Packers Practice Roundup: August 21, 2022
Bakhtiari and Gaines practice, and Watson is catching passes.
GENERAL/PERSONNEL:
David Bakhtiari on how it felt to finally practice again: “There’s a certain amount of at peace being out there with the guys, putting the pads on. I didn’t realize how much I love the game until it was trying to be taken away from me. I was like, ‘Nope. Not gonna happen.’” 2) With Vernon Scott (shoulder) out, Shawn Davis has taken the third safety job replacing Darnell Savage (hamstring.) 3) safety Innis Gaines has returned from his hamstring injury. Darnell Savage (hamstring) still not practicing. 4) The Packers reduced their roster by two, releasing OL Ty Clary and OLB Chauncey Manac. 5) Matt LaFleur says he's had a lot of conversation with Aaron Rodgers about possibility of playing Thursday night. He'll ultimately lean on his QB's opinion for play time: "I never want to put somebody in there if they don't want to play this type of game." [5 is some red meat for some fans.] Wood
Getting opinions on Vernon Scott's shoulder injury, LaFleur says. Huber [That doesn't sound good. Wait and see. Bill Huber wrote a nice article on practice, which is available by clicking here. TGR]
QUARTERBACKS/WIDE RECEIVERS:
[Number One] offense can’t cross the opposite 40 in 2-minute drill. Aaron Rodgers hit Randall Cobb on 4th & 10 when secondary busted a coverage, but Rodgers missed Cobb on a 4th & 5 slant to end the drive. 2) Nice ball from Aaron Rodgers, rolling right and hitting Sammy Watkins on the sideline. Watkins kept both feet in bounds but couldn’t hold onto the football as he was falling in front of Jaire Alexander. Rodgers trotted up to Watkins and patted his helmet on way back to huddle. [Huber called it a drop by Watkins.] 3) Doesn’t take long for Christian Watson to connect with Rodgers. The rookie WR caught a 15-yard crosser. Wood
On fourth-and-10 from the 30, Randall Cobb found a void in the defense and made a nice leaping catch for a gain of 24. The drive stalled there. 2) A swing pass to Dexter Williams gained a nice chunk of yards because of new receiver Travis Fulgham’s block of Rico Gafford. Huber [1 is the same play as 1 in Ryan Wood's list.]
Christian Watson has had a few nice snags in his first team snaps. Hodkiewicz
Crazy that it’s 5th [actually, 4th] round Zach Tom well ahead of 3rd rnd Sean Rhyan. The 5th rnd Enagbare getting more buzz right now than Walker/Wyatt. And the 4th rnd Doubs getting all the buzz over 2nd rnd Watson (partially due to injury). And still so much talent in Walker/Watson/Wyatt. Herman
Matt LaFleur said the Danny Etling keeper wasn’t called, but Etling noticed the back end open up because the safety crashed. So he pulled it and took off. “It was a hell of a decision by him.” 2) The Packers are going to win their first preseason game since 2019. Schneidman
Matt LaFleur said he has called the plays in the first halves of the preseason games and Adam Stenavich has called them in both second halves. 2) Matt LaFleur on Jordan Love: “I see a much more decisive player. I think that’s going to lead to a much more effective player.” LaFleur lamented the drops again, especially Samori Toure’s deep one. “That ball has to be caught,” LaFleur said. Demovsky
TIGHT ENDS:
Aaron Rodgers gets Preston Smith and Jarran Reed to jump offside with his hard count. Hits Josiah Deguara open in the left seam on the free play. Wood
Tyler Davis was the Packers’ lowest-graded player for the second straight preseason game. Kruse
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN:
The starting OL: Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Josh Myers, Jake Hanson, Royce Newman. That’s the look for now, before David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins start taking team reps. 2) LT David Bakhtiari working combo blocks with LG Jon Runyan. Elgton Jenkins working combo blocks at RT with Jake Hanson. Wood
When AJ Dillon is doing spin moves in the backfield, you know there’s trouble. The trouble on this particular play was defensive tackle Kenny Clark overwhelming left guard Jon Runyan to produce a big loss. Huber
Rodgers has laid into Josh Myers a couple times in camp, but the second-year center gets a fist bump from QB1 after helping draw the defense offsides during a move-the-ball period. Schneidman
DEFENSIVE BACKS:
CB Eric Stokes had a nice 2-minute series. He blanketed Allen Lazard on a slant route, then shadowed Lazard down there left sideline in tight coverage on a go ball. Wood
Shemar Jean-Charles had great coverage to prevent a deep completion to Watkins. On the next play, he was beaten by Romeo Doubs on a post and flagged for holding. Huber [I thought Jean-Charles was handsy in practice, and held twice without drawing a flag. TGR]
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Matt LaFleur says Mason Crosby has done "some kicking," but he doesn't anticipate Crosby being activated off PUP before Kansas City. Wood
Kicker Ramiz Ahmed made all six field-goal attempts with a long of 51. He is 17-of-19 at practice and 2-for-2 in games. Huber
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Comments (24)
Thegreatreynoldo
August 22, 2022 at 02:38 am
Bakh and Watson out there practicing.
Gaines back at practice. LaFleur was asked about the New Orleans game and mentioned Abernathy flashing. Gaines needs to show something. Scott getting second opinions sounds ominous.
Cobb can still find soft spots in zone coverages. Wondering if the Doubs train can get derailed by a Watson train. Bill Huber is either just blunt or he is plain harsher in his evaluations than other observers.
Coldworld
August 22, 2022 at 09:00 am
If Hanson is still at G and Newman the starting RT then the Tom love fest crew clearly aren’t seeing what the team is. Otherwise Tom would be there and Newman back at G. Instead it looks like Newman remains the initial back up. I’d really like to see Newman back at G, and it sounds like the work with Jenkins suggests he’s the front runner there. Whether they are hiding Jones or still not confident in him, not going to Tom is significant. PFF likely won’t pick that up either.
Sounded to me like Doubs made the big play. Just happy Watson was catching a few simple ones.
Leatherhead
August 22, 2022 at 10:14 am
I read some of Huber's stuff. This paragraph caught my eye:\ [b]
- Another young player who had a big-time game against the Saints was rookie offensive lineman Zach Tom. Nonetheless, the No. 1 offensive line was the group that started all week against the Saints: Yosh Nijman at left tackle, Jon Runyan at left guard, Josh Myers at center, Jake Hanson at right guard and Royce Newman at right tackle. Tom did get a few first-team snaps at right tackle. [/b]
That is a starkly different assessment than saying he "got pushed around" and more in line with PFF's evaluation of Tom's performance.
Coldworld
August 22, 2022 at 02:46 pm
Yes it is. But he was. His stats were good though because no one exploited it, but he’s still behind a guy no one outside Lambeau thought was good. The Hubers of this world see him in a way that would make that idiotic.
Guam
August 22, 2022 at 06:47 am
Would love to see Jenkins healthy enough / in shape enough to start at RT for the opener against Minnesota. I just don't have a lot of confidence in the Newman / Hanson combo on the right side. Newman is fine as a guard, but not as a RT. The Packers have three really good tackles in Bahk, Jenkins and Nijman and not much developed behind those three yet. Toms, C. Jones and Walker may yet get there, but not ready now.
I would prefer to keep starters the bubble wrapped for KC and let the 2nds and 3rds continue to fight it out for roster spots. No Injuries!!!
Coldworld
August 22, 2022 at 09:10 am
I’d like to see Love get a go with the starters. I’d like to see Watson do so too. Love may have to play with these guys at some point. I’m not sure he’s even thrown to Cobb and Watkins in camp and certainly not often to Lazard. I don’t recall a snap with Jones or Dillon either. That just seems crazy to me. A lesson from last year seemingly unlearnt.
Oppy
August 22, 2022 at 05:24 pm
It will be interesting to see if Rodgers plays a snap in the last preseason game.
If he does not, I would hope to see Love with starters for the first Q. Love with everyone else for Q2 and 3. Etling gets 4th.
And honestly, I don't know that getting reps with Etling serves the Packers at all. I'd rather see Love play as much as possible. Etling just goes to PS or gets cut outright, and there's no time factor in assessing him. The Packers need as much film on Love as possible heading into 2022.
PackyCheese500
August 22, 2022 at 07:25 am
It’s encouraging we’re not hearing about any huge drops problem from Watson. I hope EJ is ready for the season opener, but if he’s not, I would prefer Tom at RT instead of Newman, who is a guard. I have concerns about our EDGE depth from what I saw vs NO. I think the Packers should sign Jason Pierre Paul before the season starts to add good depth. I feel much more comfortable with Ahmed than Brkic at K, and Coco seems to have been doing a good job snapping. O’Donnell has been decent, but a much better holder than Bojo was
Coldworld
August 22, 2022 at 02:47 pm
It’s a bit early to celebrate a lack of drops. Two easy passes to get him going.
vin0770
August 22, 2022 at 07:27 am
Neat…a strong legged backup kicker that hasn’t missed anything. How do they not lose this guy?
Roadrunner23
August 22, 2022 at 08:00 am
Thanks TGR!
Since'61
August 22, 2022 at 08:17 am
I'm not crazy about the idea of Rodgers playing against KC. What is the point? I hope that MLF is not considering playing Jones and Dillon as well. Let Love take the reps and get more work in while he can. He started the Saints game completing 8 for 12 then went 4 for 12 to finish at 12 for 24. He started out fine but his passes didn't look good after the first 12. He threw a number of wobblers.
Our next game is 16 days after the KC game. Whatever alleged benefit to be gained by having Rodgers play will be wasted over the break between games. Why the chance? It's not worth the risk of Rodgers being injured by some player desperate to make the team and who won't be in the league after the game.
I don't understand why Newman is the starting RT. He is fine at RG.
Good to read that Watson is practicing and looked good in his first practice.
Beginning to look like the Packers will be bringing Jenkins back at RT.
Can't wait for the preseason games to end. No new injuries. Thanks, Since '61
HawkPacker
August 22, 2022 at 09:17 am
Pretty much in agreement with everything you said '61. The issue to me is how to get Rodgers out of the gate earlier at the start of the season. Seems like he starts slowly, especially last year. Don't you think a couple of series would help that issue? I know there are about 16 days after this game to the start of the season so wondering how do we fix this issue or is it even fixable at this point in the preseason?
Since'61
August 22, 2022 at 12:01 pm
Hawkpacker the risk is greater than the reward. The risk is Rodgers suffering a serious injury versus playing 25-30 snaps which may or may not make a difference whether or not Rodgers starts off slowly. Assuming that he throws a pass on one half of the plays that is 15 passes at most. Is having Rodgers throw 10-15 passes in a preseason game going to make a difference for Aaron Rodgers at this point in his career? I doubt it.
Rodgers has not not played in a preseason game in the last 2 seasons and he has won 2 consecutive MVPs and the Packers have won 13 games in each season. For me the choice is obvious to keep Rodgers bubble wrapped for this game. Playing Rodgers is only a lose/lose proposition. If he plays and looks bad he will excoriated by the media and the fans. If he plays and is injured the season is over before it begins. If he plays brilliantly it’s OK sure, what else is new, he’s Aaron Rodgers. Like I said, “What’s the point.”
I also would not play either Jones or Dillon is this game. Or any of our other key players. Stay focused on what matters not the meaningless window dressing.
Thanks, Since ‘61
Oppy
August 22, 2022 at 05:30 pm
With all due respect, '61, if he plays and looks bad, he needed the live reps. Who cares if he gets flames to his feet? He's a big boy, why should that treatment be reserved only for the younger, inexperienced QBs?
Besides, let's be honest.. what motivates Rodgers more than a good, old fashioned, well-deserved critiquing by the media and fan base?
jannesbjornson
August 22, 2022 at 12:19 pm
Once the Games begin for real, Rodgers should be working high completion passes to get in synch, just as Holmgren tried to get Farve settled. Play action and beat down with Dillon on the shipwrecked sailors drifting on the prairie...
Oppy
August 22, 2022 at 05:33 pm
I'd love to see it. History shows us, however, that Rodgers tends to hand off the ball early in games to RBs only long enough to attempt the first PA pass.. and then he continues to run PA without running the ball again for longer stretches than you'd expect. Let's say balance and flow between the run and pass to establish sync has never really been his forte'.
Oppy
August 22, 2022 at 05:36 pm
.. If Rodgers truly buys into LeFleur's offense this year, we'll have a devastating ground game and 'exotic' full house formations with unusual personnel groupings controlling the clock and setting the foundation for unexpected big play opportunities down field. It could be a thing of beauty. But it hinges on Rodgers trusting the play book, trusting his coaches, and trusting the talent around him. We'll see.
jannesbjornson
August 22, 2022 at 09:33 pm
The Plays Watkins doesn't make on the sidelines, Watson will execute.
Leatherhead
August 22, 2022 at 10:21 am
I'd like to see the starting lineup take the field at some point in the second quarter, finish the half, and then come out and play one series in the third quarter. I think preseason scrimmages are to prepare your squad for the games that count, and I'd feel a lot better if I had all my starters on the field together at least once in the preseason.
I still think that you can't depend on Bakhtiari to survive 17 games and 17 weeks of practice. I'd use both Nijman and Bakhtiari at LT and hope that at least one of them was healthy for the playoffs. I think you can depend on Jenkins at RT. Runyan, Myers, and Newman is a good interior. Newman has been practicing at RT, which he played in college, in case he has to play it during a game.
CheesyTex
August 22, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Sounds like a savvy take to me, Leatherhead.
LLCHESTY
August 22, 2022 at 03:54 pm
That makes absolutely no sense. Why play starters against bottom of the roster guys trying to make a team. Guys looking for a big hit or play and willing to do anything to get it. Recipe for disaster.
WestCoastPackerBacker
August 22, 2022 at 05:53 pm
Not sure why you would think Bakhtiari won't last the season. If his knee is healed, he's not any more likely to get hurt than anyone else, is he?
Leatherhead
August 22, 2022 at 10:21 am
I'd like to see the starting lineup take the field at some point in the second quarter, finish the half, and then come out and play one series in the third quarter. I think preseason scrimmages are to prepare your squad for the games that count, and I'd feel a lot better if I had all my starters on the field together at least once in the preseason.
I still think that you can't depend on Bakhtiari to survive 17 games and 17 weeks of practice. I'd use both Nijman and Bakhtiari at LT and hope that at least one of them was healthy for the playoffs. I think you can depend on Jenkins at RT. Runyan, Myers, and Newman is a good interior. Newman has been practicing at RT, which he played in college, in case he has to play it during a game.