Packers Practice Update for Sept. 1: Here Come the Reinforcements

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers cut their 91-man roster to 53 players on Sunday. Combined with the lack of fans, it was a rather lonely feeling at practice on Clarke Hinkle Field on Tuesday.

However, the reinforcements were present. They have major opportunities to be significant and needed contributors.

TE Jonnu Smith Is No. 18

While there were no live drills during the period of practice open to reporters, the 31-year-old appears explosive as he embarks on his ninth season.

“This is a grown man,” said coach Matt LaFleur, who was the offensive coordinator of the Titans in 2018, when Smith was in his third season. “He’s got four kids, one on the way. We had a great time together. He was one of the guys that we certainly relied on. I know we didn’t break any records over there in Tennessee with our offensive production, but he was one of the bright spots, I would say.

“Very explosive guy and I still think he (can be). He’s still running pretty well. He’s a smart man, too. First team meeting, I introduced him and I’m trying to look where he’s sitting. He’s sitting right next to Jordan Love. I’m like, that’s a vet move, so he knows how to work it.”

Smith was a Pro Bowler with the Dolphins in 2024, when he caught 88 passes for 884 yards (10.0 average) and eight touchdowns. Last season with Pittsburgh, he caught 38 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns. His 5.8-yard average was the worst in NFL history by a tight end with at least 30 receptions, though that was probably more a byproduct of a Steelers offense that didn’t stretch the field much with Aaron Rodgers.

“He’s been a really good player,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “He’s really versatile. He can kind of do everything you ask of a tight end. He can line up on the line of scrimmage, he can move, he can be one of the move guys in the backfield. Been a tremendous receiver in this league for a long time from the tight end position.”

RB Kaleb Johnson Is No. 26

With Josh Jacobs out indefinitely, the Packers traded a sixth-round pick to Pittsburgh for running back Kaleb Johnson, who was its third-round pick last year.

“From the very beginning, when all this first transpired, we’ve been looking at different options and investigating some things,” Gutekunst said. “We knew going into it that this might be a possibility. And once we got the information that we did, we knew what the options were at the moment, and we made the decisions that we made. So, excited to get Kaleb in here. Obviously, a young player with a huge upside, and we’re excited to get him into our environment and see what he can do.”

Kaleb Johnson. pic.twitter.com/JEtn8AX13U
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 1, 2026

Johnson led the Big Ten in rushing and touchdowns in 2024 to earn All-American honors in his final season at Iowa. Former Packers assistant coach Tim Lester is Iowa’s offensive coordinator; the Hawkeyes essentially are running Green Bay’s offense. That will help Johnson kick-start his career after a dismal rookie season.

“Kaleb’s a guy that we really liked coming out of Iowa. I’ve talked to Tim Lester about him a little bit,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, I think he’s really good at the outside-zone stuff. We watched limited reps he had a year ago in Pittsburgh.

“But he’s a young, talented player. We’re excited to get him in here. Certainly, he’s got a lot to learn in terms of how we go about everything and from a schematic standpoint, making sure he’s dialed in, not only in our run game but, obviously, in the passing game, as well, whether it’s protections or his route assignment. So, just excited to get a guy like that in here that I think is pretty talented.”

TE Mark Redman Is No. 86

The Packers needed a physical tight end to handle the dirty work. Enter Redman, who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 258 pounds.

“Mark was one of those guys that we’ve been looking for a Y tight end, a guy who can play on the line of scrimmage and really move people in the run game and pass block and do some of those things. They had a very deep room in L.A. and he got to play a lot in the preseason, and he did a tremendous job. We felt very fortunate.”

Redman went undrafted last year and he did not play in a regular-season game. The Rams kept five tight ends on their 53-man roster, with Redman the odd man out.

“The thing I liked about him most is the contact courage that he displays,” LaFleur said. “He’s going to stick his face in there. He’s more of a wide body. He’s a big man, so we’re excited to get him in here and see what he knows.”

We’ll have more on all three players, plus practice-squad quarterback Kedon Slovis, after this week’s media availabilities.

Packers Injury Report

With receiver Savion Williams (high-ankle sprain) and edge Collin Oliver (calf) on injured reserve, the only player on the 53-man roster who did not practice was defensive tackle Warren Brinson. He missed the final two weeks of the preseason with a calf injury.

“I think he’s got a good chance” to play in Week 1, Gutekunst said. “However, he’s going to have to work through it. I don’t know if we’re ready to call that yet, but I think he’s got a positive chance to be ready.”

The Packers kept seven defensive tackles on the opening roster: Devonte Wyatt, Javon Hargrave, Karl Brooks, Jonathan Ford, Chris McClellan, Anthony Campbell and Brinson.

“That will be a little bit of a challenge,” Gutekunst said of getting all seven on the field. “Certainly, that’s more than we’ve kept in the past. I do think J.G. (defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon) uses those guys more maybe than Haf (former defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley) did, so I think from a snap perspective, we’re going to have more guys active on the 48-man roster for gameday, and those guys will have more snaps.

“Quite frankly, it was just a deep for us, and you want to try to keep as many of those guys as you can. We lost Nazir Stackhouse – he got claimed [off waivers by the Titans], and that was tough, because he’s a good player. You hate losing those kind of guys. But it was one of our deeper groups, so we wanted to try to keep as many as we can, and I do think – and we’ll see how it goes – but I do think that those guys will play more snaps than they did for us last year.”

The Packers have a new No. 3 quarterback. From this morning's media availability, here's the story on adding Kedon Slovis and trading Kyle McCord.https://t.co/gwHt01PPl0
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 1, 2026

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