Here’s What Happened at Packers-Broncos Joint Practice

Here’s everything you need to know about the Green Bay Packers’ joint practice at the Denver Broncos on Friday, including Jordan Love’s day, the player and player of the day, schoolyard dust-ups, highlights and more.

Aug 16, 2024

Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander / Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Green Bay Packers

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – The Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos held a joint practice on Friday. Jordan Love, no different than in last year’s regular season, struggled to make plays against Denver’s defense.

Facing a different team led to some skirmishes but no punches were thrown and everyone came out healthy.

Here’s what you need to know about the 16th practice of the summer.

Jordan Love’s Day

Jordan Love dissected the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs but had some struggles against Denver’s defense in the 2-minute drill that ended practice.

Before that, Love completed passes of 8 and 7 yards to running back Josh Jacobs on the first possession of the day and just missed a throw over the middle into a tight window.

His first deep ball was incomplete but drew a pass interference call. Later, he hit Jayden Reed with between two defenders for 15 yards. The offense mixed in runs but Love was finding a connection with Jacobs on short passes and ones to the flat.

“I tell Jordan all the time, ‘When in doubt, you know where to go.’ I’ve definitely been enjoying it,” Jacobs said. “Caught a crazy little catch on the sideline in the red zone today, just trying to build on that.”

Love was 7-for-9 for 63 yards with one interception in the first two drives of the day.

After hitting Luke Musgrave for a touchdown in the red-zone drill, Love struggled in the 2-minute offense, going 1-for-4 for 1 yard on a pass to Jacobs. He was nearly picked off by cornerback Riley Moss on a post route, and his pass to Romeo Doubs at the sideline was broken up by Patrick Surtain II.

His second 2-minute possession was a little better, with a 15-yard strike to Grant DuBose and completions of 2 yards to Musgrave and 4 yards to Doubs, but he took a sack and overthrew Bo Melton on fourth-and-10.

“It was good, just seeing a new defense, seeing a defense we saw last year,” Love said. “There were a couple plays here and there that we missed. It wasn’t our best day productivity-wise, but it goes back to being able to learn and grow from that. Seeing this new defense we haven’t really gone against, haven’t gotten to scout, but we’ll be able to go back, watch film and learn from these opportunities.”

Love, who struggled during last year’s loss at the Broncos, finished the day 15-of-26 passing for only 102 yards. He threw one touchdown and one interception.

The numbers aren’t so important, though, as Love said part of practice is “push(ing) the limit” offensively.

“You don’t want to sit there and just throw checkdowns all day. You want to push the ball down the field, try and take those shots,” Love said. “It’s practice. You’re there to work on those situations and kind of test the water and see what you can do and get away with. Because if you don’t try it, you’re never going to try it in a game. It’s definitely that time to try and push the limit.”

Play of the Day

The highlight of Friday wasn’t a great catch or a breakaway run, but instead the reaction to Love getting hit while wearing the red practice jersey, which means don’t touch.

Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto got to Love and appeared to hit him on the arm as he released the ball, which was intercepted by linebacker Alex Singleton. Denver was celebrating but Packers coach Matt LaFleur confronted Bonitto as both sidelines rushed to scrum.

LaFleur wanted to keep fighting out of the scrimmage, but seeing his franchise quarterback getting hit spurred him to nearly ignite a battle.

It turns out it was unnecessary, according to Love, who thought he was hit by a teammate, right tackle Zach Tom, and not Bonitto.

“I’m not sure. That’s one of those ones I’ve got to go back and see,” Love said. “I believe, I was going to throw and Zach Tom got pushed and hit my shoulder. I don’t think it was anything with the D-line or anything like that. Just friendly fire.”

Cooler heads prevailed and, other than a couple of other minor skirmishes, including a pushing match between Packers long snapper Matt Orzech and Broncos safety Devon Key and another one involving tight end Tyler Davis Denver defensive lineman Elijah Garcia, LaFleur and Broncos coach Sean Payton got the fight-free practice they desired.

Player of the Day

Running back Josh Jacobs was on the field for three snaps in last week’s win at Cleveland. He is not expected to play in Sunday night’s preseason game at Denver.

So, the coaches gave him a heavy workload, both run and pass, against the Broncos. As the passing game struggled, Jacobs was Green Bay’s best offensive weapon.

“Sh**, it just felt like another day of practice today,” Jacobs said. “Whenever it's time to compete, I always want to be out on the field, so however that looks like, I feel like I had a lot of good runs today. Time to check film, see what I’ve got to work on.”

Packers Scrimmage Highlights

- Undrafted rookie receiver Dimitri Stanley, who grew up in Colorado as the son of former Packers receiver Walter Stanley, made a great catch in one of the final possessions before the 2-minute offense, stretching out over the middle between defenders to come away with the pass from Love.

- Running back Josh Jacobs was heavily involved in the passing game and got a pass from Love along the sidelines when he escaped a jam at the line of scrimmage. Making the catch a second earlier would have sprung Jacobs to the end zone.

- The defensive backups struggled against Denver’s red zone offense. Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix, who was sharp all day, threw two touchdown passes and completed another inside the 5. The Packers also struggled to stop the running game, which also produced a rushing touchdown.

- Green Bay’s defensive ends, as has been the case throughout training camp, were disruptive. Rashan Gary had a sack and drew a holding penalty, and Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare had sacks, as well. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark, in a great-vs.-great battle, had a couple tackles for losses against Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz.

“I think this was a good day for us, cornerback Jaire Alexander said. “I think there was a lot to learn from. I think there’s things we could’ve been better at. All in all, this is what we do it for. We do it to improve.”

- Backup quarterback Sean Clifford didn’t fare any better than Love in the 2-minute offense. He nearly had a pass picked off and then was intercepted by cornerback Reese Taylor. Before the 2-minute drill, Clifford had a nice completion on his first attempt that was wiped out with an illegal motion call.

- Jordan Love looked sharp in the 7-on-7 drills at the start of the scrimmage. He was 6-for-7 and hit passes of 15, 8 and 15 yards to Jayden Reed, 16 yards to Romeo Doubs and 10 yards to Dontayvion Wicks. He also drew a pass interference call on Denver.

- Love did well when the offense used a spread formation, hitting Jacobs for 12 yards and Reed for 15, and kept things balanced with a couple of runs by Jacobs.

- Rookie QB Michael Pratt missed a wide-open Bo Melton 15 yards downfield when he threw short in his first work in the scrimmage.

- The punt coverage team would have had a turnover in a game situation after Denver returner bobbled the booming kick by Daniel Whelan.

- It was a good day for the kickers, for a change. Anders Carlson, Greg Joseph and Alex Hale each had two attempts. Carlson was good from 45 and 53, Joseph was good from 46 and 52 and Hale was good from 47 on his only official attempt. His attempt from 51 was blocked but the Broncos were offside and the drill ended.

Packers Injury Report

New injuries: None.

Also missed practice: None.

Returned to practice: None.

Old injuries: RB MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring), RB Jarveon Howard (ankle), DE Keshawn Banks (groin), LB Edgerrin Cooper (hip).

The only significant update was rookie linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper, who didn’t play at Cleveland due to an ankle injury, took part in individual drills in Green Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday and got some 11-on-11 reps vs. the Broncos.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

After Sunday’s preseason game at the Broncos, the Packers will return to Green Bay for their final two open-to-the-public practices of the summer.

First, it’ll be a typical Packers vs. Packers day on Tuesday, with the start time moved from the usual 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Finally, it will be a Packers vs. Ravens joint practice at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday in Green Bay.

After that, the big shades will be pulled and fan access will be cut off. Green Bay will host the Ravens in the preseason finale at noon Saturday. On Tuesday, the team will begin its journey to picking its initial 53-man roster.

Quote of the Day

Running back Josh Jacobs on facing Denver again after playing them twice a year with the Raiders:

“I'm not going to say what I want to say but it’s the Broncos, man. Obviously, they got a new head coach and, obviously, I like him as a person and as a coach. I know him. Seeing them out here, I can tell that they got a different type of energy out here in the sense of just like a little bit of juice. But, at the end of the day, whenever I'm going against anybody, I like me, so I'm going to pick me any time.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

The ability to impact a game as a receiver and blocker that #Packers WR Grant DuBose showed against the Browns is the same he displayed while in college. ⬇️https://t.co/ZUdPGD3GLI
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 16, 2024

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Published Aug 16, 2024|Modified Aug 16, 2024