Paul Bretl | 8/28/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The last two days of practices for the Packers have been, in Matt LaFleur’s words, “critical” to the team making sure they are best prepared for the regular season.
Following roster cutdowns on Tuesday, the Packers had a quick practice, as LaFleur put it. Then on Wednesday and Thursday, the Packers were back on the practice field. Wednesday’s practice was more moderate, while Thursday was more scrimmage-like.
The scrimmage consisted of 10-minute quarters and was mostly just playing ball, with some specific situations baked in if needed.
“There were some good things and there were some not-so-good things,” Love said of the offense’s performance. “So it’s one of those things where, you know, going against our defense but kind of trying to run some plays for Detroit so not everything is going to play out exactly how we want it.
“But it’s good work. It’s always good work, anytime we can go out there, see different looks, and just kind of rely on our rules and the fundamentals of just playing the plays out.”
Hit like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel ‘The Paul Bretl Show’ for more Packers coverage.
So why were these practices that are taking place in the in-between-time between rosters being set and Week 1 officially getting underway so important?
Well, a big part of that is Jordan Love, and getting him and the rest of the offense some valuable live reps on the practice field together.
“It feels good,” Love said of his thumb after Thursday’s practice. “It feels good right now. Obviously back out here pretty much doing everything now and just keeping it protected, keeping it braced up, but it feels really good.”
Love has been working his way back from a thumb injury he sustained on his left hand in the preseason opener against the New York Jets. Still with time on his side before the regular season began, Love opted to get surgery.
This sidelined him briefly, forcing him to miss the joint practice with Indianapolis, along with Week 2 of the preseason, which the starters didn’t play in.
Love then returned to the practice field during the final week of the preseason and took part in 7-on-7 periods. LaFleur viewed this as a necessary evil to get his quarterback some competitive snaps. The big reason that LaFleur isn’t a fan of 7-on-7 is that there is no pass rush to be mindful of or pocket for the quarterback to navigate.
But with that behind Love, he was a full-go during the Wednesday and Thursday practices. Still with his thumb taped up, Love was taking snaps from under center and doing handoffs–although those came with only his right hand.
When it comes to taking snaps, Love’s top hand–his right hand–is where the ball is placed, which means there’s minimal impact on his left thumb. But for the time being, Love is making do with using his right hand for handoffs.
“Everything is going good with snaps,” Love said. ‘And the handoffs right now, we’re staying with just the right hand, trying to keep that thing protected as much as possible and not take any unnecessary hits right now. But everything feels good.”
From the sounds of it, Love is still going to have the brace on his left thumb for at least a few weeks to help keep it protected. But Love again reiterated that he has no concerns about the injury for Week 1.
Back at practice this week are Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, both of whom had been sidelined for the last several weeks–Reed with a foot injury and Wicks with a calf injury.
Between those two being out, Romeo Doubs also missing a bit of time, and Love sidelined for a week and then limited for another, Brian Gutekunst acknowledged on Wednesday that the starting offense didn’t get in the number of reps together that they anticipated at the start of training camp as they navigated these injuries.
So circling back to why these few practices in late-August after the preseason had ended were “critical,” the lost reps from over the summer were a big reason why.
From a quantity standpoint, when discussing reps, that’s not where the Packers’ focus was this week. Three weeks’ worth of reps can’t be made up in one week. Rather, the intent behind these highly competitive practices was to help get players reacclimated to a game-like setting with some quality game-like reps.
“I think that’s just the natural flow,” Love said about working guys back. “Trying to build guys back in as best you can and obviously we want to keep everybody as healthy as possible going into Week 1.
“We’re trying to find that balance of getting them re-back and re-acclimated in the offense and also keep them as healthy as possible. So I think you go about it the normal way, you don’t just try to force everybody in there for every play.”