Highlights From Day 2 of Packers-Jets Joint Practices

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For Aaron Rodgers and most of the members of the Green Bay Packers’ starting offense, the two days of joint practices against the New York Jets will serve as their only preseason work.

If Thursday’s red-zone period is any indication, they’ll be ready for the season-opening game at New Orleans in a little more than three weeks.

With the ball placed inside the 10-yard line, Rodgers threw eight passes. Four resulted in touchdowns, including two to Davante Adams.

Starting with the ball on the 8, Rodgers connected with tight end Robert Tonyan on a short completion, with Tonyan fighting his way to the 1. On the second and fourth plays, Rodgers and Adams produced ridiculously easy touchdowns against overmatched rookies Isaiah Dunn and Javelin Guidry.

After Kurt Benkert ran for a score, Rodgers got back to work. On the first play, Rodgers and Marquez Valdes-Scantling couldn’t quite connect on a back-shoulder pass against tight coverage by linebacker Jarrad Davis. Davis got a high-five from a coach but the veteran was knocked off his high horse on the next play. Matched against Tonyan, Davis had excellent coverage but nothing could prevent a touchdown between the pinpoint-accurate Rodgers and the hands-of-glue Tonyan. On the next play, veteran Sharrod Neasman had tight coverage on receiver Allen Lazard but Lazard was too big and physical and hauled in the touchdown.

On the final play, Randall Cobb and cornerback Brandin Echols got their feet tangled, the pass fell incomplete and a fight ensued. More on that later.

Later, during a move-the-ball period that simulates a real possession because the plays aren’t scripted and are called based on down-and-distance situations, Rodgers and Tonyan connected for a long touchdown on third-and-1. Veteran safety Marcus Maye’s coverage was excellent but Tonyan’s hands are absurdly good. It will be a major story when he drops a pass.

“It’s good to see some new faces,” Adams said afterward. “I feel like it kind of gets, not in a way or putting anybody down, but it gets easier when you get another team because [when] you play against the same guys, they start picking up on little different nuances of the offense and the way you play. It’s been good. Obviously, I don’t plan on getting out there on the grass before we get to live action so getting another team here has been cool.”

Fight!

OK, the word “fight” is a bit strong. But tempers flared a couple times on Thursday. The big skirmish came when Cobb and Echols – two former Kentucky Wildcats, no less – got tangled up in the end zone. Perhaps Cobb thought Echols was trying to trip him. Regardless, the fracas started with those two. Adams was the first player on the scene and Rodgers wasn’t far behind, with both trying to restore the peace. Even 30 seconds later, every member of Green Bay’s offense and New York’s defense were in the scrum.

“I’m often there pretty quick when stuff happens to my teammates, whether or not it’s warranted,” Adams said. “I saw something going on and just wanted to diffuse it. I feel like I was able to successfully do that, at least for the part of that skirmish. It’s about having your brother’s back. No punches were thrown. I didn’t start anything so it wasn’t about me trying to get out any anger or anything; just trying to get a guy off my guy and keep practicing.”

Fights are what Rodgers feared. After Wednesday, he was complementary toward the Jets’ defense and how it practiced.

“They were really getting off the ball,” the reigning MVP said. “Their D-line is good for our young guys to feel that pressure and that get-off from those guys. They’ve got really good backers, as well. They’re young in the secondary, so it’s good for them, probably, seeing a veteran quarterback and me trying to manipulate them with their eyes. There are a lot of things to be learned through this. It’s just I always have the fear about guys getting hurt, compromised positions and unnecessary fighting, so we got through today and hopefully we’ll get through tomorrow.”

Play of the Day

I spent the day watching Green Bay’s offense against New York’s defense. There were some quality candidates, including the aforementioned touchdown to Tonyan in the move-the-ball drill, Valdes-Scantling’s leaping grab of a wobbly deep ball by Rodgers and Benkert’s bomb to tight end Josiah Deguara. However, let’s go to the only defensive snaps I saw all day.

In a starters-vs.-starters 2-minute drill, Green Bay’s defense forced a fourth-and-9 on a sack by Kingsley Keke and a near-interception by safety Adrian Amos. Rookie quarterback Zack Wilson fired a bullet to the sideline to veteran receiver Keelan Cole but first-round cornerback Eric Stokes made a superb break on the ball and knocked it away. For Stokes, who has had an up-and-down training camp while seeing a steady diet of Adams, it was one of his best plays of the summer.

“He made a really good play on me two or three days ago,” Adams recalled. “We had a comeback route on the left sideline and he made a really good play, was real patient at the top. I like what I see from him. A lot of the same mentality as Jaire (Alexander). Came to me after one of the practices and was like, ‘Keep getting me better, bro. I appreciate this. I know you’re getting after me.’ It almost gave me the vibe of he was saying, ‘I can play, now. I just haven’t really played with you guys like that yet and you are two of the best in the business.’ Matt (LaFleur) reminds him of that, too, to keep his confidence high. He can really go so I’m excited to see how it looks when we really open this thing up.”

Packers Injury Report

New Injuries: DT Tyler Lancaster (shoulder).

Old Injuries: QB Jordan Love (shoulder), WR Devin Funchess (hamstring), WR Chris Blair (ankle), S Vernon Scott (hamstring), OLB Za’Darius Smith (back). OT Dennis Kelly (knee), WR Juwann Winfree (shoulder).

Love is “unlikely” to start on Saturday, LaFleur said. Funchess and Kelly dropped out of Wednesday’s practice. Perhaps a good sign is they at least were on the practice field. Smith hasn’t practiced the last two days after returning earlier in the week. He’s gone through drills only once in 15 practices.

Returned to Practice: RB AJ Dillon (calf) was full go after being limited to individual drills on Wednesday.

Non-Football Injury List: None.

Physically Unable to Perform List: LT David Bakhtiari (knee).

Some Quick Reads

– The No. 1 offensive line to start the day had Lucas Patrick at left guard – he started at right guard for most of last season – and rookie Royce Newman at right guard. Newman took all the No. 1 reps at right guard while Jon Runyan worked in at left guard.

“I thought Royce did a really nice job yesterday and so he will get an opportunity to start the game on Saturday,” LaFleur said before practice. “He’s a good young player. You can see the talent, it’s just there’s a lot to learn, especially for any rookie, but I think he’s progressed nicely.”

– Green Bay’s running game continues to misfire, but rookie Kylin Hill had an impressive run when he hurdled Jets defender Sheldon Rankins. Later, Hill had a nice gain when left tackle Elgton Jenkins quickly adjusted to a defensive stunt and shoved his man aside.

– The Packers are going to make defenses tackle and be physical. Rodgers completed a receiver screen to the 227-pound Lazard with the 214-pound Equanimeous St. Brown serving as lead blocker.

The #Packers are going green with their throwback jerseys.

“If [the players are] fired up about them, then I’m fired up about it,”
- Coach Matt LaFleur on the uniforms that will be worn vs. Washington on Oct. 24.https://t.co/ILFnbBNniq
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 19, 2021

– Receiver Malik Taylor has cranked it up the past several days but this was not a good moment: Not only did he drop a pass from Benkert but he stood like a statue, lamenting his miscue, while the ball fluttered in the air and was almost intercepted.

– A bit more on Benkert’s deep ball to Deguara: On third-and-9, Benkert escaped pressure by moving to his right. That’s when he found Deguara streaking away from linebacker Hamilcar Rashed for a gain of about 40. It was an excellent play mentally and physically by Saturday’s presumptive starting quarterback.

“They had a pressure on and I changed the protection, and then I think they may have flipped their pressure, as well, so I knew it was going be hot off the left side,” Benkert said. “Looked right, we had a little bit of a miscommunication on the right side, and I just took off knowing that was my soft edge. Guys like Josiah and Bobby, those guys are really good on scramble drill and, when the second play starts, that's kind of where they thrive even more. So, he did a really good job adjusting and was open downfield for me.”

– Rodgers ran Green Bay’s only 2-minute drill. Starting from the 25 with 1:08 to go, he got the ball near midfield with completions to Cobb and Deguara. Jawing between both teams followed each play. Rodgers went deep to Valdes-Scantling for what should have been a 53-yard touchdown but Valdes-Scantling dropped the ball – a noteworthy miscue during his sensational training camp. On the next play, Rodgers went deep to Lazard against double coverage. Lazard couldn’t make the play and the ball went through his hands and was picked off by Neasman.

– Wilson’s first 2-minute drill went nowhere but he got another chance with New York’s No. 1 offense facing Green Bay’s backups. Wilson converted a fourth-and-3 with a completion to top receiver Corey Davis. With a big-time breakup by Kabion Ento in which he drove the receiver out of bounds and jarred the ball loose, the Jets faced a third-and-15 at midfield. Wilson escaped pressure from defensive tackle Willington Prevlion and uncorked a 50-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios, who drifted behind rookie cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles and was wide open near the goal line.

– During a special teams period, Green Bay’s punt-team gunners had to beat a Jets double team. Young safeties Innis Gaines and Christian Uphoff had superb reps, winning by knocking one of the Jets players on their butts. New cornerback Isaac Yiadom had two quality reps and Ento won twice, as well. Chandon Sullivan and Jean-Charles didn’t fare as well. It was a good day of work after Wednesday’s struggles.

– The practice ended with No. 2 kicker JJ Molson making all six field-goal attempts, ranging from 30 to 48 yards. More importantly, all six of Hunter Bradley’s snaps were on the money.

– Here’s Jets coach Robert Saleh on Rodgers: “Watching him in a practice setting, I thought it was, for me, one of the cooler experiences. You hear about Hall of Famers and you hear about how their practice habits are, and I just thought the way he communicated with his teammates, the way he talked to his coaches, the respect and the regard that his teammates have for not only him but it’s reciprocated from him to his teammates, just a class act. And everything people think of him is exactly right, he’s A1.”

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers are off on Friday and will host the Jets at 3:25 p.m. Saturday in the second preseason game of the season. The rest of training camp is closed to the public.

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