Here’s What Happened at Practice 6 of Packers Training Camp

We have the Play of the Day, the Player of the Day, Jordan Love's Day, some noteworthy movement on the depth chart and much more from Tuesday.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It was another day of post-practice humiliation for the Green Bay Packers’ offense.

Every day, the losing side of a competitive period faces punishment dictated by the opposing unit. The offense lost on Tuesday, just as it’s lost every day of training camp. The consequence was up-downs.

“I think we’re all pretty tired of it,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “Kudos to the defense but, obviously, it’s disappointing as an offense collectively as a whole. It’s definitely an area that we need to step up and figure out how we can turn that thing around.”

Here is our daily review of Packers training camp.

Jordan Love’s Day

It was another forgettable day for new starting quarterback Jordan Love. He went 7-of-16 passing, meaning for the fourth time in five full-speed practices he has flirted with 50 percent.

The day started well enough with Love completing his first four passes, including a perfectly thrown comeback to Christian Watson against Jaire Alexander. However, in red zone, Love was just 1-of-5. The completion was a touchdown to Luke Musgrave. Love’s first reads were taken away, but he kept scanning the defense before finding Musgrave behind linebacker Quay Walker as the pocket collapsed.

“He was just floating around,” Love said. “He was doing a good job just kind of finding that space, not really running to get covered but floating behind Quay right there. I think the ball almost got tipped right there by Quay, so it was a really good job of him just finding that concentration, being able to finish that play.”

A 2-minute drill went nowhere. Literally. Love threw four passes; his only completion went to AJ Dillon for 0 yards. He had a shot on fourth down but his deep ball to Jayden Reed was just a bit overthrown.

Jordan Love (Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images

Player of the Day

After a quiet rookie season, there are high hopes for former first-round pick Devonte Wyatt to play to his immense potential and fill the massive void on the defensive line. On Tuesday, Wyatt was excellent in turning in one of his best days as a pro.

It started with the one-on-ones. First, his spin move left center Josh Myers sitting on his butt.

“Football, it’s all mind games,” Wyatt said. “Set him up for one thing, make him think one thing and do another. That’s all it is. He thought he beat me the first time but I had him set up for the spin. I knew it was going to come and I knew he was going to overset because of my speed.”

Later, Wyatt showed his strength by shoving guard Jean Delance onto his back side. The defensive line once again roared its approval.

How about team reps? During Jordan Love’s second sequence of plays, Wyatt worked inside of right guard Jon Runyan for what likely would have been a sack.

“It feels good today but you’ve got to keep stacking the days like that, every week, and bring it into the season and bring that same energy,” Wyatt said.

Play of the Day

Either of Devante Wyatt’s reps during one-on-ones would have been a worthy selection. So, let’s veer in another direction.

During his first rep of the day, rookie running back Lew Nichols bounced a run to the left and ran through cornerback Kiondre Thomas for a big gain. Later, he followed fullback Henry Pearson’s block into the open field, then delivered a stiff-arm for additional yards.

Nichols, who led the nation in rushing yards and all-purpose yards at Central Michigan in 2021, has struggled to make his mark and dropped too many passes to start camp. However, that impressive run should help in the wide-open battle to be the No. 3 running back behind Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.

Injury Report

Left tackle David Bakhtiari, who was given Monday off to fit in the schedule to get him on the field for Family Night, exited after the first play of a two-play, end-of-game sequence. He later walked through the locker room with no obvious problem, but his health will be constantly monitored.

“Everybody in here knows we’re a better offense, we’re a better football team, when he’s out there on the field,” coach Matt LaFleur said before practice. “He’s one of the elite offensive linemen, left tackles, in the game. We’ve got to do whatever we can to get him to Sunday. He’s got enough experience, enough reps that he doesn’t have to be out there every day.”

New Injuries: C Jake Hanson (elbow).

Old Injuries: OLB Rashan Gary (PUP list; knee), CB Eric Stokes (PUP list foot), WR Grant DuBose (Non-Football Injury List; back), WR Dontayvion Wicks (concussion).

Wicks and DuBose worked hard with a trainer so they might be nearing their return.

Returned From Injury: None.

Transactions

The Packers signed two players and released two undrafted rookies.

Lineup Notes

Josh Myers (Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images

There were two huge developments.

- First: Zach Tom took some first-team snaps at center ahead of Josh Myers. Tom started the day at center and took the second series of red-zone snaps. Myers took the first series of red-zone snaps as well as the 2-minute drill.

Will Tom beat out Myers at center rather than Yosh Nijman at right tackle? Who knows, but that it’s even a possibility is remarkable considering Myers was the first center selected in 2021. He should be a foundational piece on the line rather than having to fend off a challenger.

- Second: First-round pick Lukas Van Ness joined Preston Smith as the No. 1 pair of outside linebackers. As was the case with Tom, it wasn’t full-time first-team duty, as Smith also ran with veteran Justin Hollins. At the start of camp, Van Ness was running with the 3s, so it’s been a quick rise.

- The wide-open battle at safety might not be wide open. Darnell Savage was joined by Rudy Ford for the first-team reps, with Jonathan Owens and Tarvarius Moore working with the second unit.

- Tom also worked as the No. 1 right tackle for a couple series.

- Without Bakhtiari for the 2-minute drill, the line consisted of Yosh Nijman at left tackle, Elgton Jenkins at left guard, Myers at center, Royce Newman at right guard and Tom at right tackle.

Practice Highlights

- Rookie kicker Anders Carlson endured another tough day. After going 2-of-7 on Saturday, he made 5-of-8 attempts. His sixth kick of the day was a 52-yarder that flew about three-fourths the way up the uprights. His final attempt was a miss from 52 yards on the final play of a 2-minute drill.

- Speaking of that 2-minute drill, Danny Etling connected three times with undrafted rookie receiver Malik Heath before hitting undrafted rookie receiver Duece Watts over the middle for a big chunk of yards. That set up Carlson’s kick, which drafted right.

- During one-on-one pass protection, guard Sean Rhyan, a third-round pick last year who didn’t play a meaningful snap from scrimmage before a season-ending suspension, won all five reps – all of which came against fourth-round rookie Colby Wooden.

Elgton Jenkins had two easy wins against TJ Slaton while Yosh Nijman scored a pair of wins over Lukas Van Ness, with Van Ness losing his helmet on the second. Undrafted rookie linebacker Brenton Cox beat Rasheed Walker twice, part of his impressive overall day.

- On the other side of the field, it was receivers vs. defensive backs. According to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky and The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, who shared notes, Jordan Love threw a couple great deep balls to receiver Jadakis Bonds (vs. linebacker Tariq Carpenter) and tight end Luke Musgrave (vs. safety Anthony Johnson). Romeo Doubs made a nice play to get in front of Jaire Alexander for a catch and Bo Melton made a leaping touchdown grab over slot Innis Gaines.

Defensively, Keisean Nixon picked off Love but cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles was flagged twice for interference.

- Read-option keepers by Love went nowhere against Nixon and Wooden. A read-option keeper by Alex McGough was stopped by undrafted linebacker Jimmy Phillips.

What does it take to make that play work?

“It ties into the quarterback and the running back, being able to sell that outside zone, get a great fake, and then also the backside whether it’s the tight end, tackle, being able to sell coming downhill and try to get that end to bite on the fake,” Love explained. “But it’s one of those plays that it takes everybody. It’s not just the quarterback and the running back. But it takes that backside, too, to be able to sell it.”

- The last three plays of a Love-led red-zone period: Carrington Valentine prevented a touchdown to Christian Watson, Wooden foiled Love’s keeper and Rudy Ford broke up a pass to Jayden Reed.

- Punter Daniel Whelan had another monster day. His first two kicks went about 60 yards with massive hangtime, but his Aussie-style punts haven’t been quite as effective as veteran Pat O’Donnell’s in pinning the opposition inside the 10.

- Safety Jonathan Owens picked off rookie quarterback Sean Clifford.

- Rookie outside linebacker Brenton Cox deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage but receiver Cody Chrest made a leaping catch to prevent disaster.

- Danny Etling threw a long touchdown pass to Melton, who was wide open behind Carrington Valentine.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers will take Wednesday off before getting back to business at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. After another day off on Friday, the Packers will hold their annual Family Night practice on Saturday night. Warmups will begin at about 7 p.m.

The Packers will practice in front of the fans just once next week – 10:30 a.m. Monday – before hitting the road for Cincinnati for a joint practice and preseason game against the Bengals.

Quote of the Day

Jordan Love, on what he hasn’t liked about his play in camp:

“I think the biggest thing for me that’s kind of disappointed me so far is pocket movement. When the play breaks down, my feet kind of get off. Been a little kind of spastic in the pocket, not being able to stay in control, stay in my base and go through the reads. That’s when I’ve got off and missed a couple easy throws, and those are the ones you wish we could get back. The biggest thing I just have to keep working is having that balance in the pocket, not getting flustered and, if I need to get out, just get out and make a play.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

Couple quick #Packers stories before practice.
First, there's another new offensive lineman.https://t.co/f2cQTwIn7a
Second, could Tom's versatility stand in way of him starting?https://t.co/1o3lq3gr1C

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 1, 2023

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