Tuesday marked the Green Bay Packers’ second media-open practice of OTAs heading into next week’s mandatory minicamp. With two practices under our belt now, we can compare and contrast how the Packers’ lineups fared between these days, giving us a better picture of where the coaching staff is open to competition and where the depth chart is relatively entrenched.
Let’s take a look at who was in practice, which players were hurt and some news and notes on every phase of the team.
Participation
Players who were absent in practice today were offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins, offensive lineman John Williams, offensive lineman Trey Hill, linebacker Quay Walker, cornerback Jaire Alexander and cornerback Nate Hobbs. Hobbs apparently had a personal issue, but Jenkins, Williams and Alexander have missed both of the OTA practices that were open to the media so far.
While it’s uncertain why Williams hasn’t been present at either OTA practice, both Jenkins and Alexander’s issues are rooted in contract discussions. Jenkins is looking for an extension, despite having several years remaining on his deal, while Alexander and the Packers are working on a restructured contract.
Two players who weren’t in practice last week but were there today are cornerback Tyron Herring and kicker Brandon McManus. Running back MarShawn Lloyd, who was held out of the last media-open practice with an injury, returned to the field on Tuesday, too.
The non-participants in practice today, due to injury, were receiver Christian Watson, tight end John FitzPatrick, defensive end Collin Oliver, defensive tackle Warren Brinson and defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera. All of them missed last Tuesday’s OTA practice, too.
Defensive tackle Kenny Clark again was held out of team periods, but safety Javon Bullard was a full go today. Last week, Bullard only did individual drills with the team. Receiver Savion Williams continued to wear a red non-contact jersey, like he did in the last open practice.
Since last week, the Packers have made a couple of moves with their offseason roster. In is rookie receiver Sam Brown Jr. and out are receiver Jadon Janke and defensive end Jeremiah Martin, who were both waived with an injury designation. At the moment, Green Bay has one open roster spot on the team.
Offense
While he spent most of last week’s practice as the second-team left tackle, 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan received reps with the first-team as both a left tackle and right guard today. Without Jenkins in practice, Morgan, Sean Rhyan and Jacob Monk rotated at right guard, with Rhyan and Monk both having opportunities at center, a position that Jenkins will ultimately fill.
Beyond the offensive line, there aren’t many camp battles going on, as the Packers’ core unit is pretty entrenched at this point. It is worth noting here, though, that first-round rookie receiver Matthew Golden is being mixed in with the first-team often, even appearing on the field when the number one offense attempted its end-of-practice two-minute drill.
Speaking of that two-minute drill, Jordan Love looked sharp, completing six of seven pass attempts for 75 yards and a touchdown in the period. He threw a 30-yard touchdown to Jayden Reed before completing a two-point conversion to Romeo Doubs for the “win.” Usually, defenses tend to dominate in early practices because offenses take time to gel from a timing and execution standpoint. This is a positive sign for the offense.
Tight end Tucker Kraft dropped out mid-practice on Tuesday. Hopefully, it wasn’t a serious injury.
Defense
With Quay Walker out, Isaiah Simmons and Ty’Ron Hopper split time at outside linebacker today. This is a little different than last week, when Hopper played the middle linebacker position in place of Walker. Instead, Simmons and Hopper were off of the field in nickel sets today with Edgerrin Cooper and Isaiah McDuffie playing as the team’s stack linebackers in their 4-2 front.
Sans Nate Hobbs, the slot defender today was Javon Bullard, which shows intent that the Packers want to keep Keisean Nixon locked into an outside cornerback role on the team. Nixon started at outside cornerback with Carrington Valentine today. Last week, Nixon and Hobbs were the team’s outside cornerbacks, with Valentine coming off the bench in nickel looks and Hobbs kicking inside to the slot position.
Kamal Hadden, who was a 2024 practice squadder that was activated for a few games last year, got reps with the first-team defense on Tuesday. Last week, the fifth cornerback with the first-team unit was Gregory Junior. At least as of now, 2024 draft pick Kalen King and 2025 rookie Micah Robinson are further down the pecking order.
With Clark out in team drills today, the starting defensive line was comprised of Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness at defensive end and Devonte Wyatt and Colby Wooden at defensive tackle. Interesting, it was Karl Brooks, not Colby Wooden, who was primarily the next nose tackle up behind Clark and T.J. Slaton, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, last season. It’ll be worth tracking if this changes when Warren Brinson, a 2025 draft pick, returns from injury.
Van Ness also got pass-rushing reps on the defensive interior when the Packers did their two-minute drill period, something he hasn’t done much of during his time in Green Bay. In the post-practice press conference, head coach Matt LaFleur said that the team gave “a lot of thought” to playing the former first-round pick on the interior situationally.
Special Teams
The players who worked in as kick returners today were Keisean Nixon, Matthew Golden, Mecole Hardman, Bo Melton, Amar Johnson, Sam Brown Jr., Jalen White and Cornelius Johnson. Last year, the only players to return a kick besides Nixon were cornerback Corey Ballentine, now an Indianapolis Colt, and Melton, who each had one.
The punt returners on Tuesday were Golden, Hardman and Jayden Reed. Reed has primarily been the Packers’ punt returner over the last two years, but he hasn’t done a good job of turning opportunities into yards. Don’t be shocked if Green Bay makes a change here in 2025.
There was a failed operation on the field goal team today, leading to a fire drill where punter Daniel Whelan threw the ball to Zach Tom, which ultimately fell incomplete. Hopefully, whatever went wrong there gets cleaned up before games start counting in September.