The curtains were up on Ray Nitschke Field for practice number 12 of training camp. On a near perfect day after Monday’s drizzle, the closed practice was much more than another walk through, something Head Coach Matt LaFleur thought might be boring to railbirds when he drew up his original camp schedule. To give his team a little extra rest after last week’s Family Night, the slower paced walk and jog through took place on Sunday. Yesterday was a padded day in the rain and today’s practice included four competitive team periods in only shoulder pads.
Difference was, the first team was quarterbacked by Jordan Love who will start and likely play the majority of this Friday’s Pre-Season opener in Santa Clara against the 49ers. Aaron Rodgers was given a veteran’s day of rest. It’s something he never asks for, but “I am the oldest player on the team”, he said in the locker room afterwards. Considering the schedule change and the need to give Love even more snaps in a game week, Rodgers graciously accepted but added his cardio workout conducted inside the Hutson Center during practice was worthy of even more rest Tuesday night.
Those quick 11 on 11 periods included a couple of move the ball session, third downs and red zone plays. Protecting quarterbacks has been a sore spot so far in camp but the prettiest play gave Love a great pocket. From there, he lofted an excellent pass to rookie Romeo Doubs who beat Rasul Douglas cleanly on his corner route to the back of the end zone for a 20 yard touchdown.
Considering the 49ers game will be all about the backups, I took note of the next in line players in the secondary that were sprinkled in with front liners at practice. That list included Keisean Nixon who had a pick Monday, Rico Gafford, Shemar Jean-Charles, Shawn Davis and Dallin Leavitt. I have a feeling we’ll see plenty of that group at Levi’s stadium.
Whether it’s crouching down and firing long snaps or running downfield with his gunners, Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia clearly brings enthusiasm and intensity to his units. After the longest special teams period of the day, he huddled up his entire group, about 75 percent of the camp roster, and gave ’em an on field pep talk.
Speaking of the teams, a big step for Mason Crosby, still on the PUP list after having some minor knee work done earlier this summer. Yes, he’s still in the rehab group, but today he actually began swinging his leg and kicking a ball. It just wasn’t a football yet.
Mason Crosby getting in some new kicks.
Crosby hit a couple of punches on the soccer ball (complete with Packer logos) and gradually lengthened the distance to 20 and 30 yards. Hey, it’s progress. Harkens back to the day when Mason was a two-time letter winner and All District player on the pitch for his Georgetown High School team in Texas.
Linebacker Randy Ramsey has been up and down with an ankle injury over the past couple of days and today, he was down again. Inside backer Ty Summers returned after sitting out Monday with an illness.
Even though he didn’t practice, Rodgers held court for his weekly chat with the media. He finally got around to telling the story of going through an entire practice last week with a large feather sticking out the top of his helmet. He said he simply found it on the field, stuck it in the slot and was surprised it stayed in there all day.
He also spent a good deal of time on the balancing act of getting ready for the regular season and giving way to younger players who need to play to earn a spot on the team now that Pre-Season games are here. Rodgers believes Love will do good things, he’s fundamentally further along this camp than he’s ever been. He credited his old position coach Tom Clements for bringing that emphasis back with him this year. Does the 4 time MVP feel he needs to take some snaps with live contact before the real opener against Minnesota on September 11? Next week, the New Orleans Saints come to town for a pair of joint practices before playing the Pack at Lambeau on the 19th. That may be the best opportunity for the starters to get significant and physical reps against another team. The Packers close the Pre-Season in Kansas City. Rodgers was asked if there’d be any value to him getting a taste against the Chiefs and then discussed the old double-edged sword debate when it comes to playing time in injuries in games that don’t count.
The team will pad up one more time in the last public practice of the week at 10:30 AM on Wednesday. The names on the “Will Play” list for the 49ers will then have another walk-through Thursday morning before the team heads west.
