GREEN BAY – The on-field classroom portion of the offseason concluded Wednesday when the Green Bay Packers wrapped minicamp. That’s what these past few weeks of late May and early June are in the NFL.
A classroom. On the field.
The football will wait until teams strap their pads in late July. Coaches spend the spring hoping no fluke injuries befall their team before training camp. It’s why Matt LaFleur excused cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Keisean Nixon, and safety Xavier McKinney from both days of minicamp, and running back Josh Jacobs from the second day.
There isn’t real football being played yet. But that time is coming.
“I think we’ve laid a good foundation,” LaFleur said. “I think the things we stress to these guys in terms of our communication, how close the connection can get, I think it’s a good start. But it really doesn’t matter once we come back to training camp. It’s about what we do moving forward. It’s just the foundation.”
All things Packers: Latest Green Bay Packers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Aside from a healthy roster, the Packers exited minicamp with plenty to be determined once they reconvene for their first camp practice July 22. Here’s a look at the most interesting early developments of camp.
Packers trying many offensive line configurations, still have a long way before finding best five
Before his first training camp practice, Jordan Morgan already has gotten reps at four of the five positions on the offensive line. Morgan was drafted with versatility in mind, but he started every game of his college career at Arizona as a left tackle. Learning how to play right tackle, right guard and left guard on the fly is a major adjustment.
“It’s definitely not an exact science,” LaFleur said. “You have to take into account where he’s at and where you need to push him to, but I think long term it’s in our best interest to train guys like that. Because you just never know what’s going to transpire over the course of a season. If it’s the first time they’re kind of going through that in season, you’re in a world of hurt.”
The Packers likely won’t stop loading Morgan’s plate when camp begins. It’s all part of trying to find their best five offensive linemen, regardless of position. To that end, LaFleur has tinkered with a lot of different lineups this spring. The Packers opened Wednesday with Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Andre Dillard at right tackle and Sean Rhyan at right guard. Dillard was the first left tackle Tuesday with Morgan at right tackle. When Walker rotated in at left tackle, Dillard switched over to right tackle and Morgan moved inside to right guard.
There will come a point in camp when the rotation slows, and the offensive line starts to take a more consistent shape. The Packers still have plenty of time before that happens.
“There’s been some good work that’s been put in,” LaFleur said. “I think it’s really important to work on the fundamentals, but the fact of the matter is we’re not in pads. I don’t think you’ll really, truly know until we get out there, we get pads on.”
Backup quarterback competition could be fierce between Sean Clifford, Michael Pratt
If there’s a word to describe this Packers offseason, it’s tranquil. They have their quarterback of the future. Jordan Love hasn’t gotten his mega extension yet, but it’s going to happen. The tumult of the past few offseasons has subsided. Life is good with a quarterback.
That doesn’t mean the position is without intriguing competition. Behind Love, there might not be a better battle for a roster spot than Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt. If the draft went differently, Clifford could have expected a stranglehold on the backup job. He quickly earned that role as a fifth-round draft pick last season, and flashed potential in the preseason and garbage time duty during the regular season. Then the Packers drafted Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt in the seventh round this year, a couple of rounds later than Pratt was expected to be off the board. Pratt has a long way to go before earning a roster spot, but he showed this spring the football zips off his hand with impressive arm strength. Enough for Clifford to need to earn his backup job.
“I think he’s a self-starter,” LaFleur said of Clifford. “He’s got that intrinsic motivation. So I don’t think, whether we drafted Pratt or not, it’s going to change his mindset.”
It’s possible general manager Brian Gutekunst could keep three quarterbacks on his 53-man roster, but that seems like a luxury when young passers occupy the top two spots of the depth chart. Watching Clifford and Pratt duel this preseason will be fun.
There likely will be an odd man out for starting corner job between Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine
Either Eric Stokes or Carrington Valentine likely will be a starting cornerback this fall. If things go according to plan, either Stokes or Valentine will also be stuck on the sideline. There’s only one starting corner job open in a secondary that includes Jaire Alexander. With Alexander excused from practice this week, Stokes and Valentine got to share the field together.
Only one will get starting snaps when Alexander returns.
“We’ll see,” LaFleur said. “We’ll let them compete, and we’re going to play our best players.”
After Stokes missed most of the past year and a half because of injuries, LaFleur said, he’s never seen the young corner in better shape physically or mentally. LaFleur was equally complimentary of Valentine, who he said needed to gain more weight this offseason, and has been pleased with the results this spring.
Kickers end minicamp on high note, plenty of competition ahead
If kicker is never the most important positional competition on the roster, it’s also true the kicking battle rarely is as important for a team as this year for these Packers. They had arguably the NFL’s worst field-goal kicking last season with Anders Carlson missing the most kicks in the league, including extra points. A team intent on contending in 2024 can’t repeat that debacle.
The Packers have carried Carlson, veteran Greg Joseph and youngster Jack Podlesny on their offseason roster to this point. LaFleur said it’s “to be determined” if the team will continue carrying three kickers into training camp, but it’s something he’s discussed with Gutekunst. Each had a strong end to the offseason program.
Carlson made 5 of 7 field goals Wednesday, missing wide right from 44 yards and wide left from 49. Podlesney made 6 of 7, his lone miss from 51 yards near the end of practice. Joseph, likely Carlson’s toughest competition for the starting job, made all seven of his field goals – his last two beyond 50 yards.
Each kicker closed minicamp making a 54-yard attempt with the offense and defense circled around them, trying to create maximum distraction. There will be plenty more competition to come.
More:Zach Tom ‘more comfortable at tackle,’ but open to playing anywhere on Packers offensive line
More battles to watch
Keisean Nixon likely enters camp with a firm grasp on the slot corner position, considering he was excused from minicamp. The question is whether he’ll have any competition for snaps. Javon Bullard figures to be the frontrunner to start at safety alongside Xavier McKinney, but the second-round draft pick played plenty of nickel in college and got a handful of reps there this week. If fourth-round draft pick Evan Williams develops into a safety capable of taking snaps, it could free the Packers secondary to explore lining up Bullard in the slot. … Brenton Cox Jr. will be an interesting player to track early in camp. An undrafted rookie last year, he spent the 2023 season on the Packers 53-man roster as a healthy scratch. Cox got a lot of first-team reps this offseason with Rashan Gary, Preston Smith and Lukas Van Ness limited in team periods. Those are the Packers top three defensive ends, and Kingsley Enagbare figures to be No. 4 on the depth chart. The question is whether Cox could give the Packers a solid top five, or if the rotation ends there. … Speaking of young players worth watching, tight end Tucker Kraft’s torn pectoral gave Ben Sims opportunity to share the field with Jordan Love. Sims, an undrafted rookie last season, got regular first-team reps when the Packers went to two-tight end sets with Luke Musgrave. Sims is a big target who runs well and played almost 200 snaps last season, finishing with four catches, 21 yards and one touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers know they have a strong tight end rotation between Musgrave and Kraft. It’s worth watching whether Sims can add significant depth to the position.
