Major Statement, Major Worry And More From Final Day of Packers Minicamp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Before the start of Green Bay Packers minicamp on Tuesday, coach Matt LaFleur said the offense was ahead of the defense.

When minicamp ended on Thursday, the defense had delivered a powerful rebuttal.

Third-year linebacker Edgerrin Cooper led another promising day for first-year coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s defense. When the team returns to the practice field for the first practice of training camp on July 29, the defense should be ready to hit the ground running.

“I like how our defense is playing together,” Cooper said. “We’ve got some great guys, ready to attack the ball, playing hard, motor, running to the ball. That’s how teams win.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the third and final day of Packers minicamp. With the offseason program complete, we might as well start with what’s ahead.

Packers Schedule

With minicamp complete, coach Matt LaFleur sent home all but the rookies, who will stay behind for the final week of OTAs. The veterans will be required to check into virtual meetings next week. At that point, the offseason program officially will end.

LaFleur said veterans will report for training camp on July 28, with the first practice set for July 29. That’s a Wednesday, for your scheduling purposes.

After practice ended around 12:55 p.m., LaFleur gathered the team together. He previewed his parting message before practice.

“I feel like we’ve got a really solid foundation right now, but it doesn’t matter unless you maximize these next 47 days prior to training camp, so the work that they put in will show itself in training camp,” LaFleur said.

“So, the message is just they got to push it, man, and in every aspect – mentally, physically, psychologically. Every aspect is going to impact their game. But I think we got a really good group, guys that come in with the right mentality, the right attitude. We’ll be checking in on them quite a bit this summer to make sure everybody’s still moving the same direction.”

LaFleur said he’d “unplug a little bit,” but the team won’t be too far off the mind of the head ball coach.

“If you expect our players to stay into it,” he said, “then we got to do the same as coaches.”

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur answers questions mandatory minicamp on Thursday. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Trey Smack’s Big Moment

Practice wrapped up with a series of 2-minute drills. First, it was starters vs. starters, with Jordan Love leading the offense into position for a 35-yard field goal to “win” the drill.

It was the first sort-of big kick for rookie Trey Smack. The sixth-round pick, who had a horrible day at OTAs last week but a strong response on Tuesday, missed the kick to the left.

LaFleur backed him up to 50 yards, which he drilled right down the middle. Still, there will be no mulligan if the game’s on the line at Minnesota in Week 1.

“Practice is practice. It’s where you’re supposed to mess up,” Smack said on Tuesday. “It’s where you’re supposed to fix things.”

True, but if a kicker is struggling to make what should be chip-shot kicks during a relatively stress-free day at minicamp, how is he going to make that kick with the game on the line?

Smack will have about seven weeks to stew on that reality.

While the rest of the teammates walked to the locker room after practice, Smack took some extra kicks with the battery of Matt Orzech and Daniel Whelan.

Green Bay Packers Jayden Reed runs a route at practice on Thursday. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Packers Minicamp Highlights

– It was another good day for the defense. On the third play of the day, running back Chris Brooks got the ball and saw linebacker Edgerrin Cooper in his face immediately.

– On the next play, quarterback Jordan Love booted to his right. Nose tackle Nazir Stackhouse had a good pressure and Love threw it away. One of the coaches yelled “Good job, Bull!” to nickel defender Javon Bullard.

– The No. 2 offense’s first series couldn’t have gone worse. On the first play, Tyrod Taylor had to throw it away. After a short completion to Brenden Rice, who made a nice leaping catch at the sideline, young center John Williams snapped the ball over Taylor’s head. It was the second consecutive day in which Williams – a left tackle in college who missed his rookie season with a back injury – had a bad shotgun snap.

– The bad snap brought the starters back onto the field. On the first play, defensive tackle Karl Brooks either was stymied on his pass rush or dropped into coverage. Regardless, the result was a deflected pass.

– On the next play, it appeared Josh Jacobs had room on a toss. Instead, Cooper chased him down from the back side.

– On the next play, defensive tackle Jonathan Ford didn’t bite on a fake reverse and instead was waiting in the hole to stuff MarShawn Lloyd.

– Defensive lineman Anthony Campbell took advantage of the added opportunities coming from having four of his teammates on the sideline. An undrafted free agent in 2025 who joined Green Bay’s practice squad late last season, he chased Kyle McCord out of the pocket and forced a throwaway and then teamed up with linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper to stop Brooks on the next play.

– On the next snap, safety Kitan Oladapo was in the passing lane and prevented a completion from Kyron Drones to J. Michael Sturdivant.

– On the next play, Arron Mosby set the edge to stop rookie Jaden Nixon.

– Back-to-back completions from Love to Jayden Reed and Josh Whyle were limited by immediate tackles by safety Evan Williams and linebacker Zaire Franklin, respectively. Next, Love and center Sean Rhyan botched the snap.

– On the next play, Jacobs was strung out wide by Cooper and Evan Williams.

– A few plays later, Love went over the middle to Reed. Bullard broke it up and Franklin almost made a diving interception.

– On the next play, a third-and-6, Love had his best throw of the day with a rocket over the middle to Savion Williams for a gain of about 15. That made it first-and-goal at the 8. At that point, LaFleur pulled the entire team together – perhaps there was too much chirping – and put the backups on the field.

– Tyrod Taylor led the No. 2s into the end zone. He completed passes to Savion Williams and Isaiah Neyor before a third-and-6 touchdown to Will Sheppard. It was Sheppard’s second touchdown of the week.

– Minicamp ended with the 2-minute drills, with the score tied, the ball on the 25, 2:00 on the clock and no timeouts.

First up was the starters. Love was cooking with five consecutive completions. Love hit tight end Josh Whyle twice for first downs as well as Christian Watson against Keisean Nixon and Matthew Golden against Carrington Valentine. The last of those made it first down at the 26.

On the next play, Love went over the middle to Neyor, with Cooper almost intercepting the pass.

“I was real close,” he said. “I remembered that stack they had early on in practice, so I took a little risk, I jumped out of my coverage and tried to go get that one. I read it good, almost had it, so I was pretty close.”

Love was incomplete to Neyor again on second down but hit Neyor on third-and-10 for a gain of 9. With the clock running on fourth-and-1, LaFleur opted to send on Smack, who missed the kick.

– The young backup quarterbacks’ 2-minute drives went nowhere, which meant Smack didn’t get a chance to make amends. First, McCord went four-and-out. On fourth-and-6, safety Murvin Kenion broke up a pass to Jakobie Keeney-James. Drones went four-and-out, as well. An impressive completion to tight end R.J. Maryland was nullified by a penalty. Finally, on fourth-and-8, his back-shoulder pass to Neyor was out of reach.

With that, minicamp was complete.

Minicamp Lineup Notes

– The first snap of the day on offense: QB Jordan Love, RB Josh Jacobs, TEs Josh Whyle and Messiah Swinson, WRs Christian Watson and Matthew Golden, and an offensive line consisting of LT Jordan Morgan, LG Jager Burton, C Sean Rhyan, RG Anthony Belton and RT Darian Kinnard.

– The first snap of the day on defense: Edges Lukas Van Ness and Barryn Sorrell, DTs Karl Brooks and Chris McClellan, linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin, cornerbacks Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine, safeties Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams, and slot Javon Bullard.

Green Bay Packers running back Jaden Nixon warms up next to linebacker Nick Niemann at minicamp. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

– There was one noteworthy development on defense. Cooper took all the No. 1 reps at linebacker, as usual. He spent a good chunk of practice lined up alongside Nick Niemann rather than Zaire Franklin. It was interesting that Niemann got those reps instead of Ty’Ron Hopper.

– There was one noteworthy shakeup on the offensive line. Instead of Brant Banks getting the No. 2 reps at left tackle, those snaps mostly went to Dalton Cooper. He was joined by Dillon Wade at left guard, John Williams at center, Karsen Barnhart at right guard and Travis Glover at right tackle. Cooper got those reps in both 2-minute drills.

– Cornerback Brandon Cisse, the team’s first draft pick, played only with the second team; he had been getting a handful of snaps with the No. 1s.

“He looks pretty good,” LaFleur said before practice. “Certainly, he’s got a ton to learn and a lot to improve upon, as to be expected of any young player. He’s just got to continue to build on the foundation he set.”

Packers Minicamp Injury Report

The same 17 players who did not practice on Wednesday did not practice again on Thursday. That includes tight end Luke Musgrave, who missed the end of Tuesday’s practice.

Asked if any of the 17, aside from Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft, might be sidelined for the start of training camp, LaFleur said: “We got 47 days before the start of training camp, so I’m sure a lot of those will work themselves out.”

Here’s the list of players who did not practice on Thursday. Players in italics missed the first two weeks of OTAs as well as the minicamp.

Receiver: Skyy Moore.

Tight end: Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave, Drake Dabney.

Offensive line: RT Zach Tom, LG Aaron Banks, C/G Jacob Monk.

Edge: Micah Parsons, Collin Oliver.

Defensive tackle: Devonte Wyatt, Javon Hargrave, Warren Brinson, Jordon Riley.

Linebacker: Isaiah McDuffie.

Cornerback: Benjamin St-Juste, Domani Jackson, Kamal Hadden.

The Last Word

After coach Matt LaFleur huddled the team at the end of practice, the players huddled one more time. Their final words before heading to the locker room?

“Super Bowl.”

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY PACKERS NEWSLETTER

Add us as a preferred source on Google