GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Walking to practice, it felt more like a mid-November day in California than it did for Wisconsin. Turns out, I was right. The Green Bay Packers worked out on a near ideal, sunny, 60 degree day on Clarke Hinkle Field. Sunday’s opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers, had to deal with a light drizzle and 56 degrees in southern California. By the weekend, the thermometer will drift back downward to the mid-40’s, possibly giving the home team a glint of an advantage, along with the high noon kickoff against a west coast team dealing with at 10:00 AM body clock. The 3-6 Packers need all the advantages they can find these days against a team scuffling along at 4-5 after a walk off loss to the Detroit Lions last week.
Not able to enjoy the weather at practice were two starters in the secondary. Jaire Alexander and Rudy Ford were the only non-participants to open the week of preparation. Alexander continues to deal with a wounded shoulder. Head Coach Matt LaFleur said by not practicing, it’s clear he’s not ready to return…yet. Ford is dealing with a biceps injury.
The list of limited participants was long. Kenny Clark and Christian Watson working through shoulder injuries, Aaron Jones with his hamstring, Elgton Jenkins and his knee and a linebacker who was forced to the inactive list the past two weeks.
Quay Walker returns to practice.
Quay Walker injured his groin right before the Los Angeles Rams game and was inactive for the past two but he rejoined the team for drills today. Full participants were Yosh Nijman working through a back problem and Jon Runyan with a sore neck.
Because the injury list was long, involving several key players, LaFleur pulled the pads off the boys today. He had them in full gear on Wednesday’s each of the past two weeks but lightened up considering the state of his team. He won’t go in pads at all this week before Sunday’s matchup.
What struck me me most about practice was watching the secondary drill work. No Alexander, no Ford, Darnell Savage is still on injured reserve along with Eric Stokes and of course there was no Rasul Douglas. That was expected to be the top five pass defenders all season.
After practice the locker room chats focused on the quarterback, one receiver who’s coming on and another waiting to break out. Jordan Love held court as he usually does midweek. He’s hoping the better starts with early points is the springboard to a full 60 minute performance for the offense. He said he still has all the trust in Watson despite the struggle to make impactful plays. Watson has all of 14 receptions this season, three fewer than Dontayvion Wicks, with just a single touchdown that covered all of one yard. The disconnect has garnered more attention than the race connections. Down at Watson’s locker, he talked of the frustration but the continued belief that break out game is coming. Meanwhile, Jayden Reed also talked to reporters about some encouraging numbers he’s piling up as a rookie. He leads all NFL rookie receivers with 7 catches of 30 yards or more, which is already a rookie team record with half a season to play. His 4 touchdown catches is third best among this year’s rookie class. Love said the most impressive part of his playmaking skill was how he recognized safety coverage the same way the quarterback did which resulted in the huge play to spark the Pack’s final minute drive in Pittsburgh.
The Pack’s back up secondary warms up. Check out the throwback yellow domes.
Had a chance to meet the newest member of the team. To take the roster spot of safety Innis Gaines who was released on Monday, the Packers claimed defensive back Kyu Blu Kelly off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks. He was a fifth round pick of the Baltimore Ravens out of Stanford but got released at the end of training camp. Kelly hooked up with the Seahawks and appeared in five games before getting his second pick slip of his rookie season. He’s the son of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Brian Kelly who had a 10 year NFL career and won a Super Bowl with the Bucs. The senior Kelly had 22 interceptions in his career, leading the league with 8 in one season. Kyu, who said his name was a compromise between his mom and dad (Dad wanted Blu, mom wanted something that started with K), said his father’s wisdom of how the NFL works has helped him carry through what’s been more than a whirlwind first nine months as a professional.
After the locker room session, three defensive assistant coaches held media sessions in the auditorium. Defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, outside linebacker coach Jason Rebrovich and inside backer coach Kirk Olivadotti were all asked for their thoughts on the Pack’s run defense. More than capable against the Rams and Vikings (130 yards combined), downright awful with Atlanta, Detroit and most recently Pittsburgh piling up over 200 yards against it. All three reiterated the “it takes all 11” approach. From tying up blockers to getting off blocks, filling proper gaps and better tackling more consistent results are badly needed. Montgomery said there have plenty of instances were they’ve put winning run defense on tape, they just need to see it more often.
Former Packer Justin Hollins will be back at Lambeau Field this weekend. With injuries on the edge, the Chargers have signed Hollins for the rest of the season.
