Quick observations from Packers second open OTA practice
The Green Bay Packers were back on the field on Wednesday for the second of three practices during OTAs that are open to the media. Here are my quick observations from what I saw.
— After not being present last week, Preston Smith, Elgton Jenkins, David Bakhtiari and Dallin Leavitt were all at Wednesday’s practice. Leavitt did not practice, and Bakhtiari only went through warm-ups but afterward said that he is feeling good.
— Still not present at the voluntary workouts were Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas.
— Rookie Grant DuBose was still not practicing. Neither were Dontayvion Wicks, Tucker Kraft, nor Devonte Wyatt. With Wyatt on the sidelines, Colby Wooden had some opportunities with the ones and took advantage of those snaps, as did Karl Brooks when given the opportunity. In the locker room, Kenny Clark said that both Wooden and Brooks were learning the playbook fast and looked explosive. The next step for each is reading the offensive cues.
— It’s only May, and the pads aren’t on, but goodness, does Luke Musgrave look the part. He is so smooth running downfield and gets down there quickly. He ran a number of routes during team drills either down the seam or on a crosser, where in either instance, he is a matchup problem. As Matt LaFleur said after practice, “he (Musgrave) is different” compared to the Packers’ previous tight ends in the room.
— Darnell Savage came away with an interception on a deep ball from Jordan Love. It looked like there was a miscommunication between Love and Romeo Doubs, who pulled up on the route early, which led to him not being in position to make a play on the ball.
— Speaking of Doubs, it looks like he has built some fantastic rapport with Love. During the two-minute drill, Doubs was Love’s go-to target, hauling in four receptions on that drive alone, several of which came on slants. Doubs also caught a downfield pass on third and 10, finding the soft spot between the cornerback and safety with Love on the move.
— Rudy Ford was again the starter next to Savage. Given the stability he added to the safety room last season, my guess is that he will be the favorite for most of the summer for that starting job. The second safety in was Tarvarius Moore, followed by Jonathan Owens and Anthony Johnson, lining up next to each other with the second team defense.
— With Alexander and Douglas absent, Corey Ballantine and Shemar Jean-Charles were the starting boundary cornerbacks. If Eric Stokes begins the season on the PUP list, that leaves two or even three roster spots available at this position.
— With Bakhtiari not participating in team drills, the starting offensive line was made up of Caleb Jones at left tackle, followed by Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Jon Runyan, and Zach Tom. Yosh Nijman was then quickly subbed in for Tom at right tackle to get him some reps as well. That right tackle opening will be one of the more intriguing positional battles to watch this summer.
— Lukas Van Ness was fantastic. He basically lived in the backfield when he was on the field, using his strength to drive the offensive tackles back. The starting edge rushers today were Preston Smith and Justin Hollins.
— Love was, overall, decisive with his decision-making and accurate on his boundary and over-the-middle throws for the most part — there was one interception drop by Ballantine as Love forced a throw to the sidelines when under pressure. You can tell, however, that he is still working on the timing with his young pass catchers on the downfield throws.
— Play of the day goes to undrafted rookie Malik Heath, who hauled in a pass down the sidelines from Sean Clifford with multiple defenders and arms around the football.
— The starting skill position players for the Packers’ offense included Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Josiah Deguara, and Aaron Jones.
— Again, keep in mind that there aren’t pads on, but AJ Dillon looked light on his feet with the ball in his hands. Dillon enters a contract year and is looking to rebound after a 2022 season where we didn’t see him breaking free from tackles as often as he did in 2021.
— The Packers are expecting to see more blitzes, especially early on in the season, as teams try to test Jordan Love and this young offense. Perhaps as a result, there were a few instances where the defense sent pressure today. As Adam Stenavich said a few weeks ago, until the Packers put on tape that they can handle blitzes, teams are going to continue to do it.
