Paul Bretl | 7/24/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Day 2 of Packers’ training camp practice is in the books. Coming off of Day 1 on Wednesday, Matt LaFleur was mostly pleased with what he saw from his team.
“I thought yesterday was pretty clean,” LaFleur said before Thursday’s practice. “I thought our guys did a good job of competing, but also taking care of one another, because ultimately, we needed everybody healthy for us to be at our best.
“So I thought there were a couple situations where you’re always stressed and staying away from the quarterback in those passing, passing plays. There were a couple that were, you know, a little too close to the QB, but I thought by and large, our guys did a good job of competing, getting the work in, but also taking care of one another.”
Hit like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel ‘Paul Bretl’ for more Packers coverage
Now, let’s open the notebook and talk about Day 2.
Injury updates: Quay Walker was removed from the PUP list after passing his physical. However, there will be a ramp-up period for him. On Thursday, he went through walkthroughs, but Matt LaFleur didn’t want to put a timeline on when he will fully be back in the mix.
No changes to the starting offensive line unit. Just as we saw on Wednesday, with Elgton Jenkins out, the Packers starting offensive line configuration was made up of Rasheed Walke at left tackle, followed by Aaron Banks, Sean Rhyan, Jordan Morgan, and Zach Tom. While we heard all offseason about a competition at left tackle, Walker has taken the majority of those first-team reps, while Morgan is at right guard. Perhaps that changes when Jenkins is back in the mix and Rhyan goes back to guard.
Other offensive line notes: The second unit was mostly the same as well. Anthony Belton was at left tackle, and next to him were Donovan Jennings, Jacob Monk, Travis Glover, and Kadeem Telfort. With the third team offense, Belton was the right tackle as the Packers cross-train him at both positions.
“It’s been good,” Belton said of playing right tackle. “Just being able to be versatile. The more I can do the better. But it’s good. I’m learning both positions. It’s definitely different but it’s a good problem to have.”
Hold on, one more offensive line note: The Packers must think highly of Glover or are trying to get a better idea of what they have in him. When Banks had to step out for some plays, Glover took over at left guard with the first team offense. During the move the ball period at the end, Monk got some snaps there as well. The Packers are cross-training Monk at both center and guard positions.
“My main goal, just like last year when I got thrown in the playoff game,” Glover said after practice, “is to go re-earn they trust. So every time I get in there, no matter 1s, 2s, 3s, just go out there and play, earn the trust of my teammates of my teammates and the coaches, all the way upstairs … just go out there and work. I don’t really think too much in to it.”
A lot of movement in the secondary. I’ve said before that the versatility the Packers have on the back end can be a superpower for that unit. Initially in nickel, we saw Nate Hobbs and Keisean Nixon on the outside with Javon Bullard in the slot, along with Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams deep. Then there were times where Hobbs moved to nickel, Carrington Valentine was outside, and either Bullard or Williams lined up next to McKinney. There is a ton of mixing and matching potential with this unit.
Getting a better look at the cornerback depth: As the third outside cornerback, Valentine sees snaps with the second defense. Often opposite of him today was Kamal Hadden, while Kalen King got nickel reps with the second unit. Bo Melton was at outside cornerback with the third defense for the start of practice, but during the move the ball period to end the day, he spent some time with the twos.
“That’s the big part right now,” Melton said of learning the playbook on defense. “That’s why I’m staying primarily at corner, because I’ve got to learn the defense. There’s a lot of defensive calls, I’ve got to get used to it. Like I said, I know the offense, I’ve been here going on three years, so I know what’s going on [over there]. So it’s just getting used to it.”
Other defensive starters: The starting defensive line unit remained steady with Lukas Van Ness, Devonte Wyatt, Kenny Clark, and Rashan Gary. At linebacker, Isaiah McDuffie and Edgerrin Cooper were the nickel linebackers, with Isaiah Simmons filling the strong-side role in the base 4-3 look.
Other lineup notes on defense: The second linebacker unit was made up of Ty’Ron Hopper as the Mike with Simmons and Kristian Welch along with him. As said yesterday, Hopper is strictly seeing snaps at middle linebacker, so with McDuffie in the mix, we won’t see Hopper with the ones right now. Zayne Anderson and Kitan Oladapo seem locked into the fourth and fifth safety spots on the depth chart.
Taylor Elgersma gets more reps. As LaFleur has pointed out, getting four quarterbacks the required practice reps isn’t easy. So, given what we’ve seen the first two days, it looks like Elgersma and Sean Clifford are alternating who gets the QB3 reps.
End of half two-minute period: The first, second, and third team defenses won each of these competitive periods. On Malik Willis’ first snap, his pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Simmons and picked off by Valentine. Jordan Love and the starting offense picked up an initial first down, but a short gain, an incomplete pass, and a pass breakup by Nate Hobbs ended that drive. On the second play of Elgersma’s possession, he threw a pick over the middle to safety Omar Brown.
“He can run,” Josh Jacobs said of Isaiah Simmons. “He’s kind of a unicorn at that position. He can run. We can put him out on guys in the slot, he can cover guys. Really, I just can’t wait to see him in pads. I want to see how physical he is. I’ve played against him a couple times so I know what kind of player he is, but it’s different when you see it on a day-to-day basis.”
Speaking of Nate Hobbs, he’s had a few pass breakups during the first two practices. As many of his teammates have described, he is an intense competitor, and you see that on the field. The Packers are also putting his versatility to good use.
“He’s done a great job,” LaFleur said of Hobbs. “You can really see the guy’s a competitor, and that’s why we loved him on tape. He’s tough. And he was primarily a nickel with the Raiders, and so it’s been pretty cool to watch him come in, played a lot more outside corner, but also we know what he can do if we want to put him inside.”
What about the wide receivers? Mecole Hardman had some first-team reps today. We saw Matthew Golden’s ability in space on display as well. On a quick out, he caught the pass, put his foot in the ground, cut back towards the middle of the field, making a defender miss, and then accelerated past another defender. As a third-round pick, Savion Williams will be on the team, but hasn’t been rotated in with the other starters yet. Of note, he was wearing a red non-contact jersey during offseason programs, so perhaps he’s playing a bit of catch-up.
“Just explosiveness, first and foremost,” Evan Williams said of Golden. “He’s a guy that you go one-on-one, you give him any one-on-one opportunity, he’s a guy that is going to often get open, and you saw that today. He’s not only getting open, getting the ball, but making a man miss post-catch. It’s pretty unique trait for a lot of guys in this league.”
Warren Brinson and Barryn Sorrell saw a few snaps towards the end of practice with the second team defense. They’re practice time has mostly come with the third unit. Sorrell was also lined up at tackle during the obvious passing situation.
Move the ball period: Love was 3-for-5 on his pass attempts. One of the incompletions had home run potential with Josh Jacobs running what looked like a deep post, but Love overthrew him. On the final play, it looked like Van Ness might have had a sack in a real game, but Love bought time and connected with Golden over the middle.
Willis, on his attempt, went 3-for-5 as well. He had the opportunity to generate a big play down the right sideline, but Williams couldn’t quite haul in the contested catch. All three of Willis’ completions were closer to the line of scrimmage.
Elgersma was 0-for-3. It looked like he and Sam Brown Jr. may not have been on the same page on the first attempt. Then, Jamon Johnson had a nice pass breakup on a crossing route, and the last incompletion was an overthrow.
Lastly, Clifford did get an attempt during this portion of practice. The first pass was to Will Sheppard on what looked like a drop and the second play like was a sack, but Clifford bought time and completed the throw to Corelius Johnson.