GREEN BAY, Wis. – Evan Williams finished Green Bay Packers training camp with a bang.
While it was a rough day at the office for Green Bay’s No. 1 defense, Williams intercepted Sam Darnold to give the Packers the win in the starters vs. starters 2-minute drill to cap Thursday’s joint practice against the Seattle Seahawks.
Evan Williams closed practice with the type of highlight-reel play made so often last season by Xavier McKinney.
“Really, I was just reading the quarterback’s eyes off the rip and he kind of had a good tilt toward the boundary to my left,” Williams explained of his 2-minute drill interception. “I looked pre-snap before the play even started. I was looking at my matchups.
“They had 11 [Jaxon Smith-Njigba] and Cooper Kupp over to my right and I’m thinking, OK, those are more route-runner type, not (necessarily) go-deep type of guy. And we had MVS to my left with a tight end, so I’m thinking, ‘OK, that guy’s got real gas. I might have to play over the top of him.’ Yeah, I got to my post, I got good depth, and he let it launch. It might have been in the air a little too long and I was able to go cover some ground.”
On the play, rookie defensive tackle Warren Brinson had a big push up the middle. Darnold saw Smith-Njigba get a step on cornerback Keisean Nixon. The ball probably did hang in the air too long, like Williams said, which allowed the second-year safety to range from centerfield to his left to make a high-point interception.
“I thought it was mine, so I’m kind of mad about it, but Evan’s a hell of a player,” Nixon said. “He’s been playing really good. He take a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2. Close it out, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
Williams celebrated immediately after catching the ball. After a short return, he slid to the turf and did a Steph Curry-style “night-night” celebration.
“I was waiting to pull that out,” he explained. “I was telling my coach, if I get one, I’m going to pull it out right now. I was honestly so juiced, hearing the crowd and all that, after I picked it off, I wanted to go return it, but I heard Coach Haf [defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley] yelling, ‘Get down,’ so I’ll get down.”
Evan Williams INT in 11v11's
Good lord the push up front from Warren Brinson. Likely would end in a sack
(📹 @ Chase.Nitz on IG) pic.twitter.com/2MQXOxOK9I
— Alexander Basara (@Basaraski) August 21, 2025
Both teams ran a pair of 2-minute drills, with all four starting at the 30-yard line with 1:30 on the clock. Green Bay went 2-0 on defense and 1-1 on offense.
Offensively, what was left of Green Bay’s No. 1 offense gained two first downs before the drill was for some reason cut short. Trailing 28-21, Malik Willis converted fourth-and-11 with a pass over the middle to Malik Heath. After a false start and incompletions to Heath, who was open deep, and Julian Hicks, Willis escaped to his left and connected with Luke Musgrave for a first down.
Willis got the offense organized and clocked the ball with 11 seconds remaining but didn’t get another snap.
Up next was Green Bay’s No. 1 defense, which had to protect a 35-28 lead. Sam Darnold connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for one first down but a big scramble up the middle was called back by a penalty before Evan Williams’ interception.
Sean Clifford directed Green Bay’s backups, with the score 28-26. Clifford went 0-for-4 but appeared to get a mulligan. Starting with 1:08 on the clock, Clifford converted a fourth-and-8 with a pass to tight end Ben Sims, who got out of bounds with 45 seconds to go. Clifford got another first down with a completion to Isaiah Neyor and hit Kawaan Baker on a slant for 7.
On third-and-3, Neyor torched cornerback Damarion Williams for what should have been a long touchdown, but Clifford overthrew him. Mark McNamee booted a 55-yard field goal.
With the situation 30-28, Green Bay’s backups on defense scored a decisive win against Drew Lock. On fourth-and-10, Kingsley Enagbare capped a good day with a sack.
The most dominant player on the field was Seattle receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was unstoppable for most of the practice.
From Green Bay’s perspective, first-year cornerback Kamal Hadden might have put himself back in the mix for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Hadden was beaten a handful of times during Saturday’s preseason win at the Colts. At practice this week, rookie Micah Robinson took Hadden’s spot with the No. 2 defense. On Thursday, though, Hadden rejoined Bo Melton as the No. 2 pairing.
After going 1-1 during the one-on-ones, Hadden broke up a pass from Drew Lock to former Packers receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling to start a third-down period. Hadden celebrated by screaming a series of obscenities at Seattle’s sideline. During a seven-on-seven red-zone period, Hadden broke up another pass from Lock.
Kingsley Enagbare also had an excellent day. He had sacks during a third-down period and 2-minute drill, back-to-back impact rushes – he batted down the pass on the second of those – and a tackle for loss on a running play by Kenneth Walker.
Zach Tom was thrown out of #Packers-Seahawks joint practice today for his role in the big fight. Here's what he had to say afterward. ⬇️https://t.co/Jv9UiErfGX
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 21, 2025