After a quiet couple of walk and jog through practices with empty stands at Ray Nitschke Field Sunday and Monday, today was a sensory overload with a packed house and the New Orleans Saints in town for the first of two joint practices with the Packers. It clearly signaled the crescendo of this year’s training camp and the longest practice of the summer didn’t disappoint. Head Coach Matt LaFleur and his counterpart, first year Saints Head Coach Dennis Allen collaborated on a script that offered plenty of competition in all three phases.
The Saints set foot on Hinkle Field.
The teams warmed up on opposite sides of the Don Hutson Center. New Orleans stretched and ran a couple of individual drills on Clarke Hinkle Field while the Packers did their usual stretching inside the Hutson before emerging to big applause from the railbirds jammed into the bleachers and lining the north and south fences.
Competitive one on one drills, wide receivers versus defensive backs and offensive and defensive linemen getting after it were not a part of the activities. LaFleur said those drills usually gets players a bit too animated and can lead to rising temperatures and short fuses as the day wears on. Two NFL officiating crews were also on hand to keep the order and work on their whistling and flag tossing.
NFL referee Scott Novak (7) ready to keep the peace.
So both clubs dove right into the first 11 on 11 team period. The Pack’s starting offense against the New Orleans number 1 defense on the north end with the Green Bay lead defenders against the Saints first team offense on the other end.
It took two snaps for the first flag to fly. Aaron Rodgers threw a crossing route to Romeo Doubs and All-Pro veteran corner Marshawn Lattimore arrived loudly and a tad early. The big hit knocked the rookie to the ground and set the tone for the rest of practice. It became evident early on that defense would rule the day on both ends of the field. The Packer offense had trouble moving the ball against a New Orleans unit that has Pro Bowlers at every level, from Cameron Jordan up front to Lattimore at the back end. Jordan Love delivered the first big gainer when he found Tyler Davis on the right sideline. Rodgers connected with Allen Lazard on an over route but explosive gains were few and far between.
The Saints offense played without starting quarterback Jameis Winston, nursing and injur so veteran Andy Dalton was as the controls. Even with explosive Alvin Kamara in the backfield, Michael Thomas out wide and number one pick, receiver Chris Olave to work with, not much was working against the Packers top defense. The pass rush was relentless. Plays were allowed to continue despite the pressure but in the series I watched, I lost count of sacks and near sacks. Preston Smith, Rashan Gary and even inside pressure from Jarran Reed and Kenny Clark made life difficult for Dalton and his understudies. In a third down set of snaps, the Packers got stops on 9 out of 10 tries. Backup safety Shawn Davis jumped a route with second year QB Ian Book getting heat and came up with what would have been a pick six. Rasul Douglas was also active and very vocal. Any breakup or incompletion on his side of the field drew some shouts and animated taunts.
In red zone work, Doubs got even with the New Orleans secondary making a tough sideline touchdown catch from Rodgers. Love also made a big play rolling to his left, finding nothing there before peeling back right and delivering a strike to a kneeling Juwann Winfree in front of the pylon for a score.
The last team period was a two minute drill. Rodgers and Lazard connected on a big play but the Packers stalled and settled for a field goal. New kicker Ramiz Ahmed was forced backward five yards because of a penalty but still knocked it through. Earlier, Ahmed hit back to back kicks from 51 and 54 yards. That was the only 2 minute offensive series that ended with points. Jaire Alexander made a big breakup on a third and long pass for Thomas to end the Saints drive. The second stringers from each side couldn’t move either.
A year ago with the New York Jets in town, the most heated drill was actually with special teams. Gunners trying to beat jammers sprinting down the sidelines to reach the punt returner made for very feisty action. It was spirited again. At one point, a couple of Packers started jawing with Saints players on the sidelines and LaFleur had to intervene and shoo his boys back to their side.
The final horn sounded after two hours and 15 minutes and a convoy of golf carts escorted players from both teams back up to the Lambeau Field dressing rooms.
Aaron Rodgers preps for the Saints.
Inside the locker room, Aaron Rodgers, who got his most intense work of the year to date, offered a pretty frank assessment of how his unit fared against a very good New Orleans defense.
From the other side of the ball, I caught up with veteran defensive lineman Dean Lowry:
The Packers and Saints will get a good night’s sleep and get after it one more time Wednesday morning at 10:30 in what will be the final practice of camp open to the public before playing in the only Pre-Season game of the month at Lambeau Friday night.
The deadline for the first NFL roster cutdown to 85 players was Tuesday afternoon and General Manager Brian Gutekunst got there by cutting five players and adding one. Linebacker Randy Ramsey, who sat out all of last year with an ankle injury, only to have a recurrence this summer was waived, along with tight end Dominique Dafney. Dafney played in 10 games with a couple of starts last year and was the most surprising name on the list. Offensive linemen Cole Schneider and George Moore, running back B.J. Baylor and linebacker Ellis Brooks were also let go. The Packers claimed tight end Nate Becker off waivers from the Carolina Panthers and he arrived in time to watch today’s practice sporting his number 82 jersey.
