Here’s Everything You Missed From Packers-Ravens Joint Practice

The Green Bay Packers wrapped up training camp with an impressive all-around performance against the Baltimore Ravens at Thursday’s joint practice. It was superb day for Green Bay.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) shakes hands with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson during the joint practice. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers wrapped up their training camp by hosting the Baltimore Ravens for a joint practice on Thursday.

Jordan Love had a big day, the defensive front spent the day in Lamar Jackson’s face and Anders Carlson might have clinched the kicking job.

Here’s everything you need to know about the day in Green Bay.

Jordan Love’s Day

After throwing four touchdowns in four attempts during a red-zone period, Jordan Love said the offense was ready for Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Love was 17-of-26 with the four red-zone touchdowns. He almost had six touchdowns; sure-handed Romeo Doubs dropped what might have been a 60-yard touchdown and Dontayvion Wicks was unable to make the play in the back of the end zone on a magnificent throw during a 2-minute drill.

His day didn’t start great. Love’s first pass, a throw toward the sideline to tight end Luke Musgrave, was almost intercepted by linebacker Trenton Simpson. Later, during a third-down period, Roquan Smith made a leaping interception on a pass to Jayden Reed.

“J-Reed was running a through (route) back behind him and I thought I could layer it over the top of him, and just didn’t throw it high enough,” Love said. “He made a great play on it, he got up, but one of those things you’ve just got to learn from. You’ve got to learn, ‘All right, he’s getting depth right there, I don’t think I can get this ball over the top.’ …

“You throw a pick, you never want it to happen, but it’s all about the next play and bouncing back. You can’t get stuck on that, a negative play. it’s just going to lead to more negative plays. So, just trying to bounce back from that.”

On the next play, Love threw a bullet over the middle to Doubs, who was accelerating away from his defender, but he dropped what might have been a long touchdown.

Love’s day was highlighted by an exceptional red period, which was broken into two scripted segments (meaning predetermined down-and-distance situations).

In the first segment, with the ball starting around the 20, Love was 2-of-3 passing, including a sharp out to Doubs to the 5. 

In the second, with the ball starting inside the 10, Love threw four passes. All four resulted in touchdowns. The first was a screen to tight end Tucker Kraft, who ran through Simpson’s tackle attempt near the goal line. The second was to Doubs, who initially was covered on an out near the pylon. Doubs took a step or two inside, then bounced back outside and was wide open.

The third came on a jump ball to Christian Watson against All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton. The fourth was back to Doubs, who got plenty of separation on an out.

During a scripted move-the-ball period, Love struck for a pair of downfield completions over the middle, the first to Kraft for about 20 and the second to Reed for 33. The play was blown dead at the 5, though it’s possible Reed would have bounced off the defender and into the end zone.

The day ended with a meaningful 2-minute period, which we’ll get to later.

After a sharp performance against what was the No. 1 defense in the NFL last season, #Packers QB Jordan Love says the Packers are ready for the Eagles in two weeks. ⬇️https://t.co/bISAKrZCai

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 22, 2024

Player of the Day

Love was superb, finishing 17-of-26 passing with the four scores and one pick. You know who made it happen?

The offensive line.

With Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Elgton Jenkins at left guard, Josh Myers at center, Sean Rhyan at right guard and Zach Tom at right tackle, Love was given superb protection against a defense that finished fourth in the NFL in sack percentage.

Love was “sacked” only once and generally had ample time to survey the defense. There were several downfield completions, so it wasn’t as if Love had to settle for a bunch of checkdowns.

“They did a great job,” Love said. “It was fantastic today. The Ravens do a lot of different stuff, a lot of different pressures they throw at you, and I think those guys handled it really well up front. We had a couple of protection adjustments. They did a really good job of figuring out who they need to pick up. I felt good back there all day. Shoutout to the o-line.”

Play of the Day

The No. 2 offense faced a third-and-8. To the right of quarterback Sean Clifford, it was receiver Malik Heath against rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins.

Heath went undrafted in 2023 due in part to running a 4.64 in the 40-yard dash. Wiggins was a first-round pick in this year’s draft, due in part to a 4.28 in the 40 – one of the fastest marks in Scouting Combine history.

And yet Heath got about two steps beyond the lightning-fast Wiggins and grabbed Clifford’s deep pass along the sideline for a gain of about 45. The fans lining the bleachers roared their approval.

Packers Injury Report

New injuries: None.

Also missed practice: None.

Returned to practice: DE Keshawn Banks (groin), LB Ralen Goforth (concussion), DE Preston Smith (illness). All three were back for Wednesday’s walk-through practice.

Old injuries: RB AJ Dillon (stinger), RB MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring), DT Spencer Waege (concussion), OT Andre Dillard (shoulder), TE Tyler Davis (shoulder), DE Preston Smith (illness).

LaFleur said the team is waiting for a “couple more opinions” on Dillon’s injury.

First-round pick Jordan Morgan took part in individual drills but did not take any 11-on-11 reps.

Two-Minute Drills

The Nos 1, 2 and 3 units each got a 2-minute drill. Starting at the 30 with 1:30 on the clock, one timeout and trailing 27-24, Green Bay’s offense scored three field goals and Green Bay’s defense pitched a shutout.

- Up first, Jordan Love wasted no time in getting the No. 1 offense into scoring range with downfield completions of 20 yards to Jayden Reed and 37 yards to Romeo Doubs to the Ravens’ 13.

However, a screen to Josh Jacobs lost 4 yards and he missed Dontayvion Wicks on back-to-back passes. Anders Carlson kicked a 35-yard field goal to tie “the game.”

In the joint practice at Denver last week, the offense failed twice to score in 2-minute situations.

“It was huge,” Love said. “I think more than anything, 2-minute drives, it’s all about how you start. You’ve got to get that first completion, get the ball moving, because short pass or incomplete pass to start, then you’re just behind the sticks and now you’re trying to find plays to get that first down.

“It’s all about how we start. I think we started off solid today, and it just helped us get that drive going.”

- Next was the Lamar Jackson-led Ravens offense. Jackson was sacked on first down (sorry, there were too many people on the sideline to see who made the play) but moved the chains with a fourth-and-2 completion to Rashod Bateman.

Another Jackson-to-Bateman completion gained a first down, but time was running out. Jackson clocked the ball with 9 seconds left, had to throw it away with 3 seconds left and Justin Tucker was short from 62 yards.

- Next up, Michael Pratt led the No. 2 offense on a methodical scoring drive. Defensive holding gave the Packers their initial first down on fourth-and-3, Pratt threw a big-time pass to Grant DuBose for another first down and running back Ellis Merriweather turned a short catch into another first down.

On third-and-7, Pratt connected with Samori Toure for another first down. Pratt clocked the ball and Greg Joseph drilled a 51-yard field goal.

- Green Bay’s No. 2 defense scored a quick knockout. On the third play, veteran quarterback Josh Johnson stepped up in the pocket and was intercepted by rookie safety Evan Williams.

“It's a mixture of route knowledge and using the quarterback as your tool,” Williams said after his fifth interception of camp. “The one (route) to my side just eliminated and so once you kind of feel that route go away, you have a sense that there's normally not two out-breaking routes on both sides. You're normally going to get something coming from the other side.

“The combination of the quarterback bringing me to that direction definitely helped me put me in the right spot.”

- Finally, Sean Clifford led the No. 3 offense. After a pair of short completions, Clifford threw a beautiful corner route to fullback Henry Pearson, who rejoined the team earlier in the week, for a gain of about 25 at the sideline.

The drive stalled on intentional grounding, and Carlson hit a 51-yard field goal.

- Green Bay’s No. 3 defense ended with a stop against rookie quarterback Emory Jones.

Did Anders Carlson Clinch Kicking Job?

In the battle to be the kicker, Anders Carlson perhaps eliminated Greg Joseph.

During a field-goal period, Carlson made all three attempts, including one from 54 yards. He added a pair of field goals, from 35 and 51 yards, to cap 2-minute drills and give himself a 5-for-5 day.

Joseph, who had been slumping, anyway, was wide left from 44 yards to start the day. He bounced back to convert from 45 and 53 yards during the field-goal period and from 51 yards in the 2-minute drill.

Rookie Alex Hale did not get any attempts.

On the practice field during training camp, Carlson is 60-of-73 (82.2 percent) while Joseph is 57-of-73 (78.1 percent).

Packers Practice Highlights

- Green Bay’s defense – and the defensive line, in particular – dominated. The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman served as our eyes as we focused on the offense.

Again and again, Green Bay’s defensive line was in the face of the Ravens’ MVP quarterback, Lamar Jackson.

“We just did what Green Bay Packers do,” defensive end Rashan Gary said. “Go out there, start fast and play physical. We don't really care about the other team, what they have going, don't matter theeir players. It's about what we got in the building and what we believe and trust.”

The pressure was especially relentless during an extensive red-zone period that the Packers dominated.

“I’m just excited to see them Week 1 and throughout the rest of the season,” cornerback Jaire Alexander said. “Those guys are going to make our jobs easier and then we’re going to play off them. It’s going to be a show.”

“We know we got dogs up front and we finally get to unleash them,” added slot Keisean Nixon.

Whether or not the defense plays in the preseason game on Saturday, the performance will build momentum to Week 1.

“It was super-important,” Alexander said. “I think it gave everybody a little more confidence. We know the Ravens are a smash-mouth team, so we already knew that coming in that they were going to maybe try and bully us, but I don’t think guys allowed that today – especially on our side of the ball.”

- During a punt period, Bo Melton and Colby Wooden had opportunities to block punts but appeared to pull up for the sake of the drill.

During the punt-return segment, Eric Wilson had the key block as Jayden Reed hesitated and then got around the corner for a long return.

- In the battle to be the backup quarterback, Sean Clifford probably inched ahead of Michael Pratt.

This two-play sequence summed up Pratt’s day. First, on a bootleg to the right, he ripped an absolute dime to receiver Grant DuBose, who made the grab for a gain of about 35 against rookie safety Beau Brade. On the next play, a simple checkdown to running back Nate McCrary, Pratt’s pass landed at McCrary’s feet. He had an equally poor checkdown during the 2-minute drill.

Pratt did throw touchdown passes to Jayden Reed and Ben Sims in red zone.

Clifford was more consistent, including two big-play completions to Malik Heath.

- During one-on-ones, defensive tackle TJ Slaton scored three decisive wins in four reps, Rashan Gary jumped offside twice but was stopped cold by rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten and Colby Wooden dominated Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu for two wins.

On the other side of the ball, left tackle Rasheed Walker and right tackle Zach Tom have been machines all summer. Tom put veteran pass rusher Kyle Van Noy on the turf.

- A quick pass to the flat to Jayden Reed delivered a nice gain because Dontayvion Wicks delivered a pancake block. On the next play, Jordan Love hit tight end Tucker Kraft on a crossing route. Kraft absorbed a big hit from safety Marcus Williams but held onto the ball and stayed on his feet.

- During a third-down drill, Love and Kraft stuck again against Kyle Hamilton for a first down. During a move-the-ball drill, Love found Kraft for 20 more.

“I think he has some fresh legs right now after missing a little bit,” Love said of Kraft, who missed the start of camp with a torn pectoral.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

Training camp is complete. The Packers will host the Ravens at noon Saturday to wrap up the preseason.

Quote of the Day

Cornerback Jaire Alexander went to Louisville with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the two-time and reigning NFL MVP.

“It’s always great to see that success. We came in at the same time in Louisville. We did a bunch of interviews together. It’s just like watching a distant cousin or brother. It’s always good to see his success. I always joke with him, ‘When we are we going to meet in the Super Bowl, man?’ I think the time is coming soon.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

The #Packers have a new defensive lineman - as reported by @_MLFootball and others - and he's from Madison.https://t.co/n0LDzEiN0H

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 22, 2024

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