The 2023 Green Bay Packers held their first practice this afternoon on Ray Nitschke Field. General Manager Brian Gutekunst cut the roster to the initial 53 Tuesday, with initial being the operative word. More moves were made today in addition to assembling the 16 member practice squad. Gutekunst met reporters at Lambeau Field to put a ribbon on the six week training camp by settling on a roster that comes in with an average age of 24.9, the youngest in years in Green Bay and the least experienced in the NFL.
The GM, as expected, made a couple more moves today, claiming two players on waivers. Undrafted rookie tight end Ben Sims from Baylor will join the team pending a physical. The Vikings gave him a $110,000.00 bonus to sign after the draft with 100G guaranteed which the Packers will now have to assume. The Packers also claimed defensive back Zayne Anderson, a second year player from BYU who was and undrafted rookie who joined Kansas City in 2021, spending most of his two seasons there on the practice squad, playing in seven games. He was let go, signed with Indianapolis and cut by the Colts. To make room for those two, Gutekunst waived linebacker Tariq Carpenter and defensive lineman Jonathan Ford.
As for the practice squad, all 16 players were with the team in training camp. Here’s the list: QB Alex McGough, RB Patrick Taylor, CB Corey Ballentine, S Innis Gaines, CB Kiondre Thomas, TE Henry Pearson, S Benny Sapp III, TE Austin Allen, LB Keshawn Banks, LB Aaron Mosby, LB Kenneth Odumegwu, C James Empey, OT Kadeem Telfort, WR Bo Melton, WR Grant DuBose and DL Chris Slayton.
Five players are on season ending injured reserve, S Tarvarius Moore, RB Lew Nichols, RB Tyler Goodson, LS Broughton Hatcher and TE Tyler Davis.
Defensive back Eric Stokes is on the Physically Unable to Perform List and won’t be eligible to return until after the 4th game.
Gutekunst covered a lot of ground in his 25 minute media session, including a question about one of the hot rumors league-wide, the Colts trying to appease former University of Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor. Rumors surfaced the Packers were interested in the possibility and when asked, the GM brought out a host of cliches’ with a smile on his face. He can’t talk about players under contract with another team, lots of calls are placed about lots of players nearly every day and he wasn’t about to give the speculation any legs.
Speaking of legs, the longest of long shots to make the squad, rookie free agent running back Emmanuel Wilson of Fort Valley State, Gutekunst said he earned his place as the third running back by leading the entire league in rushing during the Preseason and improving his protection and special teams contributions over the final two weeks of camp. The other undrafted rookies to stick were Malik Heath and Brenton Cox Jr. Gutekunst said Heath earned more reps as camp progressed and he continued to take advantage of them, to the point of starting the final contest against Seattle last weekend. Cox signed with the Packers after other teams passed based on his checkered past, getting kicked off teams at both Florida and Georgia. Gutekunst said the organization researched his background and Matt LaFleur laid out expectations for him. That, along with resources within the building allows players to be successful even if given a second or third chance.
One more quote from the GM on his expectations for a young team.
Matt LaFleur welcomes rookie Anthony Johnson Jr to the team.
As for the practice, open to reporters for only the first 20 minutes or so, David Bakhtiari was the only notable absence. He’s practiced only sparingly all summer but should be good to go. Players not taking part were Stokes, Pearson, De’Vondre Campbell, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks and Luke Tenuta.
The team will work out again on Thursday before taking the Labor Day weekend off, returning Monday to welcome week one against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. The 2023 journey has begun.
