle to practice at training camp. | Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Player of the Day: Brandon McManus

Kicker Brandon McManus turned 34 on Friday, and he celebrated with a superb display of field-goal kicking.

The first 2-minute drive belonged to the No. 2s, which the defense won. The ball was moved forward to the defense’s 33-yard line for McManus to kick a 51-yard field goal, which he converted.

After Jordan Love’s first 2-minute drive ended in a sack, the ball again was moved to the 33 for a 51-yard field goal. McManus kicked the ball and audibly reacted as if he had missed. The kick split the uprights, though.

Next, Sean Clifford led the No. 3s into scoring position to set up McManus for a 33-yard field goal.

After Jordan Love’s touchdown bomb to Wicks, McManus lined up for a 56-yard field goal. He made that one, too, with a few yards to spare.

Next up was a field-goal period, with McManus converting from 40, 42 and 44 yards to run his training camp tally to 13-of-13.

Packers Injury Updates

New injuries: LG Aaron Banks (back), WR Savion Williams (concussion).

“Just had a little back issue,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Banks. “Everything checked out all right. I would say it's going to be very day to day.”

Old injuries: LB Quay Walker (ankle), receiver Christian Watson (knee), linebacker Collin Oliver (hamstring), running back Amar Johnson (hamstring) and offensive lineman John Williams (back) and center Elgton Jenkins (back).

“My hopes are high, for sure,” Watson said. “Honestly, I’ve just been pushing as hard as I can and letting the training staff pull me back from doing stuff. But yeah, every time I’ve gotten to a new block, just getting through it really quick and feeling really good. I haven’t had any setbacks, so I’m just praying that continues.”

Returning from injuries: Nobody.

Packers Practice Highlights

- On his first snap of the day, backup quarterback Malik Willis faked the handoff and ran to the right on a designed keeper. Picking up overpowering blocks by receiver Malik Heath and running back Chris Brooks, Heath sprinted to a significant gain. It will be interesting to see if the Packers have a package of plays for Willis.

- On the next play, Willis completed a pass into the flat to Matthew Golden, though Brenton Cox might have had a sack in a live situation.

- Speaking of Golden, a jet sweep didn’t go anywhere, due in part to Nate Hobbs’ work against the blockers, but an end-around did, as he took the handoff from Willis, turned on the jets and broke free up the left side.

- Rookie seventh-round cornerback Micah Robinson had his first noteworthy play. Sean Clifford booted to his right and hit receiver Sam Brown, but Robinson was there instantly to limit the play to a minimal gain.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis (2) passes the ball at training camp. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

- During the twos-vs.-twos 2-minute, Willis completed a pass to Mecole Hardman for 10 yards on the first play. After a 7-yard completion to Julian Hicks, Willis went deep to Hicks. Hicks might have gotten his feet tangled up with cornerback Carrington Valentine, who grabbed his second interception of the summer.

- During the threes-vs.-threes 2-minute, Sean Clifford got the offense into scoring position. The big play came on the second snap, when Robinson was flagged for pass interference. The penalty was for 29 yards, which was where the ball landed and not where the penalty occurred. Regardless, completions to Cornelius Johnson and Sam Brown were stopped for short gains by Bo Melton and Jamon Johnson, respectively. On third-and-2, Clifford connected with Hicks for 8 yards and a first down to the 15 with 24 seconds remaining.

The defense held, though. Clifford had to throw it away on first down and his deep corner route to tight end Ben Sims was caught just out of bounds. On third-and-10, rookie corner Tyron Herring dropped an interception in the end zone. Brandon McManus booted a 33-yard field goal.

- Undrafted rookie safety Jonathan Baldwin had his first two noteworthy plays. Early in practice, he stopped a toss to running back Jalen White. Later, during a third-down period, he made a leaping pass breakup.

- Keisean Nixon has had a superb start to camp. Romeo Doubs beat him for a sliding catch on a pass from Jordan Love; it was probably the only completion he’s allowed in three days.

- For the second consecutive day, center Trey Hill was removed from the lineup for a moment because of a bad snap.

- Practice ended with the offense facing second-and-11 (give or take) before a pre-scripted third-and-long. Love was 3-of-3 passing in this period. On third-and-9, Tucker Kraft took a short pass for a first down but Javon Bullard forced a fumble. Next, Love completed a checkdown to Josh Jacobs before hitting Kraft at the sideline on third-and-6 for the first down.

Also in that period, Valentine broke up Malik Willis’ 50/50 ball to Matthew Golden on third-and-9, Baldwin broke up Sean Clifford’s pass to Hicks on third-and-8, Zayne Andeson dropped an interception on a pass to Golden on third-and-7 and Herring broke up Taylor Elgersma’s pass to Sam Brown on third-and-7.

Added together, the defense won 5-of-6.

Packers Lineup Notes

- With Elgton Jenkins and Aaron Banks dealing with back injuries, Green Bay’s No. 1 line consisted of Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Jordan Morgan at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center, Jacob Monk at right guard and Zach Tom at right tackle. Monk played some center; Rhyan played some right guard.

- The No. 2 line frequently was Anthony Belton at left tackle, Donovan Jennings at left guard, Trey Hill at center, Travis Glover at right guard and Kadeem Telfort at right tackle.

- Through three days, the preferred secondary remains Nate Hobbs and Keisean Nixon at cornerback, Javon Bullard in the slot, and Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams at safety.

- Kalen King, a seventh-round pick last year who spent all of his rookie season on the practice squad, did get a bit of time with the No. 1 defense as the slot mixed in with Nixon, Hobbs, McKinney and Williams.

- Sticking with the secondary, this frequently was the No. 2 group: Carrington Valentine and Kamal Hadden at corner, King in the slot, and Zayne Anderson and Kitan Oladapo at safety.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

Green Bay Packers fans watch as players ride by during the Dream Drive bicycle ride on the third day of training camp. | Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After Tuesday’s workouts and three consecutive days of practice, the players will not practice on Saturday. The Packers will get back to work on Sunday and Monday, with both practices starting at 10:30 a.m. Monday’s practice will be in full pads.

Quote of the Day

Friday marked Mark Murphy’s final practice as team president and CEO. The moment practice ended, Murphy walked off the field, just as he’d done hundreds of times during his tenure. As he reached Armed Forces Drive, he was surrounded by fans saying thank you, good-bye and asking for autographs. What sticks out about Murphy to coach Matt LaFleur?

“For me personally, just the opportunity, and the support that he's given us to allow us to do not only our job, but look at all the resources that the organization has invested back into this team. It's pretty incredible. I've never been a part of anything like this. I mean, the facilities are first class. I would say, how we travel, how we just conduct and operate on a daily basis, has been nothing short of first class.”

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