Here’s What Happened at Practice 5 of Packers Training Camp

Jordan Love was back, the pads were on and the intensity was cranked up at Green Bay Packers training camp on Saturday.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) slaps hands with fans as he rides a bike to training camp on Saturday. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Saturday was the biggest day of Week 1 of Green Bay Packers training camp, with quarterback Jordan Love making his debut after signing a $220 million contract extension and the debut of pads leading to some chippy moments on Ray Nitschke Field.

Here’s what you need to know about the fifth practice of Packers training camp.

Jordan Love’s Day

After taking a bike to practice and trotting onto the field to the cheers of the fans filling the bleachers and lining the streets, Jordan Love looked a lot like a quarterback who had missed the first four practices. Love started 0-for-4 and 1-of-8.

His fourth pass was intercepted, a botched screen in which running back AJ Dillon and tight end Luke Musgrave collided and linebacker Quay Walker made a diving interception. His lone completion to start practice was a short pass to Jayden Reed in which Jaire Alexander could have delivered a crunching blow.

However, Love got cooking with five consecutive completions. He rifled one over the middle to Christian Watson for a chunk gain against Xavier McKinney. Next, he gathered a low snap and flicked a short pass over the middle to Romeo Doubs for a big gain.

Love got two opportunities to run a 2-minute drill. The first didn’t go anywhere; the second wound up in the end zone when Love zipped an out to Doubs against Eric Stokes for a 10-yard touchdown.

Added together, Love was 11-of-20.

Jordan Love in slow-mo. pic.twitter.com/6J9Vt9GwXz

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 27, 2024

Play of the Day

The big play of the 2-minute drill was the first play, with Jordan Love’s bomb to Christian Watson resulting in a 47-yard gain.

“Yeah, it felt good,” Love said. “It felt good to be able to hit Christian in stride on a deep ball. I felt like the defense, they’ve been doing such a great job since we started camp just kind of sitting on the routes and jumping some things. Christian is the speed of the team right there. To be able to him in stride and him make that play, it felt good to connect on that first day back, for sure.”

The matchup was Watson against Eric Stokes. Love got to the line of scrimmage and knew where he wanted to go with the ball. Watson won at the line of scrimmage in a battle between two of the fastest players on the roster.

“I couldn’t ask for a better ball on that one. That was a dot,” Watson said.

He added: “I felt like I was looking at the ball for like 30 seconds. It felt like it was floating up there forever. Honestly, all I had to do was run straight on that play and the ball dropped into my hands at that point.”

Player of the Day

Punter Daniel Whelan had an incredible day. Other than a couple of off-target snaps, he booted one bomb after another. It’s little wonder why the Packers haven’t added a challenger. After a strong finish to last season, the job belongs to Whelan.

Really, though, who else can it be but Jordan Love?

Not that Love was great. The start of practice was rather terrible. But the offense had been going nowhere fast for four days with Sean Clifford at the controls. Receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, in particular, were off to quiet starts.

“Get a little rhythm,” Doubs said. “Obviously, Jordan’s been in this system for some time, so he knows the ins and outs of the offense. It’s nice to have him back out there.”

He added: “Jordan’s our quarterback. … His aura speaks volumes. I don’t want to overstate some things, but it was good to have him back out there.”

Packers Injury Report

New injuries: None.

Old injuries: RB MarShawn Lloyd (hip), CB Robert Rochell (calf).

Also did not practice: C Josh Myers (personal).

PUP: TE Tucker Kraft (pectoral).

Packers Practice Highlights

- Saturday marked the first full-pads practice. The intensity was cranked up to 11 on the dial.

Early, running back Josh Jacobs had a nice gain on a run up the middle. For some reason, nickel corner Keisean Nixon was furious and was in the middle of the first fracas of camp.

Ultimately, Nixon was without his helmet as he was pulled away from the melee by Jaire Alexander, and receiver Dontayvion Wicks was taken out for a play.

“It’s just football,” Wicks said. “First padded day, a lot of animosity built up because the last few practices there’s been a lot of talking toward each other. It happened, you move on.”

A few plays later, rookie right tackle Travis Glover took defensive end Arron Mosby to the turf. Glover starred over Mosby before heading back to the huddle. Mosby got up and shoved him, setting off another pushing-and-shoving match.

As both sides returned to the huddle, Rashan Gary – who wasn’t involved in the action – was screaming at coach Matt LaFleur.

From there, cooler heads prevailed.

“It’s football, man,” rookie safety Javon Bullard said with a smile. “All these guys in this locker room are competitors. They’re going to compete at a high level, so it might get a little chippy here and there, but it’s all love at the end of the day.”

- Practice couldn’t have started any worse for the offense, even with the debut of Jordan Love. Love’s first pass sailed over Wicks’ head, linebacker Isaiah McDuffie stuffed AJ Dillon at the line and Love’s pass into the flat to Jayden Reed was almost intercepted by Jaire Alexander, who made a great read.

- After those plays, the backups came in. Two runs by Emanuel Wilson went nowhere – guard Royce Newman got scolded for missing a block on one and Eric Wilson sliced into the backfield for the next. One play later, defensive end Deslin Alexandre’s spin move was rewarded with a tackle at the line.

- It took until the eighth play for something truly positive to happen for the offense. A jet sweep to Dimitri Stanley resulted in a big gain up the left sideline. A violent stiff-arm toward the end of the run sent safety Benny Sapp tumbling to the turf.

- The pass rush remained strong. On one, defensive tackle Karl Brooks stormed past rookie lineman Jacob Monk to send quarterback Jacob Eason scurrying from the pocket. He did it again against the No. 1 offensive line, with Love escaping and completing a short pass to Josh Jacobs. On another, Gary blew past Andre Dillard to force a checkdown to Jacobs; Wilson cleaned it up for a tackle for loss.

- This was by far Bullard’s most productive day. He broke up a pass over the middle from Love to Christian Watson and had a pick-six against Eason.

“They kind of ran a reload but they went back to huddle and tried to dial it up a different way, so it was play recognition,” Bullard said of the interception. “They had run a play like it previously before so knowing what I saw the first time, I just trusted it.”

- It was rookie James Turner’s day to kick field goals. He made 5-of-7 attempts, going wide left from 47 yards and drilling the top of the left upright from 49 but making three from 50-plus yards. He is 13-of-19 in his three appearances.

Two-Minute Drills

The situation was ball on the 30-yard line with 1:35 on the clock and one timeout.

- Jordan Love’s first 2-minute drill was a dud. Keisean Nixon broke up back-to-back passes to Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed. On third down, Love’s pass into the flat resulted in a minimal gain to Luke Musgrave, who was clobbered by Javon Bullard.

“We’ve got shoulder pads on, man,” Bullard said. “Football’s finally here. Really just trying to do my best job. Just trying to do my best job, play within the rules, play within the practice scheme and just do my job.”

He added: “You don’t play football without shoulder pads. It ain’t real football yet. So, the fact that we put them on today, I just feel like it’s finally football. We’ve been playing football for a while now but it wasn’t football yet, you know? When you put all your gear on – your shoulder pads, your knee pads, your thigh pads and things like that – now it’s real football. Coming in today with that mindset that it was actually going to be one of them days.”

- Love got a second chance and delivered. It started with the aforementioned 47-yard bomb to Christian Watson against Eric Stokes, a pair of short completions to Musgrave and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs against Stokes.

- Sean Clifford led the backups’ successful drive. Completions to running back Emanuel Wilson, tight end Ben Sims, Wilson again and Dimitri Stanley pushed the ball across midfield, and a 10-yard completion to Samori Toure moved the ball to the 30. After an incomplete pass to Toure and a breakup by Gemon Green made it third-and-10, tight end Luke Wilson dropped a pass over the middle.

James Turner booted field goals of 51 and 53 yards to end practice.

Packers Lineup Notes

- With center Josh Myers missing a second consecutive practice due to personal reasons, the No. 1 offensive line again was Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Sean Rhyan moving from right guard to left guard, Elgton Jenkins moving from left guard to center, rookie Jordan Morgan at right guard and Kadeem Telfort at right tackle.

Telfort replaced former Eagles first-round pick Andre Dillard a couple days ago, but Dillard got some first-team action, as well. That includes the closing 2-minute drills.

- With the backups, rookie Jacob Monk and veteran Lecitus Smith swap between center and guard every series.

- At safety, rookie Javon Bullard lined up with veteran Xavier McKinney again. It was McKinney and Bullard for the first, third and fifth practices, McKinney and rookie Evan Williams for the second practice and McKinney and Anthony Johnson for the fourth practice.

- There were no changes at cornerback, with Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes the No. 1 tandem, or linebacker, with Eric Wilson continuing to get the first snaps ahead of rookie Edgerrin Cooper.

- While Quay Walker and Cooper have gotten some nickel snaps together, it was Walker and veteran Isaiah McDuffie during the starters vs. starters 2-minute drill.

- Here was an interesting nickel package of defensive backs: Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine at cornerback, Bullard in the slot and Johnson and Williams at safety.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers will practice again at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. After an off-day on Monday, the team will practice at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That will set the stage for next Saturday’s Family Night.

Quote of the Day

Jordan Love, on his road to becoming the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL:

“It’s all about the work. I’ve been here. I’ve been with the Packers putting in the work in the shadows, in the background, being out there in practice every day and trying to just work on my craft and learn.

“Obviously, was blessed and fortunate to be behind one of the best to do it and learned so much in my time with Aaron (Rodgers), and kind of just played the waiting game. There was a lot of questions going into last year. I just had to go out there with my team and be the best player I could be and kind of have my play speak for itself and, like you said, now we’re here. It’s definitely a blessing.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

The truth will set you free.

My commentary on Jordan Love's contract extension with the #Packers. ⬇️https://t.co/qTgHHnVxlm

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 27, 2024

Jordan Love’s contract: The “right stuff” | What Brian Gutekunst said | What Matt LaFleur said | Record-setting extension | I was wrong 

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