The Green Bay Packers are moving into their next stage of training camp.
LB Brady Poppinga
The part that has them sleeping in their own beds again. The team packed up and left the dorms at St. Norbert College on Wednesday night.
On Tuesday, defensive end Justin Harrell missed both practices after his back tightened up on him. Speculation continued to run rampant this morning after Harrell was a no show at practice. As it turned out, Harrell and his wife Barbie had their first child on Wednesday night. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Harrell would have practiced today.
The coach was raving about the teams tempo at practice again today. It’s a philosophy about practicing fast and according to the coach, they’ve been doing it well.
AUDIO: Mike McCarthy on his teams uptempo practices :30
Safety Atari Bigby made an appearance in the lockerroom today. He’s coming off of ankle surgery to clean up some scar tissue. Mike McCarthy originally said that Bigby would miss about 4-weeks. Bigby today said the timetable is now 4 to 8 weeks. That could mean Bigby may start out the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, which would cause him to miss the first six weeks of practice.
As it turns out, Clay Matthews hamstring injury is providing some opportunity for his replacement, Brady Poppinga. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he’s very happy with the work of Poppinga.
AUDIO: Mike McCarthy is happy with Brady Poppinga’s play :21
The Packers will close out the practice week in shells tonight. It’s also the final two-a-day session. Starting next week, the Packers will get into a regular season practice mode.
The team will leave for Seattle on Friday and play exhibition game #2 on Saturday night in Seattle.