Green Bay is lovely this time of year, and honestly I wish I was here for longer than just the 19 hours I get. I did get some stuff to take away from that trip …
1) The first question anyone is going to get here—How did Jordan Love look? Today’s practice was a jog-through, so it’s tough to take much from that, but after talking with him, and Packers folks about him, I know there’s a lot to like about the person and the progress he’s made. The coaches, for their part, are trying to throw as much at him as possible and they also see some benefit to the idea of playing him a lot in the preseason (so he can keep building his library of defensive looks seen); they’re going to balance that against the injury risk in putting him out there too much. How joint practices with the Bengals and Patriots go could affect all this too, but the Packers might be one team worth watching in their August exhibition games.
Albert Breer’s Training Camp Tour
Tuesday: Lions Training Camp: Versatile Secondary Gives Defense an Aggressive Edge
Wednesday: Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes May Have His Best Bookend Tackles Yet
Thursday: Brian Flores’s Vikings Defense Has Secondary Ascending
Friday: Getting Packers’ Jordan Love Ready to Start
Morry Gash/AP
2) The roster here still has a rock-solid crew of vets, but is very young in other spots, and that means a lot of competition away from the premium spots—to be the third running back (Patrick Taylor, Lew Nichols, Tyler Goodson, Emanuel Wilson), the nickel corner (Keisean Nixon, Innis Gaines), the right tackle (Zach Tom, Yosh Nijman), and the safety opposite Darnell Savage (Rudy Ford, Jonathan Owens). There’s also a battle to fill out receiver spots (ideally Jayden Reed would seize the slot role) behind Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. So the pads will go on Monday and this should be a lively camp.
3) Another question would be whether or not Green Bay can get rookie tight ends Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft ready to roll and become contributors quickly. What there’s no question on is the ability that Musgrave has flashed—showing himself to be a freak for the position through the spring and early parts of camp. The learning curve can be steep at that position, but hopes are high that Musgrave, who battled injuries in college, can quickly become a matchup problem for defenses.
4) It’s hard to miss the guys who are coming back from injury, and the Packers are going to judicious with two of them—Rashan Gary and Eric Stokes—in particular, with both being such integral pieces of the roster. The goal would be to take those two off the PUP list before the end of training camp to start ramping them up, and my guess is both will be managed through the first month of the season. While we’re here, Gary looks slimmer and sleeker than he has in the past, cutting more the frame of an edge rusher now where he’s routinely looked like an inside/outside tweener body type in the past. Clearly, he’s worked relentlessly to come back. Last year, I had him as my dark horse for DPOY. This year, I might hesitate a little because coming of an ACL isn’t easy, but I wouldn’t be stunned if he plays at that level again by the end of the year.
5) Defensive line depth in another question, but the Packers like what they’ve seen early from Day 3 picks Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks. So those guys could wind up earning roles right away.
