Tuesday marked the Green Bay Packers’ final practice before the team makes its trip to Indianapolis for a joint practice against the Colts on Thursday. Those two teams will face off in the preseason on Saturday, a game that head coach Matt LaFleur has stated is expected to be a rest day for the team’s starters. Per LaFleur, the starters will be pushed to play against the Seattle Seahawks in the preseason finale, despite the Packers also having a joint practice scheduled with the Seahawks in Green Bay leading up to that game.
So how did the Packers look in preparation for the Colts? Let’s get into today’s action.
Participation
Packers.com’s Weston Hodkiewicz reported that the only new injuries on the team entering today’s practice were quarterback Jordan Love’s injury (thumb) and running back Israel Abanikanda’s hamstring issue. Love is having surgery on his left thumb, which was injured during his sack against the New York Jets. The hope is that he can return to practice next week.
Because of Abanikanda’s status, the Packers added former third-round running back Tyrion Davis-Price, who played in a similar offensive system with the San Francisco 49ers.
Players who remain out of practice due to injury are receiver Christian Watson (knee), receiver Jayden Reed (foot), receiver Dontayvion Wicks (calf), offensive lineman John Williams (back), defensive end Collin Oliver (hamstring), cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee), cornerback Isaiah Dunn (knee), safety Xavier McKinney (calf) and safety Zayne Anderson (knee). In the pre-practice presser today, general manager Brian Gutekunst was optimistic that Oliver, who has missed all of training camp so far, will be able to return to the team and practice before the roster cutdown deadline.
The wide receiver unit just keeps taking hits in practice. On a deep pass from Malik Willis, Romeo Doubs went down, eventually walked off on his own power and then was sent to the Hutson Center with the medical staff. Receiver Savion Williams, who has been on and off the field all summer due to injury, also worked to the side of practice, according to Packer Report’s Andy Herman, and didn’t return to play.
Between Watson, Wicks, Reed, Doubs and Williams, the only receiver consistently on the field for the Packers’ first-team unit at this point is first-round rookie Matthew Golden. Expect to see a lot of Malik Heath and Mecole Hardman in this week’s preseason matchup.
Left tackle Rasheed Walker and running back Emanuel Wilson returned to team drills today after being limited in practice in their returns on Monday. Walker split time at left tackle with Jordan Morgan, who was Walker’s replacement when the preferred starter was injured.
Herman noted that Sean Clifford, not just Willis, took snaps with the first-team offense at quarterback. Clifford was last season’s practice squad quarterback, after being the primary backup in 2023. There doesn’t seem to be a true competition for the backup job as of yet, but it is worth mentioning that Clifford got limited looks over Willis today.
Willis had two throws that drew praise from the media today: a deep middle of the field pass to Golden, which the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Ryan Wood called “his best throw of camp,” and a 30-yard corner route touchdown to tight end Luks Musgrave. Former third-round running back MarShawn Lloyd seemed to impress those in attendance, too. Lloyd was brought back from injury just yesterday.
The Packers experimented with playing Isaiah Simmons as their third linebacker in base 4-3 looks, but those days seem to be over now. Pretty consistently, Green Bay is now lining up with Edgerrin Cooper and Isaiah McDuffie as the team’s outside linebackers next to Quay Walker. Aside from the third linebacker job, the Packers’ other starting defenders have been written in ink during camp. The only question is whether safety Javon Bullard will come off the bench as the team’s nickel defender when Nate Hobbs returns from injury, or if Hobbs will play inside and Carrington Valentine will come off the bench to play outside cornerback in nickel looks.
Wood noted that linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper popped the ball out from Wilson, leading to the ball going “sailing.” Hopper looked much improved against the Jets, after a rough preseason on defense last summer kept him in a special teams-only role during his rookie year.
Practice ended with a big win for the defensive side of the ball. Linebacker Simmons sacked Willis, who, after the play was blown dead, threw it up to Hardman. The ball ended up getting picked off by starting safety Evan Williams.
Special Teams
The Packers worked their first-team kickoff unit in practice today, which we probably won’t get a chance to see until at least the third preseason game, if they even choose to show it then. Against the Jets, Green Bay didn’t get its kickoff team on the field until the majority of the starters were already rested, and the Packers plan to rest their starters against the Colts this week.
For the most part, this unit looks like the one Green Bay fielded last year. The major exceptions are injured players (Xavier McKinney and Zayne Anderson) or players who left in free agency (Eric Wilson and Robert Rochell). It is worth mentioning that linebacker Kristian Welch got the look here over defensive end Arron Mosby, who started on all four major special teams units in 2024. Welch played really well on special teams (but not defense) against the Jets on Saturday. Corey Ballentine, who started on kickoff last year, has also been displaced.
Cornerback Bo Melton and linebacker Isaiah Simmons continue to get work as the first-team gunners on the punt team. Melton and Ballentine started there last year. The Packers are playing Simmons in defensive back-like roles in special teams, which means Green Bay will have to get creative with their linebacker-like bodies (tight end and defensive end) on special teams this year. Usually, they can bank on their backup linebackers playing roles like tackle or guard on the punt team. That’s not the case in 2025 with Simmons playing an entirely different position in those practice periods.
Keep all this in mind when it comes to the Packers’ initial 53-man roster. A lot of decisions will come down to how guys contribute in the kicking game.
Kicker Brandon McManus went six of six in his kicks today, bringing his camp total to 56 of 60 (93 percent), according to Wood.