A big week awaits the Packers with the New York Jets touching down for a pair of joint practices Wednesday and Thursday before Saturday afternoon’s Pre-Season matchup at Lambeau Field.
Matt LaFleur got the squad back on Ray Nitschke Field today for a brisk, 90 minute workout to iron out the kinks from the 26-7 loss to the Houston Texans last Saturday night. The team also welcomed the final two players who started training camp on the non-football injury list.
The Smith brothers hit the sled.
Will Redmond makes camp debut
Linebacker Za’Darius Smith and safety Will Redmond took part in their first practice today after missing the first two and a half weeks.
Running back Aaron Jones, defensive tackle Kenny Clark and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown also were back at work after missing nearly all of last week.
New on the injury list and sitting out practice were Dean Lowry (knee), DeAndre Thompkins (shoulder), Chris Blair (ankle) and Issac Nauta (chest). It was rare seeing Lowry on the sidelines, it was his first missed practice since 2017 and he’s missed only one game in his career.
The most encouraging medical news was regarding Jordan Love. He injured his shoulder late in the first half of his Packer debut when a strip sack forced a fumble. An MRI Sunday came back clean and on Monday, LaFleur said Love is feeling “significantly” better than he did after the game and he didn’t rule out the possibility of him being able to play against the Jets.
Still, the Packers had only two quarterbacks for today’s practice which was open to the media but closed to fans.
The team worked out Quinten Darmody Monday afternoon. He spent three years at Tennessee throwing for 1282 yards and 7 touchdowns before transferring to the University of Houston. He suffered an injury there and played only one game. Darmody finished his career at Central Michigan where he started all 10 games he was healthy (getting hurt against Wisconsin in 2019 missing four contests) and passed for 2312 yards with 14 touchdowns and 9 interceptions leading the Chippewas to the MAC championship game. He went undrafted and was out of football in 2020.
The first league mandated cut down arrives Tuesday at 3:00 PM CDT and General Manager Brian Gutekunst started trimming today, releasing guard Jon Dietzen and punter Ryan Winslow. Dietzen is a Black Creek native who played his prep ball at Seymour High School. He then went on to a solid career with the Wisconsin Badgers before signing with the Packers as an undrafted free agent. Winslow’s release gives the punting job to incumbent J.K. Scott who will return for his 4th season. A poor punt down the middle of the field by Winslow resulted in a 43 yard return against the Texans.
Dissatisfied with the performance of the offensive line Saturday night, assistant coach Adam Stenavich said on Sunday his unit didn’t appear to play with much intensity and the game film “should light a fire” under some of his men. The starting guard positions continue to be wide open. Against the Texans, Lucas Patrick and Jon Runyan started but both Ben Braden and draft choice Royce Newman have entered the fray. Combinations of all four guards got in some snaps with the starting offense today.
The team has Tuesday off before they work with new Head Coach Robert Saleh’s Jets. Saleh is one of LaFleur’s closest friends, he was his best man at his wedding. The former San Francisco 49er defensive coordinator hired Matt’s brother Mike LaFleur to be his quarterback coach, working with Zach Wilson, the number two overall choice in this year’s draft.
LaFleur said his parents and sister are also coming in for the week and he’ll be putting them all up at his house and is also planning a get together with the Jets staff for what’s turned out to be a friends and family week.
