Highlights From Practice 11 of Packers Training Camp

Rookie Josh Myers showed he's more than just a big center. Plus, a day off for Aaron Rodgers, the play of the day, practice video and more from Wednesday at Packers training camp.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At 6-foot-5, rookie Green Bay Packers center Josh Myers is a physical presence. He’s also an athletic one, as he demonstrated on back-to-back plays at training camp on Wednesday.

The first play was a screen from Jordan Love to AJ Dillon. With no blocking responsibilities at the line of scrimmage, Myers led the convoy that got Dillon rolling. On the next play, he pulled on a running play to the right by Dexter Williams, his block helping get Williams into the open field.

Myers has earned rave reviews from two of the most important members of the offense.

“He’s a big man,” All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari said last week. “I remember early on when he first walked in, I was like, ‘What’s your deal? You’re either a terrible athlete or a bad football player, because why are you playing center being 6-foot-5?’ And he kind of proved me wrong on both. I think he’s got a good makeup to be a good football player for a long time. I want to see what he can do, how he responds to adversity. I think that’s important. But he’s approaching it the right way. He’s really taken on the playbook. He’s gone out of his way to ask veterans questions, making sure he’s doing everything the right way, not only on the football field but off the football field. I think that’s setting yourself up for success. Though I will not say he’s my favorite center from Ohio State, he’s off to a good start.”

That other Ohio State center, of course, is Corey Linsley, the man Myers is being tasked with replacing. Linsley was Green Bay’s center the past seven seasons and was a favorite of MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“He’s definitely been a pleasant surprise,” Rodgers said last week. “Not a surprise for most people who were around for OTAs because they saw his aptitude and the way he bends and moves. We’re working through things I learned from working with Corey. I think if Josh talked to Corey and Corey was like, ‘Hey, what’s 12 like? Is he kind of ripping your ass and getting on you a little bit?’ Josh would maybe describe me as a kinder, gentler quarterback at this stage. So, apologies to Corey, although there’s nobody I enjoy teasing and riding more than Corey Linsley, because he’s such a smart, sarcastic, witty human being.

“We do definitely miss his presence, but Josh has been solid for us. The communication’s been good, and he’s getting it. There’s a lot of little intricacies in the offense. There’s things that aren’t necessarily on the paper and aren’t maybe in the OTAs, and I’m not trying to overwhelm him, but I’m trying to give him a couple things every single day that he can think about and work on. I saw what Dave said about him; I thought that was pretty funny. But he is an athletic guy and he’s started off (well) and having a nice camp so far.”

Day Off

With the Packers in a stretch of four consecutive days of practice, Rodgers, tight end Marcedes Lewis and outside linebacker Preston Smith got the day off. Rodgers and Lewis are the oldest players on the team at 37. Smith is 28 but has gotten a lot of reps with injuries throughout the outside linebacker corps.

Star receiver Davante Adams practiced but only during individual drills.

Rodgers will not play in Saturday's preseason opener vs. Houston.

Play of the Day

The practice was short, it wasn’t in full pads and Rodgers was on the field. Thus, it’s a limited menu. Love fired a pass into the flat for rookie receiver Amari Rodgers. Love led Rodgers a bit too far but he made a diving catch against rookie cornerback Eric Stokes. The gain went for about 5 yards.

Packers Injury Report

New Injuries: OLB Rashan Gary (groin). Call this a new old injury. Gary was out on Monday, took limited reps on Tuesday and was out again on Wednesday.

Old Injuries: WR Chris Blair (ankle), WR Equanimeous St. Brown (hamstring), RB Aaron Jones (hamstring), CB Stanford Samuels (foot), OLB Randy Ramsey (ankle), ILB Kamal Martin (knee), WR Juwann Winfree (shoulder), DT Kenny Clark (groin).

Returned to Practice: None.

Non-Football Injury List: CB Kevin King (hamstring), S Will Redmond (foot), OLB Za’Darius Smith (back), LB Isaiah McDuffie (hamstring), DT Kingsley Keke (ankle). “I’m hoping sooner than later,” LaFleur said of their return.

Physically Unable to Perform List: LT David Bakhtiari (knee).

Some Quick Reads

– With Aaron Jones banged up, AJ Dillon will start on Saturday and get a little bit of work. “It’s not like he got a ton of reps last year,” coach Matt LaFleur said before practice. “He did come on late in the season for us. He had a big game vs. the Titans. He’s a really good runner (and) he’s got deceptive speed. You see it in practice sometimes when we out him out of the backfield on some of the routes, he’s got really good hands. Shoot, he made a couple plays for us in the pass game a year ago.” Naturally, about an hour later, Dillon dropped a pass from Love.

– Running back Patrick Taylor, who missed his rookie season with a foot injury, figures to make his professional debut against Houston on Saturday night. “I think that he’s done some nice things,” LaFleur said. “He has really good hands, and they did a nice job at Memphis using him. I remember [a game in 2019] you watched him run what we call a through route, so it’s like a deep route over the middle, and he plucks the ball effortlessly. He’s a big back and he’s extremely intelligent. You should see his notebook, it’s as good as some of our quarterbacks. He’s really in tuned to what we’re trying to get accomplished and the why’s behind it. I’m excited for him.” For more on Taylor, click here.

– Sticking with the running backs, based on the pecking order at practice the last two day, the depth chart goes Jones, Dillon, Kylin Hill, Taylor and Dexter Williams.

– Nothing has changed on the offensive line. During the first sequence, Jon Runyan was the left guard and Ben Braden the right guard. On the second sequence, Braden was the left guard and Lucas Patrick the right guard. For the third sequence, it was Runyan at left guard and Patrick at right guard.

– With Za’Darius Smith still out, Preston Smith getting a day off, Gary banged up and Randy Ramsey out indefinitely, the No. 1 outside linebackers were Jonathan Garvin and Tipa Galeai. They are fighting for a spot on the roster as the fourth outside linebacker. “Damn good football player,” position coach Mike Smith said of Galeai on Sunday. “He’s another one that needs to get the special teams rolling because if that joker can put on 10 more pounds, he’s a demon. He’s got a great get-off to beat you on the edge. He’s got to get better with his power. If he puts some weight on, he’s going to be a damn good player in this league.”

– Third-year cornerback Ka’dar Hollman made his best play of the camp. Kurt Benkert rifled a pass to the sideline to DeAndre Thompkins. Thompkins and Hollman jumped for the ball, with Hollman prying it loose.

– A toss to Taylor went nowhere because linebacker Ty Summers leveled tight end Josiah Deguara. Summers and Oren Burks have been the No. 2 tandem through most of camp. “Just taking one day at a time, one rep at a time, good or bad,” Summers said after practice. “If it’s bad, find what I can do to fix it and learn from it and move on but don’t beat myself up. If that ends up translating into reps, awesome, I’m going to be the best linebacker I can be for this team. If that translates into being a backup guy or a special-teamer, I’m going to wait and keep grinding until my time’s called. I think each and every day, it’s just a battle to make myself better and help make my teammates better. That way, we’re all better at the same time – iron sharpens iron kind of thing.”

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers will practice for a fourth day in a row on Thursday. The starting time is 10:10 a.m. It’s one of the last three practices of camp that will be open to fans.

Here is the practice schedule.