Packers High-Fives: Positive Developments

Beyond his accuracy, here's why Aaron Rodgers' scrimmage performance was so noteworthy. Plus, four more positives from training camp.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Ready or not, the Green Bay Packers will kick off their 102nd season on Sept. 13 at the Minnesota Vikings.

And, really, who’s going to be fully ready? With no offseason practices, an abbreviated training camp and no preseason, profound challenges await general manager Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur. “I think you’re running on faith a little bit,” Gutekunst said in regard to Saturday’s roster cut from 80 players to 53. 

Meanwhile, when the Packers line up in Week 1, they’ll do so without the key players going through any live tackling. “We want to have all our horses for the race coming in two weeks,” LaFleur said of the tradeoff between getting battle-tested but staying healthy.

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With a hybrid week blending the final days of training camp with a jump-start on the Vikings coming up, here are five positive developments.

Aaron Rodgers: Sharp

Aaron Rodgers has had some good days at training camp and some mediocre days, as well. One thing that stood out at Sunday’s scrimmage at Lambeau Field was Rodgers’ decisiveness.

If there’s been one knock on Rodgers’ play over the years is that he often turns down simple plays for more difficult plays. That style worked when he had a superb receiver corps. After all, the odds were in Rodgers’ favor that Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb would eventually get open and produce an explosive play. However, without that star-studded receiver corps, the calculus changed.

At the scrimmage, Rodgers was 25-of-31 passing for, unofficially, 192 yards. Nineteen of those completions gained fewer than 10 yards. That’s not sexy but it is efficient.

Lane Taylor: Winner

The Packers won’t be as good at right tackle this season. Bryan Bulaga is one of the best in the business, meaning an inevitable step back regardless of whether Billy Turner or Rick Wagner emerges as the starter. While the Packers aren’t going to be as good at right tackle, at least they’ll be better at right guard. Lane Taylor has 49 career starts worth of steady play under his belt. A wise line coach said a team can survive with one below-average starter but it’s hard to survive with two. With left tackle David Bakhtiari, left guard Elgton Jenkins, center Corey Linsley and Taylor at right guard, the Packers’ line should be just fine.

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Tyler Ervin: Everywhere

Watching Tyler Ervin average about one explosive play per day at training camp, it’s really a wonder that it took until his fifth season for a team to figure out how to make him a weapon on offense. In three seasons with Houston and part of a season with Jacksonville, Ervin had exactly 19 touches on offense. Ervin’s primary job might be as a kickoff and punt returner but he’s got X-factor potential on offense.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Consistency

Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s season disintegrated following knee and ankle injuries. In the final nine regular-season games, he caught 5-of-19 passes for 36 yards. His 0.32 yards per pass route and catch rate of 26.3 percent were last among the 105 receivers with at least 19 targets during that span, according to Pro Football Focus.

There were great expectations for Valdes-Scantling at this time last year. When he stumbled, the offense as a whole stumbled, as well. This year, with no major additions at receiver, the Packers need improvement from within to take a big step forward on offense. Valdes-Scantling might be that guy. On Rodgers' first three series on Sunday, he completed four third-down passes to Valdes-Scantling to move the chains.

Rashan Gary: Pressure

The 12th pick of last year’s draft, Gary tied for 17th in the entire draft class with two sacks. The fourth edge rusher off the board, Gary ranked 13th in the edge-rusher class in snaps. He played only 12 snaps in two playoff games.

That’s going to change this season. Gary looks powerful and explosive; his technique looks more refined. He’s spent a lot of training camp hanging out with the quarterbacks. If that continues, Green Bay could have a ferocious third-down defense with Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary moving around the defense to attack the passer.

“You can tell he’s worked on some things that we talked to him about before we left – his get-off, his pad level. He’s taken that to heart and has made some strides,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said. “There are times in the run game where he’s been dominant on the edges. He’s taken tremendous strides in environment where he very easily could have not made strides because of us not being hands-on with him. He wants to be great. He’s certainly put the time and effort in to get headed in that direction.”