Paul Bretl | 5/2/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Following the conclusion of the NFL draft last Saturday, it is a quick turnaround for the Packers’ rookies, who arrived at Lambeau Field on Thursday for rookie minicamp, in what is a whirlwind few days for these players as they begin the process of getting acclimated to their new team and competing in the NFL.
Participating in this four-day event are the Packers’ eight draft picks, 10 undrafted free agents, a bevy of tryout hopefuls, and a few returning players who haven’t accrued an NFL season.
Of course, for these players, they’ve accomplished a lifelong dream by making it to this point, so there is an overwhelming amount of excitement and emotions.
“Man, it’s been great,” said Barryn Sorrel about rookie minicamp on Friday. “You just realize that you’re finally here. Like you said, draft day and everything, it was a blessing and great but it was a lot. Time to actually put my cleats in the ground, put my hand in the dirt and do what got me here. I’m just excited to go out there. I’m out there practicing as a Green Bay Packer, it don’t really get better than that to me. You learn about the tradition of this team. You learn about this organization and the people in this organization. I’m just so happy to be apart of this but also, I’m just happy to be playing football another day.”
However, there’s also work to be done. So, what does Matt LaFleur want to accomplish during this portion of the offseason?
“Just know where these guys are at physically,” LaFleur said on Friday. “I mean, I was just talking to Anthony Belton, and he went on 14 different 30 visits, so it’s hard to be in peak physical condition when you get them in here. So more or less, it’s just try to get these guys a taste of what’s to come, and you know, kind of knock off the jitters a little bit. All these guys are amped up. You just want to get them acclimated as fast as possible because the next time that they’re in here, it’s going to be Phase Two, and they’re going to be in with the vets.”
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For the Packers’ incoming draft picks and UDFAs, this means having two scheduled workouts with the strength and conditioning staff on Friday and Saturday. Then, when the Packers hit the practice field on Saturday morning, there won’t be any full-speed football or 11-on-11, as LaFleur described. Instead, the team will run through an “extended modified individual period,” where the intensity is “scaled back.”
With there truly only being two full days where the rookies are at the facility during this initial minicamp, there’s only so much that can be accomplished. So, one of the key points of emphasis is on beginning to learn the playbook. The expectation is that the players continue to study heavily before they return on May 11th because at that time, they’ll be with the veterans.
“Extremely, extremely difficult,” said LaFleur about learning the playbook. “But everybody’s got a different background in terms of what they’ve been exposed to. So I think some it can be a little bit more challenging than others. That’s why, again, it’s good to get them the information early. That way, I don’t, when they leave here, I expect them to study so that it’s not just you’re starting over when they get here in a week.”
Knowing the importance of this, when the Packers’ recent draft picks were asked on Friday about their goals over the next few days, their responses were all quite similar:
“Just the plays,” said Savion Williams when asked what he wants to get out of these next few days. “Just learning the plays, man. Seeing what I need to do so when I get back next week it just comes smooth.”
Along with having to keep their noses in the playbook, the players will be given a few items specific to their respective games to focus on as well. The Packers’ position coaches are, of course, familiar with the college tape of each of the draft picks and UDFAs and, through the film, have attempted to identify what each player does well and what they can improve upon.
Each rookie is then given a condensed version of their “point of attack tapes,” as LaFleur called it, that showcases what each respective position coach wants their first-year players to focus on. The balance that the Packers want to strike, particularly with rookies, is making sure that they are intentional about everything that they do because that is where growth can be fostered, but also making sure that not too much is put on the plates of these young players, who are tasked with learning a lot in a short time frame.
“I think that that’s an important piece of it is you better know who you’re working with, and you’ve got to try to identify their strengths and weaknesses, at least how you see it and how it fits within our scheme,” LaFleur said. “So we do this with all our players. All of our returning players, any guys we get in free agency. We call them point of attack tapes. And it’s, I guess, a condensed version, you know, maybe it might be 20-30, clips, say, here’s the things that we think you do really well, and here are the one to two things that where we would like you to focus on throughout the course of the offseason. If you master that, then we’ll give ‘em something else.”
Once rookie minicamp is over, everyone, including the veterans, will reconvene for Phase II of voluntary offseason programs. During Phase II, teams can be on the practice field for the first time this offseason and go through individual and group drills.
This is the time of the year, especially for first-year players, when the foundation for everything that’s going to come their way is laid.
“I think it’s important to try to acclimate them as fast as humanly possible, and I think it’s a great, I guess, advantage of bringing them early,” LaFleur added. “That way, when they leave, they’ve got a sense of direction of what they need to do, what’s going to be asked of them when they come back.”