Here’s Everything That Happened During Practice 1 of Packers Training Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers training camp started on Wednesday like it has for decades.

With a bike ride.

“It was honestly special,” linebacker Zaire Franklin, who was acquired in an offseason trade, said after practice. “This is no building talk, but just to be in a community that embraces the team like that, that bike ride was pretty cool. That was a cool experience. I was kind of nervous going into it. I didn’t know what to expect. I ain’t rode a bike in a little long.

“I figured if I crashed, that’d be like a bad omen or something, but it was cool. That was a cool experience. I’m just glad to be here.”

Here’s everything that happened on Wednesday at training camp, starting with the injury report.

Packers Training Camp Injury Report

Of the 91 players on the roster, 10 players did not practice.

Edge Micah Parsons (knee), CB Keisean Nixon (hamstring), RB Chris Brooks (hamstring), CB Kamal Hadden (ankle), LS Matt Orzech (calf), OT Brant Banks (hamstring), TE Tucker Kraft (knee), TE Luke Musgrave (neck), DT Jordon Riley (Achilles), DT Javon Hargrave (knee).

From that group, all but Nixon opened training camp on either the physically unable to perform list or non-football injury list.

Left guard Aaron Banks, who opened camp on PUP, was off it by Wednesday. He went through individual drills. So did right tackle Zach Tom and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, two stalwarts who missed the end of last season with serious injuries and did not participate in the offseason practices.

Wyatt was given a three-year, $57 million contract extension before the start of camp.

“All the hard work I put in, just on the offseason, going through the season, injuries and just stuff like that,” Wyatt said. “Just to know I still able to get what I got is a blessing. No matter what it was, it's a blessing.”

Impressive fifth-round rookie offensive lineman Jager Burton dropped out quickly with a hamstring injury. He called his absence a precaution.

Who Won: Offense or Defense?

Definitely the defense. There were a lot of snaps in the red zone and on third down, and the No. 1 defense generally beat the No. 1 offense.

Late in the practice, the No. 1 offense had five third-and-goal plays ranging from the 10-yard line to the 2. The defense won all five.

First, Jordan Love’s checkdown to Josh Jacobs was low; it wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. From the 6, Love spotted Christian Watson in the end zone but Evan Williams made a leaping deflection. From the 5, Love jogged into the end zone but right tackle Darian Kinnard almost certainly would have been called for holding against Brenton Cox.

From the 4, Love’s pass into the flat to MarShawn Lloyd resulted in what was either a bang-bang deflection by linebacker Zaire Franklin or a forced fumble. More on that play later. Finally, from the 2, Watson’s feet might have gotten tangled up with Javon Bullard’s, so the ball sailed through the end zone.

“I feel like we’re in a good spot,” Williams said. “We established those building blocks in the OTAs for the new scheme that we got, and we’re just building on it right now. I feel like we’re in a good spot but, still, I feel like they scored too many times in some of the early periods.

“And that’s the first day. It’s a little bit of a learning curve getting those reps, those full-speed reps back under your belt under a new system. But I feel like we’re at a good spot to build off of, learn from our reps today and come out tomorrow firing.”

Player of the Day

Franklin had an impactful first day in the heart of the defense’s strong performance. His biggest play came on a third-and-goal pass to Lloyd. Lloyd caught the ball, turned and had it poked loose by Franklin.

Did Lloyd make a “football move” for it to be considered a catch and a fumble? Or was it incomplete because Lloyd did not control the ball?

“I think that was a forced fumble, but I guess we’ll take it to review,” Franklin said.

As the ball was scooped up, Franklin celebrated as if the Packers had just won the game.

“First of all, the game is about the ball, so right, wrong or indifferent, you take the ball away, then you did your job for the day,” Franklin said. “So, that felt good, but I love to practice. My favorite part of the game is practice. I’m going to make plays in practice. You make plays in practice, you make plays in the game. I just believe that.

‘Me and Coach LaFleur even talked about it before today. I couldn’t wait to get out there and just compete, get better and help make my teammates better. So, it doesn’t matter if it’s July, May, August, middle of December, every time I’m on the field, I’m playing like it’s my last play. And any time I can make a play to help the team, that’s what I care about the most.”

Jordan Love to RJ Maryland, whose dad was in attendance. pic.twitter.com/tLplLuarP1
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 29, 2026

Play of the Day

On third-and-goal from the 4, Kyle McCord threw the ball toward the pylon. Undrafted rookie cornerback Marlon Jones read the play like a book, made the catch and raced 99 yards for a touchdown.

“I had been watching the guys in front of me, just taking mental reps,” he explained. “And so when I got in, I kind of had an idea of what was going to come. The coaches called a good play, and I was able to just make a play on the ball, celebrate with my teammates at the end there. Good way to end practice.”

Jones is a great story. He sat out the 2024 season while battling lymphoma. So, what was he thinking while on the way to the end zone?

“First of many,” he said.

We’ll have much more on Jones for Thursday morning.

Jones’ pick-six took the Play of the Day honors from Kyron Drones. The undrafted rookie quarterback scrambled out of harm’s way and unleashed a bullet to Isaiah Neyor, who made a superb all-hands catch toward the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

The First Play of Training Camp

Training camp started with Jordan Love completing a pass to Christian Watson.

The No. 1 offense had Jordan Morgan, Jacob Monk, Sean Rhyan, Anthony Belton and Darian Kinnard across the line. Monk was in at left guard for Aaron Banks (and perhaps for Jager Burton).

Josh Whyle was the tight end, with Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave out, Watson, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden were the receivers, Josh Jacobs was the running back and, of course, Love was the quarterback.

The No. 1 defense consisted of Karl Brooks, Chris McClellan and Warren Brinson on the line, Barryn Sorrell and Lukas Van Ness on the edges, Zaire Franklin and Edgerrin Cooper as the linebackers, Carrington Valentine and Brandon Cisse as the corners and Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams as the safeties.

Injuries impacted the lineup on defense, with Brooks and Brinson in for Devonte Wyatt and Javon Hargrave and Cisse replacing Keisean Nixon.

Highlights From Practice 1

– The first three practices of training camp are part of the ramp-up period, so they are not conducted in pads. These are OTA-style practices, but are important, nonetheless.

“There’s a lot of things we’re looking for,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “First off, just in terms of the energy that we bring each and every day. Like I told the team, I think it’s a reasonable expectation that we got to show that daily improvement, the urgency that how we how we approach everything we do. I think the guys are excited, and I know I’m excited to get back out there and ready to roll.”

– With long snapper Matthew Orzech out of action, the Packers did not kick field goals. So, the big battle between Trey Smack and Lenny Krieg will have to wait.

A 4-minute field-goal period consisted of a focus on the protection. For what it’s worth, Sean Rhyan did the snapping and was pretty good.

LaFleur said the kicking rotation would be “fluid.”

The Packers had two experienced kickers on the roster. Now? They have zero.

Why?

Beats me. https://t.co/Cy8PidCjhh
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 29, 2026

“Obviously, with Matt out there, it kind of throws a wrench into some of the things we wanted to do,” he said. “But there’s always competition whether it’s at kicker, every position on the roster. We drafted Trey, so we definitely have high hopes for him and understand that with all young kickers there’s typically some growing pains that are associated with that.”

– After missing the offseason practices, veteran cornerback Benjamin St-Juste spent the day with the No. 2s. He made his presence felt by stopping a running play to receiver Savion Williams.

– The defense was active early against the run, with Dani Dennis-Sutton stopping MarShawn Lloyd, Nazir Stackhouse engulfing Jden Nixon and Isaiah McDuffie giving a smack to Pierre Strong.

– The offense didn’t make many big plays, but Jordan Love threw a dart to Christian Watson, who was angling toward the end zone, for a touchdown against Carrington Valentine.

– One play later, Love took a zone-read keeper for a touchdown. And on the next play, Lloyd bounced a run to the left for a touchdown. Later in the period, with Tyrod Taylor in at quarterback, he floated a short pass to tight end Luke Lachey for a touchdown.

– The defense dominated a third-down period. Brandon Cisse was there ASAP on a short pass to Matthew Golden, Javon Bullard stopped Golden immediately on a crossing route, McDuffie stuffed Strong, Edgerrin Cooper was all over a screen to Lloyd that was stopped at the line of scrimmage and Love’s pass to the back of the end zone to tight end Josh Whyle was just a bit off-target and incomplete. Safety Xavier McKinney gave Whyle a pop for good measure.

After that play, Watson visited with defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to talk about coverages.

– Late in practice, Taylor threw a bullet to Skyy Moore at the pylon. Moore made a leaping catch for a touchdown.

Lineup Notes From Practice 1

– We addressed the No. 1 offensive line earlier. The No. 2 line with Brant Banks and Jager Burton out consisted of Dalton Cooper at left tackle, Donovan Jennings at left guard, John Williams at center, Karsen Barnhart at right guard and Travis Glover at right tackle. The No. 3 line had undrafted rookies Dillon Wade at left guard, Dylan Barrett at center and Josh Gesky at right guard.

– Second-year defensive tackle Nazir Stackhouse opened camp on PUP but was on the field. He took a lot of first-team reps, showing he’s got the early lead over Jonathan Ford in the battle to be the backup nose tackle.

– The No. 2 secondary had Benjamin St-Juste and Jaylin Simpson at corner, Johnathan Baldwin in the slot and Kitan Oladapo and Mark Perry as the safeties.

– One pass-rushing package consisted of Lukas Van Ness and Brenton Cox on the edges and Dani Dennis-Sutton and Karl Brooks as the tackles.

– After missing the offseason practices, 2025 fifth-round pick Collin Oliver was a third-team edge opposite either Arron Mosby or Nyjalik Kelly.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers will practice at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. Saturday is a mandatory day off.

The Last Words

Jordan Love, the team’s first-round pick in 2020, is the longest-tenured player on the roster. This is the start of his seventh training camp.

“It’s crazy to think about, for sure, hearing that,” he said. “I remember my rookie year when I got here, I was literally the youngest guy on the team playing with a bunch of older guys and, obviously, in a room with Aaron Rodgers. A lot has changed. I feel like time has flown by in the seven years, so different.

“Obviously, a lot of people have came through the building and there’s been a lot of turnover. It’s one of those things where guys are now asking me for advice, which is always part of the process, but it’s definitely weird to hear that I’ve been the longest. It doesn’t feel like that, but it’s one of those things where I’m now at that point where I’m trying to get these guys on the same page and give as much advice as I can.”

And, coming full circle, linebacker Zaire Franklin sort of knew about the bike-riding tradition. But he had to ask director of player engagement Grey Ruegamer if he had to buy the bike.

“The last time I rode a bike, it’s actually been over six years,” he said. “I haven’t rode a bike in a minute, but is it just like riding a bike? I don’t know. I think I did a good job. … I had cleats on, so I kept slipping. But I ain’t fall, so that’s all I care about. So, that was cool.”

Packers training camp begins today. It could be a long, dismal season if they don't get this problem figured out over the next month.

Subject to change based on how things develop, here's my season prediction.⬇️https://t.co/6MorNf6wWI
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 29, 2026

The Packers will take their 91-man roster onto the field for the first practice of training camp at 10:30 a.m.

Who will be the 53 players they take into Week 1? Here is our first roster projection. ⬇️https://t.co/CxTL3eMjw5
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 29, 2026

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