The tundra is a long ways from freezing over but the 2020 Packers practiced on the plush green turf of Lambeau Field for the first time today.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur wanted the guys to get a feel for the surroundings, not to mention taking snaps with ambient crowd noise and music blaring through the loudspeakers which is what they’ll get with empty stands for at least the first two home games.
For the newbies, they came out of the tunnel and just like the paying customers of the stadium tour, looked up, soaked it in and smiled.
Number one draft choice Jordan Love said it was “awesome”, a lot bigger than I thought it was, it was a crazy deal.”
And on this day, Love did something Aaron Rodgers couldn’t do, finish off a two minute drive. In the final competitive team period of the day, Rodgers had a 4th down pass fall incomplete while Love overcame a sack, connected twice with Darius Shepherd and set up Mason Crosby for a 48 yard simulated, game winning field goal.
Some other notes from the two hour session, the other high draft picks continue to make plays too. A.J. Dillon showed off his hands making a nice catch of a Tim Boyle ball on a seam route and Josiah Deguara laid out for a nifty sideline catch during a one on one drill.
The first live punting from J.K. Scott had him deliver 11 boots, averaging nearly 48 yards with a swirling wind. His shortest kick was 43 but he had a pair at 60 plus.
Veteran offensive tackle Rick Wagner dropped out of practice with an arm injury. Davante Adams was given the day off although he appears to be OK after landing awkwardly on his ankle Wednesday.
Za’Darius Smith also got another rest day while Adrian Amos was excused to attend to a personal matter.
Later in the day, Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst met with reporters, still befuddled by the team’s new, stricter policies regarding information about the depth chart and personnel groupings that can no longer be sent out via twitter or written about. Gutekunst explained his reasons for the clampdown.
After four straight days, the Packers will take a practice break on Friday and return to Ray Nitschke FIeld on Saturday.
