The Green Bay Packers wrapped up Training Camp with a practice inside Lambeau Field on Sunday. Packers coach Matt LaFleur used the 2 hour, 14 minute practice to get his team ready for the Sept. 13th season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
Of the 100 or so plays run from scrimmage, the starters got 51 of them. It would have been more, but a couple of players got nicked up late in the practice and the coach decided to pull the plug.
“They’ve got to realize that two weeks from today we’re going to be playing our first game,” LaFleur said. “So, they’ve got to stack consistent practices on top of each other.”
The Packers begin regular season planning and practice this week. Players get a workout on Monday, an off day on Tuesday and won’t practice again until Wednesday. They’ll spend the rest of this week giving GM Brian Gutekunst as much information on bubble players to help with his final roster decisions. NFL teams need to be down to the 53-player regular season roster limit by 3 p.m. Saturday.
LaFleur had his coaches work out of the press box on Sunday, going through a dry run for the start of the regular season. Not everything worked as planned. When offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett took over the play calling during the session, the walkie-talkie system malfunctioned.
In an effort to test the players’ ability to play fast and have to think, the Packers didn’t use any scripts, like they would have in a normal practice.
Rookie quarterback Jordan Love had a couple of issues early, but he finished strong and had perhaps his best day of training camp. QB Tim Boyle also played well, throwing a pair of touchdown passes.
Wide receivers Darrius Shepherd and Marquez Valdes-Scantling also had good days with Valdes-Scantling capping off a big camp with solid and consistent play.