Packers Training Camp Highlights: Day 1

GREEN BAY, Wis. – First practices of training camp aren’t always smooth. And considering the circumstances of not having any offseason practices to get ready, it hardly would have been a surprise to see a bunch of mental errors.

But that wasn’t the case as the Green Bay Packers started training camp on Saturday. There was only one delay-of-game penalty and no other pre-snap penalties such as false starts or offsides.

“It’s always interesting to see how some young guys react when we are doing more 11-on-11, full-speed drills,” coach Matt LaFleur said afterward. “You know, we always tell ‘em, ‘Hey, trust your training. Don’t make stuff up.’ You’ve been going through these at a much slower pace during our walkthroughs. For the most part, I did think it was a pretty clean practice.”

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is entering his 16th season in the NFL so has seen just about everything on Day 1.

“Today was sharp,” Rodgers said. “The energy was really good. Matt was stressing it before practice, but I felt like it was sharp. There weren’t a lot of guys on the ground, we were moving around pretty good, we were pretty efficient at times. That’s how we want it to look. I think for a lot of our offense, it’s the second year. We’re just more comfortable in the offense and feeling a little bit better about play selection, timing, responsibilities on each play. That’s the way it needs to look when we’re practicing. Matt, I’m sure, will be unhappy about the tempo and the problems we had, but I think we got in and out of the huddle really well and we’re pretty sharp.”

Injury Report

The only players who did not practice were due to COVID-19 or pre-existing injuries.

COVID-19: LS Hunter Bradley, OLB Greg Roberts, TE Jace Sternberger, DT Treyvon Hester.

PUP: LB Curtis Bolton (knee), OT Yosh Nijman (elbow).

NFI: RB Patrick Taylor (foot), G Simon Stepaniak (knee).

Returned: K Mason Crosby (COVID-19).

Sternberger, Hester, Bolton and Taylor did go through some on-field conditioning.

Plays of the Day

Aaron Rodgers and Tim Boyle threw noteworthy touchdown passes.

Early in practice, Boyle hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a touchdown on a bomb against Josh Jackson. A little later, Rodgers hit Allen Lazard on a post for a touchdown despite tight coverage from Jackson.

“It was a great play by Allen,” Rodgers said. “It looks like he got held or, based on the referee presentation we had yesterday, it was definitely illegal contact. Everybody’s talked about Allen. And it’s pretty easy because the guy is a professional. He has really worked on his game.”

The defense got its hands on a lot of footballs, including breakups by safety Adrian Amos against Rodgers on a pass to Davante Adams and a strip of Lazard by nickel corner Chandon Sullivan. Later, Boyle threw deep to running back Dexter Williams but outside linebacker Randy Ramsey was in perfect position to knock it away. A handful of snaps later, undrafted rookie corner Stanford Samuels denied a touchdown pass from Jordan Love to Darrius Shepherd.

Links of the Day

Kenny Clark signed a four-year contract extension. He learned of it when he was woken up by a phone call from agent C.J. LaBoy.

Will it be Lane Taylor at right guard and Rick Wagner at right tackle? Billy Turner at right guard and Wagner at right tackle? Or Taylor at right guard and Turner at right tackle? An open competition is under way.

Kicker Mason Crosby came off the COVID-19 list and hit 8-of-9 field-goal attempts. That was the good news. Bad news, however, was delivered to three players.

Up Next

After a day off on Sunday, the team will get back to work at 10:10 a.m. Monday.

Quote of the Day

This quote from Rodgers, revolving around the messaging to keep players from getting COVID-19 and passing it on to teammates, might wind up being the quote of training camp.

“I think there’s got to be some personal accountability when it comes to this issue. And I don’t think we need to babysit anybody. This is grown people who need to make the right decision because we’re all counting on everybody doing the right thing for the group. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one during this time. And I hope guys are making the right decisions. At the same time, I don’t think we need to babysit anybody. It’s grown people who have the freedom to make decisions. Their decisions have consequences and that’s what accountability is all about.”

Big Training Camp Battles

QB: Boyle vs. Love

RB: Are the top four locks?

OL: Does Turner vs. Taylor mean Taylor vs. Wagner?

TE: Who will emerge as starter?

WR: Who will join Adams?

DL: Battle behind Clark

OLB: Taking the load off the Smith Bros.

ILB: Who (if anyone) will join Kirksey?

CB: Slot, depth at stake

S: Questions behind starters

Add us as a preferred source on Google