Packers Practice Roundup: Sunday, July 27, 2025
The pads go on tomorrow. [Monday] Hodkioewicz
PARTICIPATING:
Packers Training Camp No. 4 Returned: G Aaron Banks (back) RB Amar Johnson (hamstring) WR Savion Williams (concussion) DNP LB Quay Walker (ankle) WR Christian Watson (knee) DE Collin Oliver (hamstring) OL John Williams (back) OL Elgton Jenkins (back). 2) Irish kicker Mark McNamee isn't with the team yet, according to Matt LaFleur. Working through an VISA issue. Hodkiewicz
Both Banks and Savion Williams don’t appear to be doing team. Limited return to practice for both. Schneidman
"I think he's had a pretty impressive three days," LaFleur said of Kalen King. "He's off to a really strong start," LaFleur adds. Bretl [King is coming off of an offseason wrist surgery. TGR]
Elgton Jenkins just joined the o-line group wearing a jersey, not street clothes. No helmet though. Not participating in anything. Nagler
PERSONNEL:
Starters in team Gary - Wyatt - Clark - LVN Simmons - McDuffie - Coop Hobbs - Nixon Williams - McKinny Love Jacobs Golden - Doubs Musgrave - Kraft Walker - Morgan - Rhyan - Monk - Tom. Herman
Bo melton is getting outside CB reps with ones. Hodkiewicz
OFFENSE:
Beautiful run play off right tackle in red zone for an 11-yard td run by Emanuel Wilson running behind the monster right side of Glover and Telfort. Next play it’s stuffed inside and when Wilson tries to bounce it Cox forces a clear hold on Ben Sims. Herman
Trey Hill with his third bad snap of camp, just sailed it over Malik Willis’ head in shotgun. [Hill tribled a couple of snap in previous practices. TGR] Wood
Interesting wrinkle with Brooks and Lloyd on offense together with Brooks motioning across and leading through the hole. Great push up front from the interior for a good gain. Nagler
Good chemistry between Jordan Love and Jayden Reed, pulling the trigger on extension down left sideline. Reed was open against Javon Bullard, but Love just left the throw a touch long. Reed got one foot inbounds, not two. 20 Jordan Love interception. Tried connecting with Luke Musgrave on a crosser over the middle, never saw the linebacker. Easy pick for Ty’Ronn Hopper. 3) Matthew Golden touchdown. Excellent break on slant route to cut in front of CB Gregory Junior, and Malik Willis delivers for 4-yard score. 4) Matthew Golden’s second TD in this period. Good protection, Jordan Love holds it for a beat, finds Golden open on a crosser in back end zone, pulling away from Carrington Valentine for short score. 5. Jordan Love under pressure, throws a jump ball to Tucker Kraft in the end zone. And that’s usually a safe bet. Kraft boxes out Evan Williams for 12-yard score. Wood
Two Minute Drill:. Ball on opposing 12. Down 6. 9 seconds left. No timeouts.
1) Twos up first. Willis complete to Musgrave over the middle but time easily runs out. Offense thought they’d get another play for some reason. They don’t. Defense wins. 2) Love tries to hit Doubs in the back of the end zone fading away. Goes out of the end zone and overthrown. 4 seconds left. Defense brings a ton of pressure. Love fades back - finds Kraft who boxes out Williams for an easy touchdown!!! 3) 3’s up next. Clifford complete to Brown for about 10 and out of bounds. Next play Alexandre should have earned a sack or hold but no call, Clifford fires to Brown again for the touchdown. Two nice plays from #17. Herman
DEFENSE:
Stackhouse and Brinson clog up a run play by White that went nowhere. Herman
Nazir Stackhouse just blew up two running plays in a row with the threes. [Glad to read about it but it IS with the threes. TGR] 2) Kenny Clark made Jacob Monk look silly on a toss to Jacobs on a right side. Kenny completely blew up the play. Nagler
Rashan Gary just showed the type of play that made him a Pro Bowler last season. Chased down Jayden Reed on a sweep all the way to the sideline. Just before reaching out of bounds, Gary violently punched the football to force the fumble. Awfully impressive. [On a brutally hot day, Gary takes practice seriously and really hustles. TGR] Wood
Cooper had another one of those plays where he shoots through the line at warp speed on a Jacobs toss. 2) Brenton Cox forces his second hold of the red zone series with the twos. 3. LVN beats Rasheed Walker for a pressure and throw away on Love. [This is a number one versus another number one. TGR] Herman
LVN just beat Walker cleanly to flush Love out of the pocket. Signs of life. Nagler [Okay, I put this in to emphasize that a starter beat another starter. TGR]
Kamal Hadden with a nice breakup on a red zone throw to Doubs. If I had to put money on it today I’m taking Hadden as CB4. [But see Mosqueda below. TGR] Herman
Carrington Valentine all over an outside screen. Wood
SPECIAL TEAMS:
MarShawn Lloyd getting some looks in walkthroughs as the KR. I think he has some real potential there. Would love to see it in preseason. Herman
MISCELLANEOUS:
Golden has such unreal hands. The ball just sticks to them. Slant and Willis fires it in and Golden snaps it for 7. 2) Willis fires one in to Hicks for a potential touchdown - ball was def high but catchable. Goes off of Hicks hand incomplete. 3) Elgersma to Hicks for a touchdown on an out route off play action. [Hicks is getting reps, albeit with the threes. TGR] Herman
Matt LaFleur asked if Nate Hobbs needs to tone down his physicality during non-padded practices: “The answer is yes. I don’t think it’s malicious.” Schneidman
Everybody in a Packers jersey doing push-ups after today’s practice. Offense and defense. Can’t remember seeing it called a tie before. Wood
One thing I’ve noticed in four 3.2 practices…a lot more two point stances this summer on the four man front. Sometimes both, sometimes one. Hodkiewicz
"Of the 685 offensive snaps in which Reed took part last year, he went in motion 252 times. No one else on the team came close to that number." Good stuff from Tom Silverstein. Nagler [With Watson out, the Packers have sent Matthew Golden in motion a lot. TGR]
At this point, considering how much effort the team has put into making sure that Melton finds a way to make this roster, Melton is probably going to make the 53-man roster. Mosqueda [I like Melton, but I hope the team has not pre-determined the roster. TGR]
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Comments (14)
Thegreatreynoldo
July 28, 2025 at 05:54 am
It is not supposed to be quite so hot today but as of 0600 hours I can already feel the humidity in the air. I could not find a tweet that specified how long Sunday's practice was, but there were not that many tweets about it.
I thought it was interesting that Herman nominated Hadden (so far) for CB 4 and Mosqueda mentions Melton, though to be scrupulous Mosqueda just indicated that Melton would make the team, not that he was CB #4.
I love to read that Golden has sticky fingers - in a good way. This team has had too many guys with questionable hands. Hicks turned some heads last year in TC but there have been some tweets this year where he just did not quite make the play, though whether he was the cause, necessarily, I can't tell. The example on Sunday was whether the pass was too long or he just could get both feet down. I don't know which. He is getting chances, and with Love at QB.
Lots of Monk, Rhyan and Morgan at RG. I hope to read good things about them but also about Belton during this padded practice.
We got our first mentions of Stackhouse and Brinson, though it was against third stringers. I suppose I went a little heavy on LVN beating Rasheed clean, but I hope it turns out to be LVN's resurgence.
T7Steve
July 28, 2025 at 06:10 am
Thanks, TGR. Nice roundup.
Does it look to you that the #1 D is ahead of the #1 O, or am I just reading too much into it?
Last season it was an all-new D so you'd expect the O to be dialed in first but usually the D comes out on top earlier, I think.
GregC
July 28, 2025 at 06:54 am
I looked at the Green Bay forecast for today. They have a heat advisory. High of 91, sunny with light winds. It's 73 degrees as of 5:53 AM, with a dewpoint of 70. Not good conditions for the first day of padded practice. Maybe they can move it inside the Don Hutson Center.
Good to have an Elgton Jenkins sighting on Sunday--wearing a jersey, even--although he still wasn't practicing.
I think that was Jordan Love's second interception of training camp. The first one was on a jump ball in the end zone, so maybe not his fault. This one sounds like it was, though. I'm also reading about some inaccurate throws, but I don't know if it's a problem or is just typical. Of course I would rather be hearing that he is completely dialed in out there.
So good to hear that Matthew Golden has sticky hands.
Maybe Kamal Hadden and Bo Melton can be a viable duo for the #4 and #5 CB spots--in either order. The coaches have been saying good things about Kalen King, but I keep hearing that he is a slot-only CB, which is something they don't need right now. I wonder how much, if at all, he is playing on the perimeter in practice.
Thegreatreynoldo
July 28, 2025 at 07:33 am
Yeah, I omitted a tweet about King. I thought it was just coach-speak about a player rather than a tweet about a play King made in camp. Coach said that King had been showing a willingness to throw his body around out there. Well, I guess so but there have been no pads yet, either.
GregC
July 28, 2025 at 07:43 am
To answer my own question: I just read an article on Packerswire where passing game coordinator Derrick Ainsley was quoted as saying King was looking "really, really good" while playing both on the perimeter and in the slot.
Coldworld
July 28, 2025 at 08:39 am
“Nazir Stackhouse just blew up two running plays in a row with the threes. [Glad to read about it but it IS with the threes. TGR].”
It’s also in shorts. Does that devalue it? It’s perhaps harder to blow up a run play as a NT when one can’t overpower? That essentially only leaves agility or speed to win with, both of which would be exciting from Stackhouse. In contrast, it’s probably easier to beat a T who is limited to essentially just walling off as LVN did. Soon we will start to see how things go for these guys in more realistic conditions.
My reaction though is to be grateful that someone is paying attention to the 2s and 3s. That’s where less heralded players who make end up making an impact usually start doing so.
Hermann has long favored Harden. He may be right, but I suspect there’s a difference here that is being missed. If Bullard is in the slot, and we are playing zone, Hadden may be the next man up behind Hobbs and Nixon. However, if we need speed and deep perimeter cover ability, we may see more of both Valentine and even Melton with Hobbs or Nixon in the slot and one or both of Valentine and Melton on the outside in games against teams with a pass focus and deep play ability. Hadden is a slower Nixon in many ways. He’s not flexible and he’s not a guy one wants trailing speed but he does project well in the Run/short zone role Nixon fills much of the time for Hafley.
I think also, given King’s now revealed medical work, we may see him being given more opportunities/visibility after a ramp up. That’s without any insight on the rest of the depth as yet.
Leatherhead
July 28, 2025 at 09:07 am
It looks like Golden is going to be one of the main three WRS, along with Reed. That leaves Doubs and Wicks looking at being the third guy. IMO, Golden could make a good run at being on the All Rookie team.
I'm a fan of Stackhouse. Nothing plugs up the run like a big guy who closes out those A gaps. You can double team him but it just makes a bigger pile.
Now that the pads are on, I think the Jenkins contract resolution is imminent.
dobber
July 28, 2025 at 09:27 am
"That leaves Doubs and Wicks looking at being the third guy. "
I think that with all the 11 personnel the Packers play--and the high attrition rate of WRs--that being the 4th WR isn't going to be too limiting for a second or third-year guy. He'll get enough chances to move up the pecking order if he performs. Doubs has a lot riding on this season, so staying in that first 3 WRs and staying healthy is important to his future.
"I'm a fan of Stackhouse."
I come back to the 40% snap share that Slaton had last year in a very defined role, and those snaps are up for grabs. Brinson was a draftee, but didn't come out of UGA with a reputation for being a run-down stopper. Stackhouse profiles as a run-down tree stump. He's really the only one the Packers have in camp.
Bitternotsour
July 28, 2025 at 09:39 am
there will be a rotation at wideout and 4, maybe even 5 will regularly play. it's great to have a deep cupboard. don't discount the fact that it will be Golden's first winter in Wisconsin, he's got a lot of adjusting to do.
Leatherhead
July 28, 2025 at 09:42 am
Last year, the Big 3 of Reed, Doubs, and Wicks all got between 70 and 76 targets. Watson got 53. Melton got 17. So it does drop off after you get past the Big 3.
And we haven't accounted for Watson, or Williams. Or extra targets for Kraft.
I don't think they're paying $3.5M for Doubs to sit, which is going to put Wicks at #4 until Watson shows up. I'm not sure how many opportunities he's going to get. I'm thinking he'll be a Melton-esque part of the offense this year.
Coldworld
July 28, 2025 at 09:56 am
Interesting. The sense I’ve got is it’s Doubs and Wicks with 2 TES or RBs with Reed also out there in single back/TE sets. Of course it’s early, but Doubs and Wicks are good blockers, so it makes a certain amount of sense to me if Wicks’ hands hold up in light of LaFleur’s prior preferences.
Golden seems to be rotating in first up as a change of pace option as well as gettin a lot of motion practice (one reason why Reed has likely been quiet). That makes sense early in camp. Reed knows motion in this offense while Golden needs to build the timing that’s critical to it. I’d expect Williams to see more action in motion as time passes too.
dobber
July 28, 2025 at 09:58 am
Packers WRs were remarkably healthy a year ago...Doubs played 13 games (project his numbers over 17 games and that's about 100 targets and 950 yards) and Watson 15, but otherwise Reed, Wicks, and Melton were available all 17. Watson's killer didn't come 'til the very end. I'd argue that's pretty remarkable for the WR group. <<knocks on wood>>
That said, I agree: things are going to be churned up with Golden and Williams coming into the mix.
I've been a vocal proponent of two-TE sets and using the TE more, but I don't know how many more routes Kraft runs in this offense compared to the number he ran in 2024 (377)...that's about 100 pass snaps he was asked to block. An improved OL might help there, but the OTs look to be the same, and if the interior is better blocking the run, I don't see a decline in run calls.
Coldworld
July 28, 2025 at 10:09 am
If we are going to significantly increase Krafts offensive production, the most notable source is not necessarily snaps, but what he is asked to do. Of course he will still block, but reducing the percentage of snaps where he is tasked with blocking or an initial chip means he can run a more aggressive route tree.
I’m sure he’s in line for a few more snaps, but what will truly release him is more effective options to block from other players, be that a TE or OL or even RB so freeing him to run true offensive focused routes more often. I’m not sure how they replace him as a continual chipper and blocker (is that one of the goals of the OL athletic type changes?), but that’s the key to unleashing him realistically.
Coldworld
July 28, 2025 at 09:47 am
Brinson was playing the role most similar to Kenny Clark’s last year. Stackhouse was actually out there more often than him on early snaps. I really hope the Packers allow Brinson to develop what he was, not try to turn him into a NT stuffer who can generate as well.
That’s both for us: we are better with a true NT in appropriate situations, especially in key situations including short yardage and goal line downs. Stackhouse moves people and is extremely hard to move himself. That’s a key element to holding up on many key downs and freeing those around him it’s also likely beneficial for Brinson’s career arc: let him do what got him drafted and let him focus on maximizing his potential at that while we have Clark in front of him and alternating him in.