Here’s What Happened at Practice 15 of Packers Training Camp
![Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) receives a handoff from quarterback Jordan Love at training camp on Wednesday. Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) receives a handoff from quarterback Jordan Love at training camp on Wednesday.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3631,h_2042,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/packer_central/01j59vje68xk3y55xrhr.jpg)
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The offense went 0-2 during a pair of chaotic 2-minute drills that wrapped up Wednesday’s practice at Green Bay Packers training camp.
With a trip to Denver to face the Broncos coming up, here’s what you need to know about the 15th practice of the summer.
Jordan Love’s Day
The highlight of practice was Jordan Love directing a starters vs. starters 2-minute drill. The offense started at the 35-yard line with 1:40 on the clock, zero timeouts and needing a touchdown.
Love completed his first four passes: 7 yards to Romeo Doubs, 3 yards to Josh Jacobs, 8 more to Jacobs on a one-handed catch and 12 yards to tight end Luke Musgrave against linebacker Isaiah McDuffie to move the ball to the defense’s 35 and stop the clock with 56 seconds to go.
After Devonte Wyatt pressured Love into a throwaway, Love hit Watson for 10 to the 25. Love chose not to clock the ball; instead, he got the offense to the line and ran a play, which was an incomplete pass to Watson with 27 seconds to go. On second down, Love hit Musgrave over the middle for 6. With the clock ticking away, Love hurried to the line and fired a slant to Dontayvion Wicks for 8 yards to the 11.
Love rushed the offense to the line but time expired.
In his lone red-zone series, Love connected with Tucker Kraft for a gain of 15 to the 2 on third-and-8. It was a scripted period, so the offense had first-and-goal at the 8. After Jaire Alexander broke up a pass and Xavier McKinney stuffed AJ Dillon, Love hit Wicks for the touchdown against Corey Ballentine. Wicks ran a great route to get open and showed strong hands on the catch.
In the next period, Love drew the defense offside. With a free play, he fired a ball up the seam but linebacker Isaiah McDuffie deflected the pass and Quay Walker intercepted. Love was intercepted on the next play by Alexander. More on that play later.
Love finished 13-of-19 passing.
Player of the Day
Cornerback Jaire Alexander had one of those vintage Alexander kind of days.
After missing the Cleveland game for personal reasons and giving up a few completions on Tuesday, Alexander was an eraser on Wednesday.
First, in the red-zone period, Romeo Doubs ran a fade against Alexander but Alexander deflected Jordan Love’s pass.
In the next period, Preston Smith applied pressure on Love, who stepped up in the pocket and tried to hit tight end Luke Musgrave downfield to the left. The ball was a bit of a wobbler and Alexander grabbed the interception.
The runner-up is right tackle Zach Tom, who is easy to forget about because he is so incredibly good. Rashan Gary, who dominated the first half of camp, hasn’t made much headway since Tom returned from his torn pectoral.
Play of the Day
Usually, the Play of the Day is a highlight-reel sort of play. This one was all about the chaos.
Sean Clifford ran the backups’ 2-minute drill. Just like the aforementioned starters’ 2-minute drill, the offense started at the 35 with 1:40 on the clock and zero timeouts.
Clifford started off hot with completions of 13 yards to receiver Grant DuBose, 23 yards to tight end Ben Sims, 9 yards to running back Ellis Merriweather and 8 yards to DuBose, which moved the ball to the 12. On first down, Clifford’s checkdown to Emanuel Wilson was incomplete. On second down, his pass to Samori Toure was caught just out of bounds with 22 seconds remaining.
On third-and-10, defensive lineman Spencer Waege and linebacker Christian Young came free up the middle. The play was called a sack. With no timeouts, the clock kept running.
Because everyone usually gets the same situation, Clifford assumed he needed a touchdown. Rather, he only needed a field goal.
So, the field-goal unit sprinted onto the field while a member of the equipment staff tried to pull the movable goal posts into position as the final seconds ticked away. The posts were crooked as Greg Joseph attempted a field goal of about 35 yards. The kick was wide right, and would have been regardless of if the posts were placed properly at the snap.
“It’s on me,” Clifford said. “I thought that we were in the same situation as Jordan where we were down seven and we were down three. I need to check but I just assumed that we were down seven, so I was thinking a little bit differently than I probably would’ve thought if we were down three, which is a bummer because it looked weird at the end.
“That’s just knowing the situation and being able to relay that with the coaches. I should have checked, ‘Hey, same deal here?’ I thought we moved it pretty efficiently, regardless. I’m happy about it. I think I would’ve done something probably different on that last play if I would’ve known but that’s on me.”
Packers Injury Report
New injuries: None.
Also missed practice: None.
Returned to practice: LB Quay Walker (dropped out on Tuesday), CB Carrington Valentine (hamstring), G/C Jacob Monk (dropped out on Tuesday).
Old injuries: RB MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring), RB Jarveon Howard (ankle), DE Keshawn Banks (groin), LB Edgerrin Cooper (hip).
Valentine was limited to individual drills after missing the last two weeks. He looked good while working with a trainer on backpedaling and then exploding forward for interceptions.
“I feel like I got a little bit of freedom, a little bit of a taste of what freedom tastes like,” Valentine said. “It was good, though. Just to get back on the grass, I love football, especially when something like that happens, it kind of gets taken away from you for a little bit. So just to get back out there, it felt great.”
Offensive lineman Jordan Morgan, who returned to practice on Tuesday after missing a week with a shoulder injury, took part in only individual drills. He wore a harness on his left shoulder.
“I’m feeling good,” he said.
Packers Practice Highlights
- Practice started with one-on-ones. In the pass-blocking/pass-rushing drill, Andre Dillard beat Rashan Gary while at right tackle and Arron Mosby while at left tackle. For the No. 1 offensive line, Rasheed Walker beat Preston Smith, Elgton Jenkins beat Devonte Wyatt, Josh Myers put TJ Slaton on the ground and Sean Rhyan beat Kenny Clark. Right tackle Zach Tom did not take any reps.
- In linebackers against running backs, Quay Walker broke up a pass intended for Josh Jacobs on their first rep but Jacobs beat him on their second. Later, Walker beat Ellis Merriweather on a blitz.
- During the third play of 11-on-11, Eric Wilson stopped Jacobs near the line of scrimmage. As the play ended, assistant defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase went sprinting toward the action to give a high-five to TJ Slaton. Oghobaase did the same thing to Jonathan Ford later in practice.
- This would have been a heck of a matchup in a truly live setting: On the next play, Jordan Love threw a quick pass to the flat to tight end Tucker Kraft. Cornerback Jaire Alexander was there to make the play. Would Kraft have run over Alexander or would Alexander have delivered a jarring blow?
- Defensive end Kingsley Enagbare beat right tackle Kadeem Telfort to get a tackle for loss against Emanuel Wilson. Rookie Travis Glover replaced Telfort forthe next snap.
- The Packers have run several two-back snaps this week with Jacobs and AJ Dillon in the backfield.
- Receiver Dontayvion Wicks shook his man on an out for what should have been an easy completion. It was not, though, because linebacker Eric Wilson got a great drop to get in the window.
- On the next play, Love booted to his left and connected with Dillon, who was dropped by safety Evan Williams.
- Here’s something that happens with regularity: Devonte Wyatt got in the backfield in the blink of an eye for a “sack.”
- On the next play, Sean Clifford threw a quick pass to Wicks but Malik Heath couldn’t block cornerback Robert Rochell.
- On a third-and-3, Michael Pratt threw an excellent pass to Samori Toure, but Williams hit Toure for the breakup.
- This was almost the Play of the Day. On third-and-5, Pratt threw deep to Bo Melton against cornerback Kalen King. Melton is one of the fastest players on the team while King plunged to the third-to-last pick in the draft due in part to a sluggish 40 time. But King was right there to prevent the completion.
- Last year, 30 running backs were targeted at least 40 times in the passing game. Jacobs was 25th in drop rate (Aaron Jones was tied for 28th). On a third-and-4, Jacobs had a bad drop. He has caught the ball well all summer, though.
- Defensive tackle Spencer Waege, who had the “sack” on the Clifford 2-minute drill, forced Clifford to throw it to the sideline on a bootleg.
- Finally, the field goals. It was not a good day for either kicker. Anders Carlson was 4-of-6, with misses from 41 (right) and 55 (short). Greg Joseph was 3-of-7, with misses from 45 (left upright), 55 (short), 49 (right) and 35 (right).
For camp, Carlson is 47-of-59 at practice (79.7 percent) and 2-of-2 in the preseason while Joseph is 49-of-60 at practice (81.7 percent) and 1-of-1 in the preseason.
Packers Lineup Notes
- The Packers’ updated depth chart lists rookie Jordan Morgan and third-year player Sean Rhyan as co-starters at right guard. With Morgan coming back from his shoulder injury, Rhyan played nothing but right guard.
- It was a mix-and-match start of the day in the secondary. Within the first half-doze plays, the Packers lined up with Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes at corner, Alexander and Keisean Nixon at corner, Xavier McKinney and Javon Bullard at safety and McKinney and Evan Williams at safety.
- Increasingly, Kalen King has received more and more of the No. 2 reps in the slot.
Packers Training Camp Schedule
The Packers will travel to Denver on Thursday for their joint practice against the Broncos on Friday, which will begin at 11 a.m. Central.
There are only two more practices open to fans. Tuesday’s practice has been moved to 2:30 p.m. The final practice of camp, the joint session against the Baltimore Ravens, will start at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Quote of the Day
Quarterback Sean Clifford on his penchant for playing better in games than at practice:
“I try to put my best foot forward every single day. I do think that when the lights come on, it’s a little bit different for me. I don’t know, it’s just an excitement level. I do like to think of myself as a gamer, in a way, and I rally around the team and the energy, and the energy’s always super-high on gamedays. Probably something I continue to work on to bring that same juice every single day at practice, which I do my best to do.”
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