GREEN BAY – The Packers were back in full pads on Sunday at Ray Nitschke Field for their seventh practice camp training session.
Here are five things to learn from the training:
1. Aaron Rodgers was it up again in the two minute drill.
It’s hard to find a quarterback who performs better in two-minute situations, and Rodgers was masterful again, taking over on his own 25-yard line with 1:15 on the clock, one time-out and down with two points.
The most impressive thing about Rodgers driving the offensive in position for a 47-yard field goal by Mason Crosby, perhaps, would have been how he pulled it off without a single explosive play.
The biggest win on the drive was a 12-yard strike to convert tight end Robert Tonyan to convert the initial third down, followed by a spike to stop the clock. He then improvised on the next third down with a shovel pass to run back Jamaal Williams, who got the ball over midfield and allowed Rodgers to call the one time-out with 33 seconds left.
At that point, special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga warned Crosby, JK Scott and longtime snapper Hunter Bradley to be prepared for what Mennenga calls “a hurricane situation,” meaning a run-on field goal with the clock ticking.
No worries. Rodgers hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a quick exit to the sideline for 7 yards, then Tonyan for 5 more over the middle, and spiked the ball with 17 seconds left on the 34-yard line. A 52-yard field goal would certainly have been in Crosby’s reach, but he got the veteran kicker 5 yards closer with a quick flip to Jake Kumerow over the middle and then calmly stepped everyone up for a final spike with three ticks over. Textbook.
“That’s what he does,” said head coach Matt LaFleur. “I mean, he’s completely in control there anyway. Sure in those two-minute-got-it-you situations, you have all the confidence in the world.
“He made it a collision and that’s the standard he set … whether it methodically moved the ball to the field or hit the big plays in those situations. I thought he did a great job, not only just take what the defense gave him there, but manage the whole situation. “
