Winners and Losers From Practice 7 of Packers Training Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Friday night, Green Bay Packers training camp will continue with Family Night, which will be held with more than 60,000 fans in the stadium. On Thursday, the seventh practice of camp was held with zero fans in the stadium.

With coach Matt LaFleur closing practice to the public and the players told to “bring your own (bad word) juice,” here were the winners and losers from the day. We start off with the quarterback who is expected to be an MVP candidate.

Loser: QB Jordan Love

Jordan Love is considered a top-10 quarterback (or thereabouts). He’s led the Packers to the playoffs in each of his three seasons as the starter and is coming off his best season.

Thus, the bar is raised higher for Love than it is for, say, Kyron Drones.

All of that is to say Love didn’t have a bad day. He just didn’t have one of his usual days.

During his second set of plays, Love fired one up the seam to tight end Josh Whyle; it was almost intercepted by Xavier McKinney. Next, he had Christian Watson open on a corner route against McKinney; the pass was overthrown. Finally, after a touchdown pass to MarShawn Lloyd, Love had Lloyd open at the goal line; his pass was too high, too upfield and bounced off Lloyd’s hands.

Most of this comes with an asterisk. On Love’s almost-interception, was he giving Whyle a chance to make a play by throwing a high-degree-of-difficulty pass that he might not throw in a game? On Love’s incompletion to Lloyd, was the ball thrown where it was because he expected Lloyd to turn upfield?

Later, Love completed a pass to Jayden Reed that would have led Reed into a huge hit by Keisean Nixon.

Up next is Love’s first Family Night as a father.

“It’s our first chance to be back in Lambeau, be in there with fans,” he said. “Really, that’s our game environment. So, first chance to be out there, really just see how the operation goes, make sure everything’s smooth and, obviously, it always comes down to the plays, make sure we’re doing everything right, focusing on the little details.”

Winner: RB MarShawn Lloyd

Green Bay Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd takes the handoff from Jordan Love at training camp. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

On the bingo card of training camp, who had MarShawn Lloyd being the last man standing in the running back trio that includes Josh Jacobs and Chris Brooks?

Brooks has not practiced during training camp and Jacobs was out on Thursday with a groin injury. Lloyd, meanwhile, made it a perfect 7-of-7 and scored two touchdowns. He celebrated the first with a backflip.

“When I was young, my Uncle Fabe, one night he taught me how to do a cartwheel,” Lloyd said, thinking back to when he was about 6. “He taught me how to do a back walkover. The next morning, he went home, and he came back, and I was like, ‘I know how to do a back flip now.’ From then, I figured out how to do it and just kept doing it.”

Loser: RB Pierre Strong

I was hesitant to put Pierre Strong here because he’s had a good summer. It’s almost impossible to gauge because there’s no live tackling at practice, but he probably leads the running backs in yards per carry during camp. He’s with the No. 1 punt team, so he’s clearly in the conversation for a roster spot.

However, one reason why practice was closed to the public is so the team could work on some trick plays. We can’t report what happened on this play but we can say how it ended, and that was with Strong dropping a downfield pass.

Winner: TE McCallan Castles

McCallan Castles spent the second half of last year on the practice squad following Tucker Kraft’s torn ACL but wasn’t retained after the season. He worked out for the team last week but wasn’t signed, but was brought back in time for Tuesday’s practice after injuries decimated the tight end group.

“Obviously, still had some guys healthy when I did the workout, so they didn't end up signing me,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “Went back to Knoxville for a few days and then yesterday, they called me and said a couple guys went down so need you to come back out, so just excited for the opportunity. Obviously, I love being here. I loved being here the whole rest of last season. I feel like I got a lot better.”

On Thursday, Castles showed good hands with a touchdown pass at the goal line, when he extended his hands and made a strong catch against tight coverage.

Loser: TE Drake Dabney

Green Bay Packers tight end Drake Dabney (49) is shown during the first day of training camp Wednesday, July 29. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

There’s been quite a bit of praise for Drake Dabney. Like McCallan Castles, Dabney was signed to the practice squad last season after Tucker Kraft’s injury. Unlike Castles, Dabney played in a couple games and was re-signed after the season.

With all the injuries, Dabney has spent the summer as the No. 2 tight end. He’s “shown early in this period of time that he can move people off the line of scrimmage,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said before practice.

Dabney had a chance to catch a pass on Thursday but dropped it.

Winner: WR Isaiah Neyor

Isaiah Neyor made two impressive catches. First, he caught a pass at the sideline that Kitan Oladapo perhaps got a finger on. Either way, with Oladapo in the passing lane, Neyor’s excellent concentration made the play possible.

Then, toward the end of practice, he made an all-world touchdown catch against Oladapo in the back of the end zone. Kyle McCord had a blitzing safety in his face when he threw a bullet to Neyor, who made a spectacular adjustment for a twisting touchdown. On the play, it helped that Neyor has 34 3/8-inch arms. That’s the kind of length that adds millions of dollars to offensive tackles’ checking accounts.

The catch came exactly one year after he signed with the team.

“The most challenging thing for me was – I wouldn’t say challenging – but I would say just getting better at it, just the details of the plays, the formations and everything like that, because I came in a little late, so there was a lot of catching up to do,” he said after practice.

“Now that I’ve had a whole offseason under my belt, I feel like I’m in a good spot. And then the little things like keeping my pad level low, practicing good feet, hand-eye coordination, things of that nature, I feel like I’ve trended in the right direction for those things.”

Winner: LB Ty’Ron Hopper

Ty’Ron Hopper had a dominant start to practice. On the trick-play incompletion to Pierre Strong that we referenced earlier, Hopper might have sacked Tyrod Taylor. On the next play, he stuffed Damien Martinez at the line of scrimmage.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper (59) runs through a drill during practice on Tuesday. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Winner: DT Anthony Campbell

Anthony Campbell is the biggest coming-from-out-of-nowhere story in training camp. On one play, he chased Jordan Love out of the pocket. The 6-foot-6, 307-pound defensive tackle showed impressive athleticism in his pursuit.

Later, he ruined a running play and had a sack.

This, as we noted earlier, is from a defensive lineman who went undrafted in 2025 after recording exactly one tackle at the University of Miami in 2024.

Loser: Edge Lukas Van Ness

It’s quite possible the film shows something different than my notebook, but I have notes about 51 (Dani Dennis-Sutton), 57 (Brenton Cox), 99 (Barryn Sorrell) and 53 (Arron Mosby) getting into the backfield or stopping a run at practice. I have no notes about 90, Lukas Van Ness.

Van Ness was a stud during the offseason practices but hasn’t made much happen during three days in pads.

Winner: CB Brandon Cisse

Green Bay Packers cornerback Brandon Cisse grabs the ball during a ball-security drill. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

I also don’t have any notes about No. 2, cornerback Brandon Cisse. That’s a good thing when you’re a cornerback, though.

“He looks like the guy that we evaluated,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said before practice. “I really like how he’s competed. He’s shown up every day. He’s been prepared. I think the coaches are very happy with how he’s been intentional about his preparation.

“You know, even though these guys have come out of some pretty good programs in college, the NFL is different every day is a bit of a challenge. And I think they like how he’s approached it, and certainly I think you guys have seen, too, he’s held up pretty well. Long way to go, but I think he’s had a nice start to camp.”

Loser: CB Carrington Valentine

Carrington Valentine started training camp as the starter. With 30 starts in three seasons, he deserved to be running with the No. 1 defense for the start of camp.

However, Valentine is out with a hamstring injury, which has opened the door for Cisse. It’s not a “long-term” injury, coach Matt LaFleur said. “I’m not going to give you a timeline of when he’ll be back. But it’s a shame because I think he was playing really good football.”

Valentine is entering his final season under contract. He’s in danger of losing a lot of ground in the cornerback competition – and a lot of money on his next contract.

Winner: Starting Safeties

Green Bay’s safeties were tremendous, which is something of an evergreen comment. It’s possible no team can match the combination of Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams and Javon Bullard.

One play from Thursday stands out. It was a trick play, the details of which we can’t share, but it was completely destroyed when Bullard threw a violent shoulder into the lead blocker. Later, he chopped Josh Whyle down after a catch at the line of scrimmage.

What happened today at Packers training camp?

For what Matt LaFleur said would be a "lighter day," a lot happened.

Here is everything I saw, including the winning unit, injuries, lineup notes, key plays and more. ⬇️https://t.co/YoZ3l9L2zd
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 7, 2026

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