Play and Players of Day at Practice 15 of Training Camp (Bad News, Haters)

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The first play of Green Bay Packers training camp on Monday was a handoff to Josh Jacobs. Cornerback Brandon Cisse beat his man and was waiting for a tackle for loss.

The last sequence was a goal-line stand.

And so it went for about 2 hours. The 15th practice of Packers training camp was total domination by Jonathan Gannon’s defense. Starters, backups. It didn’t matter. So, naturally, our daily feature is defense-centric.

Play of the Day: Sky-High Kitan Oladapo

On third-and-8, impressive first-year quarterback Kyle McCord fired the ball downfield. Safety Kitan Oladapo, who has been playing mostly in the slot the last couple weeks, made a leaping interception.

“Just dropped to the curl-flat and Kyle was looking right at me. I don’t know why he actually threw it,” Oladapo said, unable to stifle a laugh.

The Packers drafted Oladapo in the fifth round in 2024. At the Scouting Combine, he posted a 36-inch vertical jump. That was while wearing shorts and gym shoes. There’s no way of knowing, obviously, but it seemed like a full-pads Oladapo jumped higher than that.

“Yeah, I’m a gamer. I’m not a good test-taker,” he said with a laugh.

The team held a closed practice on Sunday, Oladapo intercepted Tyrod Taylor in that one.

“I dropped down as a hook player and Tyrod play-actioned and tried to throw a dig and I just jumped up and I caught the dig,” Oladapo said.

“I probably got higher yesterday, I’m not going to lie,” he added. “I’m just glad to make the most of my opportunities.”

Player of the Day 1: Keisean Nixon

The starting cornerback tandem for Week 1 at Minnesota might be set. Brandon Cisse almost certainly will be one. Keisean Nixon probably will be the other.

With Benjamin St-Juste out with a hamstring injury, Nixon took all the No. 1 reps and had an excellent day.

First, Jordan Love went deep up the right sideline to Jayden Reed. Nixon had textbook coverage and swatted the pass aside with his left hand. Next, on fourth-and-10 in a 2-minute drill, the play broke down and Love extended the play to his right. With no good options, he threw one up but Nixon made a leaping interception.

Fine, but how about against the speed of Matthew Golden? Love went 0-for-2 on deep passes. On the first, Nixon walled off Golden so he couldn’t get to the ball; from afar, it seemed like Nixon might have been able to make a play on the ball rather than simply forcing an incompletion. A few plays later, Love tried it again but Nixon had excellent coverage and the ball fell harmlessly incomplete.

Player of the Day 2: Lukas Van Ness

While Jonathan Gannon might be able to scheme up some pressures, it’s indisputable that the key to the opening stretch of games will be the ability of Lukas Van Ness to help replace some of Micah Parsons’ pass rush.

Van Ness has had some good days and some quiet days. This was a really good day.

It started with Van Ness stuffing a handoff to Josh Jacobs during the opening series of plays. In the passing game, Van Ness provided pressures against both of Green Bay’s tackles.

Against left tackle Jordan Morgan, he ducked underneath Morgan and got to Jordan Love. Love hit Matthew Golden for a big gain near the sideline, but Van Ness might have had a sack.

Later, during a 2-minute drill, Van Ness beat Morgan again to force a throwaway. A couple plays later, on third-and-10, Van Ness tossed premier right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele at the feet of Love, which resulted in an errant checkdown to MarShawn Lloyd.

“It’s been awesome,” he said last week. “I’ve really enjoyed the defense. It’s putting us in a position to win and just a lot of different looks and fronts and schemes. We’re having fun. I’ve been happy with the way they’re utilizing me and I’m excited to see how I can grow.”

Player of the Day 3: Edgerrin Cooper

The tone-setters of the defense will be the elite linebacker tandem of Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin. They’ve seemingly traded dominant days all summer, with Monday being Cooper’s turn.

During the starters’ second set of plays, Cooper broke up a pass over the middle to tight end Tucker Kraft. Shortly thereafter, he ruined back-to-back plays for MarShawn Lloyd. First, Cooper didn’t buy any of the misdirection stuff in the backfield and tackled Lloyd for a loss. Next, on third-and-4, Jordan Love checked it down to Lloyd but Cooper stopped the play well short of the marker.

Later, Cooper set the edge on a perimeter run by Jacobs and teamed with Barryn Sorrell to make the play near the line of scrimmage.

Finally, during the starters’ last set of plays, Cooper almost intercepted a pass intended for Kraft on third-and-2. A couple plays later, Lloyd tried to bounce a run to the outside but Cooper was there in a blur.

“I just feel like with me and Coop, it’s really just being honest with each other, first and foremost, on what we both can be better at,” Franklin said last week. “And we hold each other accountable, which I think is a great thing.

“I think we both have a great energy. We both love football and we both just really enjoy playing. That always comes out. At the end of the day, whether I’m not really in a mood or he’s not in a mood, at the end of the day, we both love playing. And I think we always connect over our love of ball.”

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