The Green Bay Packers conducted their Rookie Mini-camp over the weekend.
48 players were on hand for workouts Friday and Saturday. The 13 draft picks, a dozen undrafted rookie free agents, a handful of young veterans and several players in for a tryout took part.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur said it was an energetic weekend.
LaFleur actually let Special Teams Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach Rich Bisaccia run Friday’s practice so the boss could attend a Cancer fundraising program in Madison led by University of Wisconsin Head Basketball Coach Greg Gard.
It was all about the basics, only a limited amount of the playbook was given to the players who primarily did drill work. LaFleur said it was important to demonstrate to the new players how the team goes about everything from getting acclimated in the locker room, finding the right meeting rooms, the nutrition center and weight room. On the field, it was about tempo, from the huddle to lining up in the right formation and even hearing what the quarterback’s cadence and signal calls sound like.
The first impressions were all favorable, from number one pick Lukas Van Ness to perhaps the most unique player in uniform. That was unquestionably a defensive lineman who is literally starting his football career from scratch. Kenneth Odumegwu has been allocated to the Packers as part of the NFL’s International Pathways program. He had never taken a snap of American Football until he took part in former New York Giant Osi Umenyiora’s camp earlier this spring. He grew up in Nigeria playing soccer and then basketball but considering his size, was given a chance to try football. He spoke with reporters about the very unique journey from Africa to Titletown USA.
As part of the Pathways program, Odumegwu will be allowed to take part in all of the team’s off-season programs from the Organized Team Activities through the mandatory mini-camp all the way through the end of Training Camp in August.
The team also got it’s first look at the heir apparent to Mason Crosby as the team’s kicker. 6th round draft choice Anders Carlson from Auburn was able to show off his right leg and more importantly, his brace-free left leg. Carlson suffered a torn ACL on his plant leg in college but said he has been kicking without it since January.
Carlson was one of 8 draft picks who signed their first contracts over the weekend. General Manager Brian Gutekunst announced deals were reached with 4th round pick Colby Wooden, fifth rounders Sean Clifford and Dontayvion Wicks, Carlson’s fellow 6th round choice Karl Brooks and 7th round picks Carrington Valentine, Lew Nichols and Anthony Johnson Jr.
Top pick Van Ness along with second round choices Luke Musgrave, Jayden Reed, third rounder Tucker Kraft and the last pick of the draft, Grant Dubose are expected to get their contracts, all slotted under the league’s rookie pay scale, to be completed in short order.
The team will take a couple of weeks off before the OTA’s commence, with the returning veterans, on May 22.
