Young Cornerbacks Headline Day One Of Packers Training Camp

The rookie cornerbacks seemed to steal the headlines on day one of the Green Bay Packers 2015 training camp

The Green Bay Packers had their players on the field on Thursday morning for the first practice of training camp.  They weren't in pads so we'll still have to wait to start separating the men from the boys (although current collective bargaining rules make it tough even when the pads are on), but a few young names are already popping out.

Rookie cornerback Quinten Rollins was placed on the non-football injury list on Wednesday with a hamstring injury he suffered while away from the team.  Rollins garnered a lot of attention during the offseason after being chosen by the Packers in the second round.  He seemed to play well in organized team activities and mini camp and some even have him ahead of first-rounder Damarious Randall.  No timetable has been set for Rollins to return and as has already been written by ESPN's Rob Demovsky, images of cornerback Casey Hayward in 2013 are conjured up.  Hayward injured his hamstring while working out on his own shortly before training camp two years ago and ended up on injured reserve halfway through the season.  While he has never played a down in the NFL, Rollins being lost for any significant amount of time would be a blow to the depth at cornerback for the Packers.

With Rollins out, rookie LaDarius Gunter stepped in and had a nice pass break up of an Aaron Rodgers pass to receiver Jared Abbrederis.  Gunter worked most of the day with the second team.  Packers head coach Mike McCarthy commented on Gunter, saying he has flashed, but also reminded everyone that today is only day one of camp.  Our own Aaron Nagler also had some praise for Gunter in yesterday's "Gut Reactions" piece.

Randall had a few nice pass break up's in today's practice.  It came against second and third teamers, but he was in position nonetheless.  Early on, he appears to be gaining some confidence both with himself and the coaching staff.  He was also taking first team reps on the punt return unit.  Randall comes in as a former college safety, attempting to learn the cornerback position at the pro level.  He has certainly said all of the right things along the way and understands that he has to put in the time and effort to earn his way up the depth chart.  He also understands that the NFL is a business and he's not likely to get a lot of help from veterans who may be competing with him for playing time.  

With cornerback one of the positions with a few questions marks, it's good to see that some of the young guys are stepping up early on.  Gunter, an undrafted free agent, has already started the buzz about whether he'll be this year's undrafted training camp darling.  Seemingly every season, the Packers bring aboard a street free agent who impresses during the summer.  To name a few in recent history:  Frank Zombo, Vic So'oto, Mike Pennel, Jayrone Elliot, Dezman Moses, and current starting cornerback Sam Shields.

Keep it right here at CheeseheadTV as we continue live coverage of training camp throughout the weekend!  

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Jason is a freelance writer on staff since 2012 and also co-hosts Cheesehead TV Live, Pulse of the Pack and Pack A Day podcasts.  You can follow him on Twitter here

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Comments (15)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
Ibleedgreenmore's picture

July 31, 2015 at 04:20 pm

Thinking we might be good at CB when season starts. Lots of great play but I know its very very early.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

July 31, 2015 at 06:33 pm

Yes it is (very early). But this is a good sign.

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Allan Murphy's picture

July 31, 2015 at 04:43 pm

Chilax new word this year ..........

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ray nichkee's picture

August 01, 2015 at 03:17 am

I think you exercised that word enough already to the point where it is no longer new but a dead decaying corpse. Stop it please.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

July 31, 2015 at 04:59 pm

Russell Wilson got his big payday with his extension. 4 years, $87.6 million with $31 million signing bonus. His cap number for 2015 is $7 million (since it is an extension) and then jumps to $18.5, $18.8, $21.7, and $23.2 million from 2016 to 2019, inclusive. It has been reported that a total of $60 million is guaranteed, but I can't find any reports that state much about those. I imagine Seattle will lose some players over the next few years.

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Evan's picture

July 31, 2015 at 05:01 pm

Bobby Wagner tweeted this morning right around when the Wilson deal was announced: "Can't keep everybody."

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DrealynWilliams's picture

July 31, 2015 at 06:34 pm

Hoo hoo ha ha haaaa! Yes! It's happening!

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Daniel Pauly's picture

July 31, 2015 at 06:11 pm

Great recap. Also, no apostrophe needed in pass break-ups.

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FITZCORE1252's picture

July 31, 2015 at 07:19 pm

What about in F-U?

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RCPackerFan's picture

July 31, 2015 at 11:40 pm

One thing that will really help these young corners is having a really good pair of safety's behind them.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

August 01, 2015 at 12:08 pm

Seems like a good comment. No idea why you'd get a dislike. I'll even it out.

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Tundraboy's picture

August 04, 2015 at 09:28 am

Likewise Thumbs up

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Robbie Klein's picture

August 01, 2015 at 02:27 am

We are going to be scary good this year. Offense returns all starters?? AND, we're better at every position on defense besides OLB. I mean, C'mon, this is nuts. How do we not get better at safety with the way HaHa played down the stretch? I think a lot of people would have prefered Haward to start LAST year, and I think that's a solid upgrade, with Tramon just being, well, a little too Sam Shields-ishly streaky for too long. THEN, we all saw what happened to Clay's sack numbers AND opponents running backs YPC cut in half with Clay in the Middle, then we've got Perry looking promising, Raji getting healthy, Datone was one of the most efficient pass rushers on the team last year (hurries or hits or sacks per rush by PFF's #s). I mean, we can forget about a contribution from anyone in this draft class and we're still scary good, I think easily better on BOTH sides of teh ball, and that's better than the Packer team that DOMINATED (for 53mins) the NFC champs in their own stadium and who beat the superbowl winners with room to spare late in the season. And don't even get me started about Davante Adams. That guy gets open, you guys. seriously. did anybody watch him carefully? He's going to be a stud this year. MM already said he's the MPV of the offseason, whatever the hell THAT means. Get fired up, boys.

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ray nichkee's picture

August 01, 2015 at 03:31 am

Whew, i hope you dont get that excited with the ladies. Its early, work on your stamina. We all know they will be good but they have to keep the injury bug out of the locker room. There are 16 games yet to play and i hope to see greatness unfold in time for the playoffs.

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Robbie Klein's picture

August 01, 2015 at 01:03 pm

Well, you have to admit we look unusually good, even for us. And, I get that excited about everything. It's a fun way to live :)

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