Here’s What Happened at Practice 9 of Packers Training Camp

Thursday at Green Bay Packers training camp was filled with big plays, standout performances and a huge development on special teams.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed slaps hands with fans at training camp on Wednesday. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK

 

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Dontayvion Wicks had a big day but was kept out of the end zone during the biggest play of Green Bay Packers training camp on Thursday.

Here’s everything you need to know about the ninth practice of camp, including Jordan Love’s best day of the summer and a significant turn of events in the kicking competition.

Jordan Love’s Day

Jordan Love is getting heated up. It started with the second half of Wednesday’s practice and continued throughout Thursday.

Love finished 15-of-20. He wasn’t close to throwing an interception and had a few “wow” throws.

During a third-down period, he found Christian Watson matched against linebacker Quay Walker. There was nothing wrong with Walker’s coverage. It was excellent. And it didn’t matter. Love connected with Watson between Walker and safeties Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams for a gain of about 30. The ball couldn’t have been placed any better had Love sprinted downfield and placed it directly in Wicks’ hands.

Love struck again late in practice. During the second play of a 2-minute drill, he fired a deep ball to Dontayvion Wicks against cornerback Eric Stokes. Stokes’ coverage was solid but Love’s pass went over his shoulder and right to Wicks along the sideline for a gain of 26.

Player of the Day

Second-year receiver Dontayvion Wicks was guilty of a few too many drops over the last handful of practices. On his first opportunity on Thursday, it appeared he misjudged a deep ball from Jordan Love.

Otherwise, he was superb in showing why he could be a second-year breakout star.

During the middle of practice, he made back-to-back catches over the middle of the field. On the first, it appeared linebacker Isaiah McDuffie had a chance to make a play on the ball. Instead, Wicks adjusted his route, made the catch and took off for additional yards. He caught another pass against McDuffie on the next play.

“It’s all just having the feel for where the defender’s at and for where we’re on the field,” Wicks said of his first catch. “It’s something I’ve been working on.”

The practice-ending 2-minute drill was The Wicks Show. With the ball starting on the 45 with 1 minute on the clock, Wicks was targeted four times by Love. The first gained 13 and the second gained 26, with Wicks doing a great job in getting his feet down inbounds while tumbling to the turf.

“It was the play call,” Wicks said. “Get open. Him putting his trust in me to go up and go get it. I knew it was close to the sideline, so I was just trying to get my feet in and attack the ball.”

The big gain put the ball in scoring position. On fourth-and-1 from the 7, Wicks broke open for what would have been a touchdown had Keisean Nixon not grabbed the back of Wicks’ jersey for pass interference.

That set up a final play from the 1, which we’ll get into in a moment.

Said Wicks of his chemistry with Love: “Chemistry we’ve gained, chemistry every day going out there to improve, talking about what we’re seeing, getting on the same page with the quarterback, that’s the best thing and just gaining his trust for him to want to throw the ball at all to (me).”

Play of the Day

The 2-minute drill came down to one play from the 1. Jordan Love fired the ball to the left to Wicks. Just as he started to turn upfield, he was hit relatively hard by cornerback Jaire Alexander and was driven backward and out of bounds by Alexander and Keisean Nixon.

As the defense celebrated the “win” in the drill, Alexander and Wicks exchanged a few words.

“It wasn’t live, so it wasn’t expected,” Wicks, still sounding a bit upset over what happened, said of the hit.

Packers Injury Report

New injuries: RB Josh Jacobs (groin), CB Don Callas (hamstring), LB Edgerrin Cooper (hip).

Returned to practice: Nobody.

Old injuries:  CB Carrington Valentine (hamstring), G Donovan Jennings (knee), DE Deslin Alexandre (lower leg), DE Keshawn Banks (groin).

Also did not practice: C Josh Myers (personal), DE Rashan Gary (rest), DE Preston Smith (rest), TE Tyler Davis (rest) and G Elgton Jenkins (rest).

PUP:  TE Tucker Kraft (pectoral).

What do the latest injuries mean for #Packers Family Night? ⬇️https://t.co/St7Rkxb5CU

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 1, 2024

Packers Practice Highlights

- The biggest development came during the field-goal periods. Greg Joseph, who was signed in free agency, had a second consecutive perfect day. He went 7-for-7, including makes from 51 and 58 yards. Incumbent Anders Carlson’s strong start to camp is a distant memory. He went 5-of-7, hitting the left upright from 47 and missing well to the left from 49.

“I don't look at it as 7-for-7. It's 1-for-1 times by seven in my head,” Joseph said. “So, keeping that mindset and then, obviously, trying to stay in that groove and then taking that mindset to preseason.”

Joseph has made 14 in a row to run his camp-long total to 29-of-31 (93.5 percent). Carlson is 25-of-31 (80.6 percent).

- On one of the first plays of the day, rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd bounced a run to the left. The crowd cheered as Lloyd raced to the end zone for a long touchdown, though he might have been touched down by cornerback Corey Ballentine after a gain of about 5. Regardless, his speed could be a major weapon.

“I want to have that playmaker mentality, being able to make defenders miss,” Lloyd said. “When I’m going, I’m going. That’s something I really want to showcase a lot. Just being able to be out there and put it into fruition and just allow myself to put that on film was pretty cool.”

- A jet sweep to Jayden Reed didn’t go anywhere because cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Keisean Nixon beat their blockers. Later, another jet sweep to Reed ran right into the mitts of defensive end Kingsley Enagbare.

- Rookie center/guard Jacob Monk got his first first-team snaps of the summer. One of his early snaps wound up on the ground; it’s impossible to know whether it was the fault of Monk or quarterback Sean Clifford. Overall, it was a rough introduction to life against NFL starting defensive linemen.

- Linebacker Eric Wilson’s strong start to training camp continued. On the second play of the day, he snuffed out a swing pass to AJ Dillon. Later, he stopped Lloyd in the backfield.

- Running back Emanuel Wilson had a big run around right end; rookie Travis Glover was the right tackle on the play.

- The offense converted just 2-of-6 during a third-down period. On the final play, a third-and-9, safety Javon Bullard and cornerback Corey Ballentine swarmed a screen to Dillon.

- A pair of second-team linebackers, rookie Ty’Ron Hopper and veteran Kristian Welch, had big days against the run. Welch plastered Wilson on one up-the-middle attempt.

- Safety Tyler Coyle, an impressive prospect, had a pick-six against quarterback Jacob Eason.

“Honestly, I’d seen that route a couple times,” Coyle said. “It was a double slant and I went in, shot the gap and made my opportunity.”

The play “means a lot. It just shows the coaches that I know exactly what I’m doing.”

- Defensive end Kenneth Odumegwu was part of one of the biggest plays of the day. The African import raced around left tackle Kadeem Telfort for what would have been a sack of Eason. The ball popped free. As the defense scrambled for the ball, Rashan Gary celebrated by high-stepping down the sideline.

“Kenneth’s got a cool, unique story,” Gary said. “Every time I see him take strides and leaps, it’s amazing to see. He’s going in his second year playing in the NFL. He skipped high school, he skipped middle school, college. He’s at the top level he can be. So, him out there making plays and us celebrating him, that just shows him doing his thing.”

- During the backups’ 2-minute drill, rookie cornerback Kalen King almost had pick-sixes on third and fourth down to give the defense the win.

- Practice ended with the offense starting at the defense’s 35 with 16 seconds to go and no timeouts. On the first play, Love went deep to Romeo Doubs, who collided with safety Javon Bullard. Both players stayed on the ground for a moment; Doubs walked slowly to the sideline but said he was OK while Bullard stayed in the action.

On the next play, Love stepped up in the pocket and unleashed a laser to the end zone to Bo Melton. Bullard was in position to help prevent a touchdown on the final offensive snap of the day.

With that, the offense had to do the 30 pushups mandated by Preston Smith.

Packers Lineup Notes

- With starting offensive linemen Elgton Jenkins and Josh Myers not practicing and Zach Tom not taking team reps, the No. 1 offensive line consisted of left tackle Rasheed Walker, Royce Newman at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center, Jordan Morgan at right guard and Andre Dillard at right tackle.

Rookie Jacob Monk got plenty of first-team action at center, as did Kadeem Telfort at right tackle.

- For the fourth time in nine practices, the No. 1 tandem at safety was Xavier McKinney and rookie Javon Bullard.

- With starters Rashan Gary and Preston Smith getting the day off and backups Keshawn Banks and Deslin Alexandre nursing injuries, Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare were the No. 1 defensive ends and Brenton Cox and Colby Wooden were the primary backups. Wooden usually plays defensive tackle; his multi-position versatility should pay off with more playing time.

- In the aforementioned 2-minute drill, the defensive line consisted of Enagbare and Cox as the defensive ends and Van Ness and Devonte Wyatt as the defensive tackles.

- With running back Josh Jacobs out, AJ Dillon took the No. 1 reps but rookie MarShawn Lloyd got plenty of snaps and opportunities.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

After an off-day on Friday, Family Night is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The team will take Sunday off before practicing in front of the fans at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Quote of the Day

Coach Matt LaFleur, on quarterback Jordan Love calling his own plays in 2-minute situations:

“That’s one thing that we allow him to do. I just think it’s good for him to be in an uncomfortable situation and get that experience. It’s kind of a work in progress, but he called the majority of the plays yesterday in the 2-minute. We’ll follow that again today with him doing that.

“I think it’s just really good, No. 1, I want to see what he likes, what he’s thinking and why he’s thinking. I think that will help us moving forward when we get into games. That’s certainly an area where we’ve got to be better. And so it gives our coaching staff an opportunity to see what he really likes and what he’s calling in those situations.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

The #Packers like the all-white look. ⬇️https://t.co/AASlk3M2i8

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 1, 2024

News and analysis: Pass rush will be vital | Packers like their whites | Highlights from Practice 8 | The rise of Romeo Doubs | The rise of Grant DuBose | Highlights from Practice 7 | New CB Don Callis | New CB LJ Davis | Highlights from Practice 7 | Seeking best O-line | Three added, three released | Packers pick parade | Week 1 gold, silver, bronze | Week 1 stock report | Highlights from Practice 6 | King for a day | Highlights from Practice 5 | Highlights from Practice 4 | “Family” not divas at receiver | Highlights from Practice 3 | Highlights from Practice 2 | Highlights from Practice 1