Packers Training Camp Injury Report: Practice 4

Here is the latest on Sammy Watkins and Randy Ramsey as the Green Bay Packers conduct their fourth practice of training camp on Saturday.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Randy Ramsey was all smiles at his locker after Friday’s practice, and for good reason.

It was almost exactly one year ago when he suffered a major ankle injury. A standout on special teams who was in position to contribute on defense, Ramsey missed the entire season. He made his training camp debut on Friday.

“I feel like what I went through, it’s like coming to the light at the end of the tunnel,” Ramsey said. “I feel like that adversity, as long as you stay on track, you’ve got to see the light. I think this is that year to where they get to see the flower blossom.”

An undrafted free agent in 2019, he spent his rookie year on Green Bay’s practice squad. In 2020, he played 75 snaps on defense and 204 more on special teams. His play on special teams put him in potential to be the third outside linebacker in 2021 behind Preston Smith and Rashan Gary.

However, on Aug. 2, he suffered a broken fibula and two torn ligaments in his ankle. The break healed in about two months. It was the ligaments that made it a one-year injury. Last month is when Ramsey finally felt like he had regained his explosiveness – a critical component for a pass rusher.

“When I’m able to put the same amount of force on my left ankle as on my right, that’s when I know, without hesitating, without thinking, that’s when I know I’m back to myself,” Ramsey explained.

Ramsey was one of four players who made their camp debut on Friday. There are high hopes as Green Bay tries to fix its perennially bad special teams.

“It’s always good when you get somebody that’s coming off that long [of an absence],” coach Matt LaFleur said before Saturday’s practice. “He’s one of the guys that’s going to be in competition [at outside linebacker]. Right now, it’s pretty clear-cut who are one and two are but as far as three through five, it’s anybody’s guess. It’s going to be how these guys develop and produce when given their opportunities.”

From an opportunities perspective, really, nothing has changed for Ramsey. Just like last year, when it became clear that Za’Darius Smith’s back injury was going to be a major problem, there is a gaping hole on the depth chart behind Smith and Gary. The only noteworthy addition to the position group was Kingsley Enagbare with a fifth-round pick.

“I realized I was going to have a great opportunity to contribute not only on special teams but on defense, as well,” he said. “I felt like last year was going to be my year to really show I belong on this stage. The situation this year is kind of the same, so I’m just trying to overcome this adversity, this little hill that I’m climbing. I’m just trying to keep that same mindset and come back better and stronger, because the opportunity is still kind of the same that it was last year.”

Also making his debut on Friday was receiver Sammy Watkins after missing the first two days with an injured hamstring. He was sharp mentally during that half-speed practice, LaFleur said. Watkins will do individual drills on Saturday before taking part in team drills next week.

Packers Injury Report

Returned to practice: None.

New Injuries: None.

Old injuries: WR Malik Taylor (shoulder).

Non-Football Injury List: CB Keisean Nixon (groin).

Physically unable to perform list: K Mason Crosby (knee), WR Christian Watson (knee), RB Kylin Hill (knee), LT David Bakhtiari (knee), OL Elgton Jenkins (knee), TE Robert Tonyan (knee).

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