Jordan Love shines in Packers' fourth training camp practice
In the words of Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins, the team held an "above-the-neck" practice on Friday, which was more of a walkthrough, than anything. But, things ramped back up for the Packers' fourth training camp practice on Saturday. So, without further ado, let's dive into the top developments. Injury updates A few […]
In the words of Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins, the team held an "above-the-neck" practice on Friday, which was more of a walkthrough, than anything.
But, things ramped back up for the Packers' fourth training camp practice on Saturday. So, without further ado, let's dive into the top developments.
Injury updates
A few guys got banged up on Saturday, but it wasn't anything major nor does it seem like there will be any lingering issues. We'll obviously get the full scope on that when the Packers resume practice on Monday.
Rookie Dontayvion Wicks was seen on the sidelines Saturday, which bodes well for a return in the near future. We'll see if he's out there Monday.
Jordan Love has his best day of practice, by far…
Per The Athletic's Matt Schneidman, Love was 16-for-22 on the day in what was his best practice, to date. The key play was his 33-yard strike to Samori Toure on a 3rd and 3 in a two-minute drill that took the offense down to the 13:
Love's day would've been even better if there hadn't been questionable refereeing during the starting offense's final two-minute drive of the day.
Love and the Packers offense looked like they won the drill when it appeared as if Patrick Taylor crossed the goal line for a would-be touchdown, but the referees ruled him down on the 1, much to the dismay of the players and on-lookers. As a result, the field goal unit came on and made the attempt, but a touchdown would've been much better, obviously.
The no-call trickled into the final two-minute drills for the 2s and 3s and it led to more less-than-satisfactory results.
…But the offense still had to do push-ups, at the end of the day
As we've seen so far, the losers of the day have to do push-ups. Head coach Matt LaFleur changed things around on Saturday, however, to where the losers of the final two-minute drill had to do push-ups.
The questionable no-call, combined with ineffective drills from the backups had the offense doing push-ups, again, at the end of the day.
And, of course, Jaire Alexander was there to let everyone know exactly what was going on.
Lukas Van Ness runs with the 1s and blows up a teammate
The Packers have been rotating EDGEs with the 1s and Van Ness finally got his turn on Saturday. He wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity as he blew up fourth-year tight end Josiah Deguara by knocking him into the backfield.
Van Ness has all the potential in the world, so it'll be exciting to see what he can do when the pads come on Monday.
Anders Carlson struggles
Carlson has had a solid offseason, thus far, but definitely had his worst practice on Saturday after going 1-of-6 on field goal attempts.
Sure, they were all at least from 45-yards and into the wind, but that simply can't happen. The Packers love his resilience, so it'll be key to see how he responds on Monday.
Keisean Nixon on offense could be a real thing
There was a bit of an offseason tease about Nixon potentially playing on offense and as it just so happened to be, he caught some passes with the offense on Saturday.
Nixon is an electric playmaker with the ball in his hands, so it makes total sense for him to be in the best spot(s) to touch the ball. But the biggest takeaway, here, is the fact the Packers are not going to make last year's mistake when it comes to Nixon's playing time.
Zach Tom is definitely the frontrunner at RT
David Bakhtiari started practice at LT and Tom was at RT. It's been widely assumed he would get the first crack at the starting job and he started there during camp. But, Bakhtiari was on his "practice schedule", so, Yosh Nijman had to fill in at LT. Therefore, we still didn't really know what the offensive line would look like with Bak in the lineup.
We got that answer Saturday, as Tom slotted in at RT while Bak was at LT. We'll see if the Packers rotate Nijman and Tom on Monday, but it's safe to assume the latter will be on the field when the first-team offense comes out.
Punter competition turns up a notch
Daniel Whelan had a really nice day, which is going to have Pat O'Donnell on edge over the next few days. Sure, punter competitions aren't sexy nor do they create headlines, but it's an important position that can easily impact a game. The former XFL player could make things interesting over the coming weeks.
Kingsley Enagbare has a nice day
Man, if Rashan Gary can return to form by midseason then the Packers pass rush should be no joke. The team has a strong quartet in Gary, Preston Smith, Van Ness, and Enagbare and then things get even better when throwing Justin Hollins into the mix.
Obviously, it remains to be seen when Gary is back to his old self, but EDGE is certainly in a good spot and Enagbare is part of the reason why.
Top moments from Packers’ second training camp practice
The second Packers training camp practice has even more to talk about than the first one.
Featured image via Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
