Here’s What Happened at Practice 16 of Packers Training Camp

The Packers held their final training camp practice open to fans on Wednesday. Here are all the highlights, including a dominating moment by Rashan Gary and another drive by Capt. 2-Minute.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers held their final open practice of training camp on Wednesday. The bleachers were full at the start, but the crowd quickly thinned out because of the oppressive heat.

Following a 2-hour practice, running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, quarterback Jordan Love and a few other players started on the north side of practice field and exchanged high-fives and pleasantries with the remaining fans.

“It was all good stuff,” Love said. “Just running through the fans, telling them thank you for coming out and supporting us at practice. It was all good, positive messages everywhere.”

Here are the highlights from the 16th practice of training camp.

Jordan Love’s Day

Wednesday’s practice was one of the more run-centric days of camp. So, Jordan Love attempted only 15 passes. He completed nine with one touchdown and one interception.

During a third-down period, Love completed 3-of-4 passes. Catches by Christian Watson and Tucker Kraft and a scramble by Love picked up first downs, and a grab by Romeo Doubs along the sideline might have moved the chains, as well.

The throw to Kraft was executed perfectly. On third-and-4, Kraft ran an out-and-up and got wide open for a big gain. A third-round pick, Kraft hasn’t made many splash plays.

Perhaps Love’s best ball of the day came on a third-and-3 at the 9, when he threw a perfect pass to Luke Musgrave but the rookie failed to get his feet inbounds in the back of the end zone.

During an end-of-game/half scenario, the offense started at the defense’s 20 with 17 seconds remaining and zero timeouts. Love wasted no time, throwing a strike in the back of the end zone to Musgrave between safety Jonathan Owens and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie. This time, Musgrave made a tumbling catch and got his feet down in the back of the end zone.

Love’s final pass of the day came in 2-minute, with Rasul Douglas jumping an out to Romeo Doubs and winning the battle for the ball for an interception.

Asked about his body of work during camp, Love said: “It’s good. I think throughout every day, we’re continuing to stack, build as an offense, build that chemistry. We have our whole playbook in now. We’re doing a lot more move-the-ball periods, where things aren’t really scripted (and) we’re kind of just playing off Matt (LaFleur’s) calls, which is more game-like. Just being able to see guys and lock into these plays, hone in on those and execute them at a high level, it’s good. I think we definitely stacked a lot of good days.”

Player of the Day

The free-agent departures of Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry left a big hole on the defensive line. TJ Slaton seems ready to fill it.

The third-year player was spectacular. He seemingly spent half the day in the backfield. On running plays, he had at least four tackles that were near or behind the line of scrimmage. On the last, he stuffed Aaron Jones, then rose his fists in the air in celebration.

Hand usage was his focus on Wednesday. Play style has bee his focus throughout camp.

“After you watch a couple football games and you watch a couple of your own teammates,” Slaton said, “you realize, ‘Am I playing at the same speed? Do my reps look like everyone else’s reps?’ It’s a different mindset, different motivation.”

TJ Slaton (Photo by USA Today Sports Images)

Play of the Day

Rashan Gary is back. Well, he’s been back, but he’s really back.

During the one-on-ones, he tossed right tackle Zach Tom to the ground, then flexed in celebration. It wasn’t quite Reggie White tossing aside the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, but it was quite a show of strength and explosiveness for a player coming off a major knee injury.

For Tom, who seems entrenched as the starter, it was a learning experience.

“I think the key is to get off the ball faster,” he said just as he was set to watch the play on his iPad. “I’ve got to find a way to be more efficient with my footwork. Part of the reason he’s catching me leaning is because I’m trying to get out there so he doesn’t beat me with speed. Just being efficient out of my stance and trying to be more balanced at the point of contact.”

Packers Injury Report

Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt dropped out of practice because of the heat. Otherwise, there didn’t seem to be any additions to the injury report.

New Injuries: None.

Old Injuries: WR Dontayvion Wicks (hamstring), S CB Eric Stokes (PUP list foot), Tarvarius Moore (knee), RB Lew Nichols (shoulder), RB Tyler Goodson (shoulder), FB Henry Pearson (knee), LB De’Vondre Campbell (ankle), DT Jason Lewan (back), OT Luke Tenuta (ankle), WR Bo Melton (hamstring).

Returned From Injury: None.

Lineup Notes

- For a second consecutive day, Darnell Savage and Rudy Ford formed the No. 1 tandem at safety.

- With David Bakhtiari getting another day off, Rasheed Walker took most of the snaps as the No. 1 left tackle. Most, but not all. Caleb Jones, who had been out with a calf injury but returned on Tuesday, also got a few snaps.

- The No. 2 secondary consisted of Carrington Valentine and Corey Ballentine at corner and Innis Gaines in the slot. The return of Gaines has meant a demotion for Shemar-Jean Charles – not a good sign as the 2021 fifth-rounder fights to maintain his roster spot.

- Keisean Nixon and Jayden Reed were the only players back deep for punt returns; Nixon got the first rep.

Practice Highlights

- In a rarity, the defense had its way in the one-on-one pass-rushing/protection drill. Kenny Clark used a swim move to get past Elgton Jenkins, Devonte Wyatt used speed to get around Jon Runyan and Rashan Gary had his aforementioned win vs. Zach Tom.

Kingsley Enagbare used an inside move beat to Caleb Jones, Karl Brooks drew a hold against Royce Newman and Lukas Van Ness used a spin move to beat Yosh Nijman.

- The one-on-one pass-protection drill became two-on-two as the defensive line worked on stunts and twists and the blockers worked on picking them up. On one rep, Jones washed the first-round pick Van Ness all the way across the line. On the next rep, Brenton Cox beat Jones with a spin move.

- One of the best running plays of the day was by AJ Dillon, who got a strong lead block from Josiah Deguara against Rasul Douglas.

- With the rise of rookie cornerback Carrington Valentine, Corey Ballentine has sort of been forgotten. He broke up a pass from Jordan Love to Romeo Doubs at the sideline early in practice.

- Coach Matt LaFleur wasn’t happy about the number of pre-snap penalties on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a false start by undrafted rookie offensive tackle Kadeem Telfort meant he was yanked from the lineup and replaced by Caleb Jones.

- During a move-the-ball period, Jordan Love hit Christian Watson downfield for a gain of 20. A few plays later, on third-and-2, Aaron Jones got open against safety Jonathan Owens for a first down. That drive should have produced a touchdown but ended when, as noted earlier, Musgrave failed to get his feet inbounds.

- During a backups vs. backups 2-minute drill, Sean Clifford delivered another winning drive. Starting at the 30 with 1:45 on the clock and one timeout, Clifford got rolling with a 9-yard completion to Cody Chrest on third-and-6 before hitting Jadakis Bonds downfield for 31 against Innis Gaines.

“I wanted to back-shoulder him; he just turned the other way and made a play on it,” Clifford said. “In 2-minute, sometimes you’ve got to make a play. I didn’t expect him to turn like that but it worked out.”

Carrington Valentine broke up the next third down, but Clifford hit Grant DuBose for a 21-yard touchdown on fourth-and-7.

“I worked my eyes from my first progression back,” Clifford said. “With them having [match] coverage, when Grant went for the stick route, the linebacker kind of just lost him because he thought he was going to pass him off, and then he slipped right behind him. It was a good route by Grant. Cool play. Touchdown.”

The offense stayed on the field for the “winning” two-point conversion. A sprint-out to the right resulted in a Clifford-to-Duece Watts connection at the pylon.

Here are the last four 2-minute drives led by Clifford: the touchdown on Wednesday, a field goal in the game against New England, a touchdown in the second joint practice against New England and a potential score in the first joint practice against New England (the officials were confused about whether Malik Heath scored or was down at the 1).

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers will practice again on Thursday before hosting the Seattle Seahawks at noon Saturday at Lambeau Field. The roster must be cut from 90 players to 53 on Tuesday.

Quote of the Day

Jordan Love, on the reception he’s gotten from fans around town:

“I think everybody I’ve ran into at practice, riding bikes, around town, it’s all positive stuff. People are all excited, excited for me, and they’re just telling me that they’re rooting for me, they’re behind me, they’ve got my back. It’s all positive stuff. It’s good to hear. It’s awesome to hear from people outside the facility.”

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