Today marked the final practice the Green Bay Packers have before their travel day tomorrow, as they’ll play the Denver Broncos on Friday. Per head coach Matt LaFleur yesterday, the plan is for starters to play two drives against the Broncos, which is expected to be their last preseason opportunity. In Week 3, the Packers will use their starters in joint practices, but use their backups in their preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals at Lambeau Field.
Today’s practice was closed to the public but open to the media. It was also a half-speed “jogthrough” practice, so I’d put less emphasis on individual performances and more on the rotations the Packers used throughout the day.
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Injuries
The Packers’ physically unable to perform list remains the same, with tight end Luke Musgrave (neck), edge defender Micah Parsons (knee), defensive lineman Jordon Riley (ankle) and long snapper Matt Orzech (calf) still inactive.
Several players did return to practice today, though: receiver Bo Melton (stinger), edge defender Dani Dennis-Sutton (illness) and edge defender Nyjalik Kelly (knee). According to LaFleur, Dennis-Sutton overheated at practice, which put him into a medical protocol. Melton dropped out of practice yesterday, but it looks like he’s already good to go.
The only players to miss practice, beyond the PUP list guys, were tackle Darian Kinnard (ankle) and safety Javon Bullard (foot). As a reminder, the team has described both of those injuries as short-term, and Bullard even stated that he’d be playing in games with his bone bruise if it were a game week.
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Offense
The big question everyone has right now on offense is who will be starting on the line in Week 1 of the regular season. With Aaron Banks and Zach Bako-Bewele back in practice full-time now, the contenders for starting spots are all finally healthy at the same time.
So what did the line look like today? A bunch of different combinations.
The line started with Jordan Morgan, Banks, Sean Rhyan, Jacob Monk and Bako-Bewele (left to right), but there were several other iterations with the first-team unit on Wednesday. Monk also played center, Jager Burton played both left and right guard and Anthony Belton played right tackle.
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It seems like the only option that the Packers have ruled out is Belton playing right guard, for whatever reason.
If you want a look at how Bank and Monk played in the preseason, we clipped up all of their snaps versus the Steelers (and split them by run and pass reps) for you.
Defense
On defense, the “starting” defensive linemen in the Packers’ 3-4 look were Jonathan Ford at nose tackle and Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks at the ends. With that being said, Javon Hargrave has been rotating in with the first-team unit, too, and has been regularly getting “first-look” opportunities when the team is in nickel sets.
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The biggest question, though, is at cornerback. Yesterday, it felt like the cornerback competition truly opened up for the first time, not just for the spot opposite Keisean Nixon — which had been the case throughout camp — but also Nixon’s spot (left cornerback) itself.
Today was no different, as Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Brandon Cisse and Benjamin St-Juste were all heavily rotated in and out of the lineup with the 1s. Previously, Valentine and Cisse mostly battled for playing time opposite Nixon, while St-Juste was by far fourth in the pecking order.
The other position to watch is slot defender, where the Packers are looking for an answer behind the currently injured Bullard. Johnathan Baldwin was their preferred backup for most of the spring and summer, but he’s since been waived with an injury designation.
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Neither safety Kitan Oladapo nor cornerback Jaylin Simpson did well in the slot in their opportunity in the preseason opener. Since then, cornerback Kamal Hadden has returned to practice from injury, and he’s now getting most of the first-team snaps in the slot with Bullard out.
Worth noting: Hadden picked off third-string quarterback Kyle McCord today, even if practice wasn’t at full speed. If he (and draft pick Domani Jackson) perform well enough, maybe the team keeps six cornerbacks on the 53-man roster.
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