Hold on to your hats! The off-season installations are ramping up fast as the second week of Organized Team Activities got underway for the Green Bay Packers but not nearly as fast as a warm wind that whipped across Ray Nitschke Field during Tuesday’s open practice.
Let’s get to the installations first. Head Coach Matt LaFleur met reporters in the media auditorium before the 1:45 practice and said the first year players had better hunker down because the learning curve is heading up, quickly.
LaFleur even put his feet where his mouth is, lining up as a slot defensive back during route running drills, getting beat badly by running back Aaron Jones but taking free agent wide receiver Danny Davis of Wisconsin aside for a little extra instruction when his routes weren’t quite up to snuff.
Even that wasn’t quite as “in your face” coaching as Defensive Coodinator Joe Barry’s on the ground visit with free agent defensive back Keisean Nixon during the stretch inside the Hutson Center.
Then there was the wind. I checked my weather app while nearly losing my balance as the wind blasted around the Hutson Center. A steady, 25 miles per hour out of the southwest, frequent gusts pushed 40 miles per. Nitschke Field runs north and south and you can imagine how the gales impacted drills. The most comical session was during a punt cover drill. Pat O’Donnell only caught the snaps and a jugs machine launched balls downfield, downwind. Rookie Romeo Doubs needed more than a half dozen tries just to track down the balls before catching a couple. Even veteran Randall Cobb chased balls sailing over his head or coming up suddenly short. Quarterbacks throwing upwind saw accuracy decline significantly for every five yards receivers ran routes. There were two brief field goal periods and Mason Crosby also got in some kicks during late practice, two minute drills. All six came with the wind at his back, including a 56 yarder and he made all six. After practice, I caught up with Mason to literally shoot the breeze.
The other highlight of the two minute periods belonged to Doubs, the 4th round pick out of Nevada. He made an oustanding, twisting catch of a Kurt Benkert back shoulder throw and when given some snaps with the first unit, pulled in two Jordan Love throws on inside routes with defenders around him. Doubs has made positive impressions at every practice I’ve attended so far this spring beginning with the rookie mini-camp.
While the OTA’s are voluntary for veterans, another volunteer arrived on Tuesday. Rasul Douglas checked in and joined the squad at practice.
Rasul Douglas back in line with the DB’s.
Fresh off getting a three year, 21 million dollar contract this off-season, Douglas met reporters in the locker room after practice. Plucked off the Arizona Cardinal practice squad in October after Jaire Alexander blew out his shoulder, Douglas easily won the most unexpected performer award, coming up with five picks, two of them for six. I asked Rasul what it meant to turn a half-season of big plays into three years of security.
According to LaFleur, Douglas won’t be the only returning vet to show this week. A couple of players let the team know they were having difficulty getting to Green Bay at the end of the Memorial Day weekend travel crush with a lot of weather cancellations across the country. Among the most notable players still absent are Aaron Rodgers, Jaire Alexander, Allen Lazard, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary. While LaFleur would love to have ’em all in town, he understands the CBA rules. Next week he’ll get his wish as the mandatory mini-camp takes place over three days and players AWOL from that will be subjected to fines. The off-season program will then wrap with a final week of OTA’s.
