The boys are back in town. The Green Bay Packers held their second Organized Team Activity practice today, the first open to reporters. They did some stretching and a few drills inside the Huston Center before heading outside on Ray Nitschke Field.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur welcomed nearly a 100% attendance rate, only one player was excused for a personal matter, the best “voluntary” turnout since he got here in 2019. Having last year’s youngest team in the NFL get even younger in the off-season has a lot to do with it said LaFleur, not to mention a new system is getting installed on defense, all making for a great learning environment. In 11 on 11 team periods, plays were run at teaching speed with the squad split in two for even more reps.
Matt LaFleur watching Jeff Hafley watch drills.
It was a pleasant surprise seeing Kingsley Enegbare not only in uniform but taking part in all of the team drills. It was thought he tore his ACL late last season and wouldn’t be available until well into the 2024 campaign but no surgery was required on the knee and the third year linebacker was moving surprisingly well.
A couple of second year players were on the sidelines and will be until training camp in July. Tight end Tucker Kraft has his left arm in a sling and Zach Tom is dealing with a pectoral muscle issue. Two injuries the coach is aware of, recalling his mishap with the bench press machine that had him in a sling during rookie mini-camp earlier this month. The players are “in the LaFleur” program he joked.
New running back Josh Jacobs was withheld from team work because of a slight (gulp) hamstring pull, something LaFleur didn’t sound overly concerned with. Former quarterback Alex McGough, turned wide receiver, dropped out of practice after it looked like he pulled up with a hammy tug running a deep route.
The most talked about hamstring injury of the last couple of seasons belonged to Christian Watson but he looked to be running free and said after practice he’s “in a good spot” both mentally and physically after a couple of challenging seasons.
Both LaFleur and Jordan Love agreed it’s no secret how different the offense is and will be with a healthy Watson this fall.
Year 2 as Number 1 for Jordan Love begins.
The quarterback is in line for a very healthy pay raise soon. In exchange for a fifth year option on his original contract, Love agreed to play for around 11 million dollars this season but a mega-extension can be signed at any time. When Love met reporters in the locker room after the workout, that contract was subject number one but he said the negotiations weren’t about to keep him away from the team right now.
It is just day one after all so you don’t want to read too much into how the units are lining up but on defense, free agent safety Xavier McKinney was running with Anthony Johnson Jr. in the back end, and on the offensive line, where the musical chairs might not stop until the end of training camp, Rasheed Walker got first dibs at left tackle, Elgton Jenkins and Josh Myers held their customary spots with Sean Ryhan working at right guard and veteran free agent Andre Dillard was taking snaps at right tackle in place of Tom.
LaFleur also broke a bit of news after practice, announcing the team will take part in a pair of joint practices during training camp. They’ll work out once before playing the Broncos in Denver in the Pre-Season and do the same when the Baltimore Ravens come to town for the third and final tuneup.
Former University of Wisconsin Head Coach Paul Chryst was an invited guest watching on the sidelines. The now special assistant with the Texas Longhorns struck up a friendship with LaFleur during his Badger days and Matt said he’ll be the first of many guests invited to watch the team workout.
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