GREEN BAY, Wis. – Through the first three days of padded practices, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had completed just 55.0 percent of his passes in 11-on-11 situations.
On Saturday, the sixth practice of training camp, Rodgers began to warm up. With Preston Smith not at all mad by a bootleg and in Rodgers’ face, he swung a pass to the sideline to Equanimeous St. Brown for a big win. In the next series, Rodgers teamed up with Davante Adams, who made a leap catch against Darnell Savage, for a long win. He then fired a bullet at Allen Lazard from play-action, hitting St. Louis. Brown to the sideline against Josh Jackson, had a deep throw of Adams’ fingers and found Tyler Ervin among a few defenders.
Shortly thereafter, Rodgers might have made his best throw of training camp. Rodgers whistled a pass just over the fingertips of linebacker Christian Kirksey, who fell deep into the cover, hitting receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in front. On the next scene, Rodgers escaped perhaps for the first time in training camp, cornerback Chandon grabbed Sullivan with a pumping ball and grabbed with his feet a nice yard yard.
Unofficially, Rodgers completed 68.8 percent of his passes in team periods. On one of his few imperfections, he signaled pass interference on cornerback Kevin King, who may have arrived a while ago on a pass to Adams.
“I thought he was extremely sharp and I also think the guys around him were much better today as well,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “A lot of times that plays a big role in the way quarterbacks behave.”
Injury Report
Missed exercise: CB Jaire Alexander (unknown), S Adrian Amos (personal), OLB Za’Darius Smith (foot / ankle), RT Rick Wagner (unknown), DT Montravius Adams (toe).
Outcomes: None.
COVID: None.
PUP: LB Curtis Bolton (knee), OLB Greg Roberts, OT Yosh Nijman (elbow).
NFI: RB Patrick Taylor (foot), G Simon Stepaniak (knee).
Return: WR Davante Adams (foot / ankle).
Note: Although Smith did not participate in the practice, he worked technique for practice and at the end of the exercise with position trainer Mike Smith.
Montravius Adams had a walk on his right foot.
Games of the day
Is there a rule that says Play of the Day should be good? On Friday, rookie quarterback Jordan Love made a few throws during the ‘winning’ two-minute drill that demonstrated why the Packers selected him in the first round. On Saturday, Love made the type of throw that showed why he dropped deep in the first round. Under pressure from prison, Love breaks a ball downfield. The flutterball was easily intercepted by cornerback DaShaun Amos. It’s just one play and will probably mean nothing in what is likely to be a redshirt season. Yet that is the kind of throw that should not be attempted under any circumstances.
Left of the day
On Friday, defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said of second-year Kinglsey Keke: “Year 2 is in the system, it’s time to set up or close. He needs to come, dive and buy into what we do. ‘Saturday’s one-on-one pass-rushing drill showed Keke’s potential to make an impact on a unit that didn’t make much of an impact outside of Kenny Clark last season.
– Raven Greene is reported to be the same 197 pounds as he was for the 2018 draft. That was two long years ago. Greene is bulked up and is a natural for the dime linebacker role. ‘Wherever they want to place me, they can. So I just make sure my skill set is exactly where it needs to be. ”
– If there’s Adrian Amos’s a knock when the Packers signed him to a big contract in free agency last season, it was that he had not been much of a playmaker. In four seasons with the Chicago Bears, Amos had only three interceptions. However, he has two interventions to start training camp. “By getting the ball wins games,” he said.
The next day
Saturday’s practice was the first of four in a row. The team will return to Ray Nitschke Field for practice at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and Monday, and 10:10 a.m. at Lambeau Field on Tuesday.
“I felt we were making a lot of big efforts today,” LaFleur said. ‘I thought our boys were fighting. We will review the tape, but tomorrow it will actually be even longer and potentially more intense. Every time you practice for four days, you need to think better about what you are asking your boys to do. We know we are at our best when we each have healthy and fresh. This week it will be a bit of a gravel for our boys and then we will adjust as we move forward. ”
Last Word of the Day
WR Equanimeous St. Brown, on the question of whether there were some difficult times after ankle injury last year, what cost him the whole season:
‘I would say I’ve heard throughout my entire career about injuries and how difficult they can be on players, so I feel like mentally pretty well prepared for an injury if it ever came, which it did. At first there were a few times where I came under, but I picked myself up pretty quickly. I was not too negative about it. I know I have a long career ahead of me, and I’m pretty young, so I was just looking forward to that point. ”
