Domination: Everything I Saw From Practice 11 of Packers Training Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ cornerback competition took an interesting turn at Monday’s practice. It took an interesting U-turn on Tuesday.

After veteran starter Keisean Nixon lost snaps with the No. 1 defense to Benjamin St-Juste on Sunday and especially on Monday, Nixon and rookie Brandon Cisse played every snap with the starters on Tuesday. St-Juste and Jaylin Simpson were locked in with the No. 2s.

“Everything's a competition right now, so we’re going to put different guys in different situations in different spots and see how they respond,” LaFleur said before Tuesday’s practice.

So much for that?

We’ll see if Nixon vs. St-Juste continues when the team returns to practice next week. We’ll also see if Carrington Valentine – who returned to practice on Tuesday after missing more than a week with a hamstring injury – will challenge Cisse. Valentine’s injury opened the door for the team’s first draft pick this year to play with the starters, and Cisse has taken full advantage.

“I set a really high standard, so it’s going,” Cisse said when asked about his training camp. “Obviously, I’ve got really high expectations for myself.

“I’m just looking at the plays I can get better from, and I’m excited for those. Obviously, there’s going to be moments where you see flashes and things like that, but there’s a lot of growing pains I’m also going through. I need to get better at those things. I’m just excited to clean it up and continue to get better every day.”

From top to bottom, cornerback has been the wildest position battle of Packers training camp. There were more twists and turns on Monday. ⬇️https://t.co/8wrYjor0Bk
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 11, 2026

Here’s everything that happened at the 11th practice of Packers training camp, leading off with the headline of domination.

Which Unit Won the Day?

There haven’t been many days like this over the past three decades of Packers quarterbacking brilliance.

It was complete domination by Green Bay’s defense. On the first play of the day, Jordan Love and Sean Rhyan botched the snap. On the second play, MarShawn Lloyd tried to cut but slipped.

So, maybe that was more offensive failure than defensive playmaking. After that, though?

On the third play, Love’s bootleg pass to tight end Josh Whyle gained about a yard. After a completion from Love to Christian Watson against Brandon Cisse gained about 10 yards, Love’s quick pass to Matthew Golden was stopped near the line by Keisean Nixon.

And on and on it went. First unit. Second unit. Whatever unit.

The pinnacle was a red-zone period featuring nothing but third downs. The No. 1 offense ran six plays on third-and-goal but scored one touchdown.

First, Love was forced to scramble. Next, Love had nowhere to go and threw it away. The third play, a third-and-goal from the 3, Love hit Golden at the pylon against Cisse for what was probably a touchdown.

After the No. 2 offense got its crack and failed on three consecutive plays, the starters were back on the field. On third-and-goal from the 12, Love extended the play and spotted Skyy Moore in the back of the end zone. Moore made a leaping catch but was pushed out of the end zone by Evan Williams. On third-and-goal from the 6, Love’s pass to Whyle in the flat was off the mark. Finally, on third-and-goal at the 2, Edgerrin Cooper broke up Love’s pass to tight end Drake Dabney.

“I thought we had a great day in the red zone,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “I thought we were technically sound. Scheme was good, we executed well and we got off the field. I think we might have won every rep.”

Reminded of the pass to Golden at the pylon, McKinney said. “Oh, yeah. I’m not going to count those, but we probably get those tackles and get off the field. But I think we had a good day in the red zone. I thought it was clean. I thought everybody communicated well, and that’s what we’re going to need in the season.”

By our estimation, the defense is 10-1 in 11 training camp practices. The only loss came when Zaire Franklin and Edgerrin Cooper didn’t practice on Sunday.

“Obviously, there’s days where we couldn’t stop them,” Franklin said, though his recollection doesn’t fit reality. “There’s days where Jordan’s throwing bombs to Bo (Melton), to Christian, to Jayden (Reed). It’s like everybody’s catching a bomb, (including) Golden. So, you’re going to put as much energy into that as you put into days like today.

“Obviously, they’re talented, we’re talented. So, I feel like when we are able to execute and run the scheme the right way, we can play with anybody. So, obviously, iron sharpens iron. We’re sharpening them boys. They won’t play against people as good as us and they’re going to run them out the building. So, that’s how that works.”

Packers Training Camp Injury Report

New injury: Edge Dani Dennis-Sutton (illness).

PUP: Edge Micah Parsons (knee), LS Matt Orzech (calf), TE Luke Musgrave (neck), DT Jordon Riley (Achilles).

Old injuries: RB Josh Jacobs (groin), CB Domani Jackson (unknown).

Returned to practice: WR Matthew Golden (toe), WR Jayden Reed (ankle), CB Carrington Valentine (hamstring), TE Josh Whyle (neck).

Valentine participated in individual drills while the others got some 11-on-11 work.

Transactions

With the Packers running short on safeties, they signed Trey Dean and Tra Fluellen. To create space on the roster, they released guard/tackle Karsen Barnhart and tight end Drew Biber.

We’ll have more on Dean and Fluellen from our after-practice conversations.

Play of the Day

During the backups’ third-and-goal series, Tyrod Taylor was forced to check it down to running back Jaden Nixon. Linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper was there in an instant to either force a fumble (which was recovered by Arron Mosby) or break up the pass.

Player of the Day

Safety Evan Williams shined the brightest during the defense’s big day. First, there was the aforementioned play in which he shoved receiver Skyy Moore out of the back of the end zone to prevent a touchdown. Later, Tyrod Taylor threw a bomb to Kisean Johnson but Williams ranged over for the interception.

“It’s been great,” safety Xavier McKinney said of his growth alongside third-year safeties Williams and Javon Bulard. “Just being right by these guys every day, building even off the field with our relationship. Everything has been great.

“Seeing them come out here and ball and do the things that they’re doing and progressing the way that they’re progressing, I love to see it. It makes me happy because it lets me know also that I’m doing something right. Trying to keep doing as much as I can for these guys. Making sure that they’re able to keep progressing and become those All-Pros and Pro Bowlers that I know that they are.”

Training Camp Lineup Notes

– The No. 1 offensive line, as has been the case all week, consisted of left tackle Jordan Morgan, left guard Jager Burton, center Sean Rhyan, right guard Jacob Monk and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele. With Bako-Bewele being eased back into team drills following last year’s knee surgery, Anthony Belton got plenty of action.

– The No. 1 defense included Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Nazir Stackhouse and Jonathan Ford up front. With Javon Bullard out with a foot injury, Kitan Oladapo was back in the slot.

– With the No. 2 defense, Benjamin St-Juste and Jaylin Simpson were the corners. In passing situations, Simpson moved into the slot and MJ Devonshire came in at corner. With Dani Dennis-Sutton out, Collin Oliver joined Brenton Cox on the edges.

– The punt-return rotation consisted of Skyy Moore, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, Will Sheppard, Jayden Nixon and Kisean Johnson.

– The day ended with a half-speed 2-minute drill. The defensive unit: Brenton Cox, Barryn Sorrell, Warren Brinson and Anthony Campbell up front, and the usual group of linebackers and defensive backs. Campbell, obviously, is the interesting name from that unit.

Big Plays from Training Camp

It was a shorter-than-normal practice. With the starters’ troubles documented above, this will be a short list of highlight plays that will feature the backups.

– The No. 2 offense’s first play was a toss to Pierre Strong that was stopped by Brenton Cox and Jonathan Ford.

– The next play was a handoff to Jaden Nixon, who ran right into Anthony Campbell and Cox. In the huddle after the play, Campbell’s head bobbed to the music. The next play was a toss to Nixon, with rookie edge player Nyjalik Kelly waiting for him.

– Taylor’s first pass was a bootleg completion to tight end Josh Whyle. Defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy dropped into coverage on that play.

– Collin Oliver’s pressure forced Kyle McCord to check it down, with Hopper there instantly for the tackle. Hopper has made a lot of plays through 11 practices.

– A handoff to Damien Martinez gained about 3 yards before cornerback Benjamin St-Juste came up to make the play. That was the seventh running play of the day and easily the longest gain.

– From an offensive perspective, the backups’ two red-zone series went about as well as the starters’ two series. On third-and-goal from the 10, Taylor extended the play and fired the ball to Isaiah Neyor, but safety Mark Perry broke up the pass. On third-and-goal from the 7, Jaylin Simpson had excellent coverage on Neyor, who couldn’t make a one-handed catch. On third-and-goal from the 5, Taylor was forced to run to the goal line but was stopped short by Oliver. Campbell pretty clearly was held by right tackle Travis Glover.

After the starters got another shot, it was back to Taylor and the twos. On third-and-goal from the 12, Taylor checked it down to Strong, who was stopped by Isaiah McDuffie and popped by Cisse for a minimal gain. From the 6, a screen to Nixon resulted in the Play of the Day mentioned above. From the 3, Taylor threw a sharp slant to Neyor for a touchdown.

– Trey Smack made 4-of-5 field-goal attempts. He hit a 33-yard extra point and field goals from 41 and 43 yards. After a mis-hit from 45 drifted wide of the mark, he ended the drill with a 45-yarder straight down the middle.

Smack is 18-of-25 (72.0 percent) in camp.

– Late in practice, the No. 1 offense faced backups on defense. Love connected with Christian Watson, Bo Melton and Watson again, then made it 4-of-4 on a bootleg completion to Drake Dabney with pressure from Brenton Cox. From there, Melton dropped a pass and Jaylin Simpson had excellent coverage on a bomb to Skyy Moore.

Packers Training Camp Schedule

The Packers will face the Steelers at 6 p.m. Thursday in the first preseason game. Jordan Love and the starters will play – at least a little.

Love is hoping to avoid a repeat of the thumb injury sustained last preseason.

“Obviously, what happened last year sucked. It was very tough,” he said. “I'm glad that the timeline was what it was, and I was able to be good for Week 1. But, yeah, it's definitely one of those things you got to take into consideration going into preseason and everything.

“Me and Matt have talked, and I think the plan is to play some limited role this week and see how it goes going forward. But that's always something that you’ve got to be smart when you're out there, trying to avoid taking hits, things like that. But you know it is football.”

The starters will play on defense, too. The defensive game plan will be vanilla.

“Well, everybody’s lying to the whole league in the preseason,” linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “Obviously, we’re going to go out there (but) the preseason is really not about scheming up. You want to play simple offense, simple defense because you want the talent to show. So, I think that’s what most coaches will say. So, we’re going to go out there, play our base stuff, just let the play style show up: the motor, the violence, and taking the ball away.”

The Packers are scheduled to practice in front of the public next week at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and Tuesday.

The Last Word

Zaire Franklin did not practice on Sunday after traveling back from the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, which featured his former Colts teammate, kicker Adam Vinatieri.

“At first, I was really hesitant to go. Obviously, we’re on our journey here, we’re pushing for our achievements. But Vinny had a really profound impact on me. We only played together a couple years, but he was a special teams captain in Indy before I was; they kind of passed it on to me after him, which was a big deal, at least for me.

“He taught me a lot about just how to carry myself in the meeting room, how to ask questions that the room was thinking about that nobody wants to say. How to, not challenge the coach, but work with him to help everybody be better. Obviously, he was a 25-year vet when I played with him, so that was extremely different. I had a chance to meet up with him and talk to him. He gave me some gems that I really needed at the time, too. So, I was glad that I was able to go.”

Yesterday was the 10th practice of Packers training camp. Focusing on camp as a whole, here are a total of 1⃣5⃣ winners and losers. ⬇️https://t.co/lb4FoicQp8
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 11, 2026

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