GREEN BAY, Wis. — It’s joint practice week for the Green Bay Packers, who fly to Denver for a Friday session with the Broncos ahead of Sunday night’s second preseason game.
The Packers practiced Tuesday in Green Bay in only half pads and will do so again Wednesday in full pads before holding a walkthrough Thursday morning and then taking off. Coach Matt LaFleur said most of the starters won’t play on Sunday night and will instead get their work in joint practice.
Here are 10 things to know from Tuesday’s two-hour practice at Ray Nitschke Field.
1. Quarterback Jordan Love’s deep ball is still a work in progress, but he hit on a couple more Tuesday during practice after connecting with wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks for a 65-yard touchdown on the third play of the preseason opener. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Love completed 34.7 percent of his passes that traveled at least 25 yards in the air last season, which ranked 15th in the NFL. Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said Monday he wants that percentage to be around 50. On Tuesday, Love lofted a perfect ball down the left sideline for about 30 yards to receiver Jayden Reed, fitting it between the trailing safety Javon Bullard and oncoming safety Xavier McKinney.
Love also hit a bomb down the middle to wideout Christian Watson with cornerback Eric Stokes in coverage while Watson’s helmet fell off, though the ball was underthrown and the completion was more a credit to Watson’s ability to win a jump ball, much like Love’s throw to Watson for 57 yards on the first play from scrimmage against the Lions last Thanksgiving. Then Love threw short of wide receiver Romeo Doubs deep down the left sideline on a deep pass and Stokes turned his head in time for the pass breakup. Love has the arm talent and decision-making to make these plays happen, but some fine-tuning is still needed.
“I think just working it, just getting more reps at it, understanding who my guys are out there, who I’m throwing it to, obviously trying to put the ball in there where they have a chance to catch it,” Love said. “But understanding who’s out there — a guy like Christian, maybe not put as much air on it because he’s gonna run fast, but I think it’s just work, just continue to work it, get more comfortable, get more confidence throwing it.”
2. For the first time in camp, rookie seventh-round quarterback Michael Pratt was behind center with the No. 2 unit for the red zone and end-of-half drills to finish practice. It’s unclear whether Pratt replaced Sean Clifford with the group because of injury, performance (Clifford threw two interceptions earlier in practice) or the Packers just wanted to see Pratt with the twos for another reason, but it was a notable change nonetheless because Pratt’s deep completion to tight end Ben Sims down the seam set up a 44-yard drill-winning field goal by kicker Alex Hale to end the day.
Asked Monday about Pratt’s performance in the preseason opener, longtime Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said, “He did a good job when he got in there. He’s still growing and learning. At some point, after you do it a number of times, the game slows down for you and you kind of see things in slow motion. I don’t think he’s quite there yet, but he’s a hard worker. He studies hard and he did some good things out there.”
3. Linebacker Quay Walker dropped out of practice early and watched from the sideline, but his absence isn’t thought to be anything serious. In his place, undrafted rookie Ralen Goforth and veteran Kristian Welch played with the starters alongside Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson (rookies Edgerrin Cooper and Ty’Ron Hopper are nursing injuries, though Hopper practiced in some capacity). Welch had an ideal opportunity for an interception of Love when the starting quarterback threw a pass off play action right to him over the middle, but he dropped it.
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4. Cornerback Keisean Nixon had a nice rep against Reed to force an incompletion down the seam on a Love pass attempt. It’s plays like that that explain why Nixon tweeted, “lol I’m the nickel get over it” followed by two laughing emojis. It’s unclear what exactly Nixon was responding to, perhaps calls for Bullard to start at nickel after Nixon was in coverage for a chunk gain against the Browns on Saturday. During practice, Bullard has been on the field in dime with Nixon also in the slot while rookie safety Evan Williams is back deep with McKinney.
5. Williams has been one of the most impressive performers in camp thus far and, even if he doesn’t start over Bullard, he might force the coaching staff’s hand to find him playing time. He has intercepted four passes in practice and forced a fumble in the exhibition opener against the Browns, but it was his run defense on Tuesday that stood out on one play. Williams fought through a block to close off the edge against a Josh Jacobs outside run for minimal to no gain. Williams celebrated emphatically after the play. He’ll have more chances to make noise in joint practice on Friday and in the game on Sunday against his college quarterback Bo Nix.
“Really sure tackler. Smart,” Stokes said of Williams. “Aggressive and always around the ball. You love those intangibles as a safety, so it’s perfect.”
6. It’s interesting to watch Cooper, the second-round rookie linebacker, even as he doesn’t practice. During team drills, Cooper doesn’t wear any pads but still has a helmet on and stands well behind the secondary. He gets set in a stance as if he’s in the play and either drops back or goes forward after the snap. LaFleur wouldn’t divulge any specifics this week about Cooper’s return timetable. He’s missed about two weeks of practice with a hip injury.
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7. Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph didn’t kick on Tuesday, so undrafted rookie Alex Hale took all the reps for the day once again. Let’s just say the Packers might be in business for a new practice squad kicker soon. That’s assuming Hale is auditioning for that role if the Packers think Carlson or Joseph will get claimed after they release one in two weeks. Hale went 5-for-9 on field-goal attempts with makes from 26, 33, 41, 44 and 46 yards and consecutive misses from 47, 51, 54 and 56 yards, with the 56-yarder missing about 10 yards wide right. Carlson and Joseph had their joint rough day recently in what LaFleur called a “tornado,” but the wind was nowhere near that strength on Tuesday.
#Packers RB AJ Dillon’s message for all @X “keyboard warriors”:
“I graded 98%, try to go out & do more than what I did — If you don’t live inside my house, your opinion is so secondary to me I couldn’t be bothered with it — you can’t do what we’re doing just enjoy & watch” pic.twitter.com/8PI1Y86MHU
— Cody Krupp (@CodyWKrupp) August 13, 2024
8. Cornerback Jaire Alexander returned to practice after missing Saturday’s game because of a personal matter. Offensive tackle Donovan Jennings, Hopper, right guard Jordan Morgan and defensive end Deslin Alexandre also returned to practice in some capacity, while running back Jarveon Howard’s ankle is a new injury. Fellow rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd also didn’t practice because of the hamstring injury he suffered in Cleveland. He wore a sleeve on his left leg and when asked before practice if Lloyd wouldn’t practice only Tuesday or the entire week, LaFleur only said, “He will not be practicing.” Rookie offensive lineman Jacob Monk also dropped out of practice but would not divulge why in the locker room, saying only, “It’s nothing big. It’s all good.”
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9. Defensive tackle T.J. Slaton had a monstrous swat of Pratt’s pass during the backups’ red zone drill near the end of practice. After fellow defensive linemen Lukas Van Ness, Devonte Wyatt and Colby Wooden made splash plays against the Browns on Saturday, Slaton got his Tuesday in what continues to be an impressive camp for Green Bay’s young defensive linemen.
“Once we go live and that rush comes alive, I mean … I feel it now just in practice when I’m not live, so I’m definitely excited to see them in games going against different quarterbacks,” Love said. “I know they’re going to give QBs a lot of fits and so I’m very excited to see that.”
10. With the ball at the opposing 18-yard line, 22 seconds left, no timeouts and a 0-0 score during what appeared to be an end-of-half drill, the No. 1 offense took only two plays (with a spike in between) to score a touchdown. Love hit Wicks for 16 yards on an in-breaking route and then found Doubs wide open in the flat for a 2-yard touchdown, which Doubs followed with a leaping high-five on the sideline. However, the next end-of-practice drill didn’t go quite as well. The offense had the ball at its 45-yard line in a scoreless game with no timeouts and 40 seconds left. The Love-led group went three-and-out after Love failed to lead Wicks enough on another deep in-breaker and Alexander broke up the pass, Love threw incomplete deep pass down the left side, a false start and Love’s go ball for running back AJ Dillon with Eric Wilson in coverage was thrown too far.
(Photo: Jeff Lange / USA Today)
