Sims Went From Vikings’ Practice Squad Meeting to Packers

New Packers tight end Ben Sims, who was claimed off waivers on Wednesday, detailed his unusual trip to Green Bay’s roster on Thursday.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – After falling short of his bid to make Minnesota’s 53-man roster on Tuesday, rookie tight end Ben Sims was in a meeting with some of the Vikings’ other practice-squad candidates at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

About a half-hour into the meeting, Sims was pulled out of the room.

“One of our player-personnel people, he was like, ‘You just got claimed off waivers. You’ve got to go,” Sims said. “I was like, ‘Where am I going?’ He said I was coming to Green Bay.”

Sims packed his bags, hopped in his truck and started traveling east.

“They said, ‘When can you get here?” Sims said. “I mapped it on my phone and I said, ‘I can be there in 4 hours.’ Coach (Matt) LaFleur goes, ‘Great. See you then.’”

Sims was arguably the best tight end in Baylor history. He caught 31 passes each of his final two seasons and scored nine touchdowns as a junior. With size (6-foot-4 5/8, 250 pounds) and athleticism (4.58 in the 40 and a Relative Athletic Score of 8.40), Sims was an intriguing prospect in a deep class of tight ends. He took a predraft visit to Green Bay.

Thinking back, Sims said: “When I first got here, they were in an offensive staff meeting back and I show up and they open the door and there’s 15 coaches staring at me, so I got to meet everybody all at once. Obviously, I couldn’t remember everybody’s name but I tried my best. I’m really glad to be back. I love the culture here, I love the team, I love the coaches. I’m blessed.”

Ben Sims at Baylor (Photo by Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports Images)

Sims went undrafted and signed with the Vikings, who had the established duo of T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver atop their depth chart. While Sims fell short of a spot on the 53, he took the glass-half-full view that a spot on the practice squad at least was a “step in the right direction” and an opportunity to hone his craft.

Instead, he joined a Packers depth chart headed by rookies Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft. Those players have been immersed in Green Bay’s playbook for about four months. Sims will have less than two weeks to at least learn enough to contribute in the season-opening game at the Chicago Bears.

Fortunately, he was a seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and a first-team academic all-conference pick in 2022.

“When you want to do something, you do it right,” Sims said. “I just feel really good about playbooks. I feel comfortable. I like learning. I like taking something and applying it and turning it into something. This playbook is going to be a project for me. I get to spend time learning and then using. It’s one thing to learn it, it’s another thing to do it.”

The faster Sims learns the schemes and fundamentals – steps in the run game was a focus with tight ends coach John Dunn during the media-viewing portion of Thursday’s practice – the sooner he can be a factor. There will be four practices and a Saturday walk-through before Week 1. Sims won’t have to learn the entire playbook in a week. He’ll just have to learn the plays that are part of the game plan.

“Obviously, there’s going to be ups, there’s going to be downs,” he said. “Just going back every day and don’t be corrected twice on the same mistake. I kind of take that personally because, if I don’t, it shows that I’m not listening or it shows that I don’t care. I obviously want to do both. Going about it one day at a time, learning, growing and, eventually, I’ll be where I want to be.”

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The #Packers added a proven player to their special teams today. https://t.co/KNMOV22LEq

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 31, 2023

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