Paul Bretl | 5/28/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers were on the practice field on Wednesday for their second OTA practice, and this was the first that was open to the media.
During this Phase III portion of the offseason, teams are able to participate in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 team drills, something that they were not able to do previously. However, contact is still not permitted.
As always, I’ll provide the caveat that this is one practice in late-May when the pads aren’t on. There is always an element of starting over that comes with this portion of the offseason, along with some experimenting when it comes to utilizing different lineups.
“It’s like every year you have to, you never want to assume anything as a coach and you almost start from scratch in regards to the detail of how we practice,” said Matt LaFleur after practice. “I got after the guys pretty good today because yesterday wasn’t great. It wasn’t clean. I thought today was much more productive in terms of just the different tempos.
“It’s harder when you’re not going full speed, and then when you do crank it up and are going full speed, you’ve still got to remember the rules of engagement. I think that every year you start from scratch and you kind of build. I think there’s a much quicker learning curve for the guys who have been ingrained in our system and how we do things.”
Hit like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel ‘The Paul Bretl Show’ for more Packers coverage.
Taking attendance: These OTA practices are voluntary. However, only four players were not present at today’s practice. This included Jaire Alexander, Elgton Jenkins, John Williams, Brandon McManus, and Tyron Herring.
Players a part of the rehab group: Christian Watson, Quay Walker, MarShawn Lloyd, Nesta Jaded Silvera, Collin Oliver, John FitzPatrick, Warren Brinson, and Jeremiah Martin. Of note, Watson did go through stretch with the team indoors before everyone headed outside. Also, Savion Williams was in a red non-contact jersey, but did participate in the practice. Kenny Clark and Javon Bullard did not participate in team drills.
Watson is doing “outstanding” as he recovers from an ACL injury.
“Christian’s doing outstanding,” LaFleur said. “I would say he’s ahead of schedule, but again, I’m not a doctor. I’m not medical staff. So we’ll see where he’s at. But I don’t really anticipate anything too long term with any of these guys.”
Competition on the offensive line: With Jenkins not present, we saw both Sean Rhyan and Jacob Monk getting first-team reps at center. When Monk was at center, Rhyan was at right guard, where he started last season. When Rhyan was at center, we saw Jordan Morgan taking right guard snaps. Free agent signee Aaron Banks was at left guard for all of practice.
“He’s a pretty big guy out there. He’s played a lot of football, and there’s a lot of similarities in regards to the scheme from where he came from to what we do. So I think he provides us with – obviously we know what he’s capable of doing – but it also provides us with a lot of flexibility with everyone else around him.”
During the initial first team reps, we saw Rasheed Walker at left tackle. Morgan was then rotated in with the ones throughout practice. If I had to take a guess, Walker spent more time there with the starters than Morgan did. During this time of the year when the pads aren’t on, it’s very difficult to evaluate offensive line play.
Special teams notes: Nate Hobbs and Carrington Valentine were the first-team fliers on the punt coverage unit. We also saw Isaiah Simmons take some reps there as well. He brings a very unique skill set to Rich Bisaccia’s special teams unit. On punt returns, Jayden Reed, Keisean Nixon, Matthew Golden, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks were all rotated in. Last summer, we saw a heavy punt return rotation as well, so this is nothing new.
Matthew Golden’s speed: After running a 4.29-second 40 at the NFL combine, we know that Golden is quick, but that speed and his suddenness was very evident as he ran his routes throughout practice.
“The routes he’s running, the things he’s doing, he looks very smooth, looks real smooth in all the routes he’s running,” Jordan Love said of Golden. “He’s got great hands, great body control, all those things, so I think for him the biggest thing is just how fast can he pick up the offense and being as consistent as possible with knowing what he needs to do on every play.”
There was a heavy rotation at wide receiver. At various points with the first team offense, we saw Reed, Doubs, Wicks, Golden, Bo Melton, and Malik Heath all get snaps with the ones. Melton was with he starting offense quite often throughout the practice, while Heath saw the least amount of opportunities. Of that group, Doubs and Wicks made the most plays. Savion Williams was on the side of the field with the second and third team offenses.
“I just think we’ve got a lot of playmakers in the room and on any given day, anybody can go off,” said Jayden Reed. “All that wide receiver one stuff, I don’t look at it as that. It’s like we’ve got a lot of different playmakers in the room that can make plays and at the end of the day, it’s about a team coming together and getting a job done and winning.”
Nate Hobbs impresses early. During the 7-on-7 drills, Hobbs had a pair of pass breakups when lined up in the nickel. The first came matched up against Tucker Kraft on an in-breaking route, and the second was against Luke Musgrave on a curl.
“He looks great, a guy that, he certainly looks the part,” Matt LaFleur said of Hobbs after practice. “He’s a guy that I think brings a lot of flexibility to our defense with his versatility to go, whether we want to play him inside or outside.”
Lineup notes: At running back, Josh Jacobs was, of course, leading the way, but with Lloyd not participating in practice, Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks both had their share of opportunities with the second team offense.
An under-the-radar name to perhaps keep our eyes on is cornerback Gregory Junior. The Packers signed Junior recently, who is a former sixth-round pick by Jacksonville. With Bullard not participating in team drills, Junior was the fourth cornerback–behind Nixon, Hobbs, and Valentine–primarily playing in the nickel, but he took some outside snaps as well.
Other lineup notes: Zayne Anderson was the team’s third safety, playing behind Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams. Ty’Ron Hopper saw a lot of reps as the middle linebacker when in base and some first team reps as well, paired with Edgerrin Cooper. During the competitive two minute period, however, it was Isaiah McDuffie who was lined up next to Cooper. second round pick Anthony Belton played right tackle with both the second and third team offenses.
Secondary configuration: In the base 4-3 difference, we saw Keisean Nixon and Nate Hobbs at cornerback. When in nickel, Hobbs moved inside, while Nixon and Valentine outside.
Lukas Van Ness with some defensive tackle reps. During the two minute portion of practice, the second-team defensive line consisted of Arron Mosby, Coby Wooden, Van Ness, and Barryn Sorrell.
With Kenny Clark not practicing, we saw Wooden, Karl Brooks, and Devonte Wyatt taking first team reps at defensive tackle. Wooden, in particular, had a nice day, generating push on a few different plays.
“I think the guys have a really good understanding of when we do rush four, what everybody’s responsibility is,” LaFleur said of the pass rush. “I think that we’re going to be a little cleaner in our rush lanes in not allowing big gaps up front, whether it’s the quarterback stepping up or scrambling, so as far as I can tell, the communication’s been great.”
LaFleur has said in the past that getting four quarterbacks reps during these practices can be challenging, since there are only so many reps to go around. Today, an example of that, was that we saw Sean Clifford lead the third team offense in the two minute drill, but Taylor Elgersma didn’t get an opportunity.
Play of the day: Jordan Love connected with Dontayvion Wicks on a deep corner route for a roughly 50-plus yard play. Wicks beat Valentine and got past the safeties, Williams and Anderson to create the separation.
Two minute drills: The situation was there was 1:15 on the clock in a tie game and the offense had two timeouts, and started at their own 30 yard line. Willis was 4-of-7 passing with a downfield throw to Musgrave, creating a chunk play. There were no field goal attempts today, but Willis got the Packers into range for a 33 yard attempt.
Love was 5-of-6 passing while facing the same situation. He got the offense inside the 15 yard line with multiple completions to Doubs, Jacobs, Heath, and Reed. Of note, Love looked very smooth and crisp overall today.
Lastly, for Clifford, the defense won this series. Clifford was 3-for-5, with two overthrows and was sacked on the final play.