What We Learned at Day 1 of Packers Rookie Camp

The path to the 2024 NFL season is underway.

Exactly 104 days after the Green Bay Packers’ 2023 season ended with a playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the team – well, at least the rookies and first-year players – practiced at Ray Nitschke Field on Friday. The rookie camp will continue on Saturday.

“It was pretty minimal today, because you just want to see them go out there and see the talent,” coach Matt LaFleur said after practice. “You don’t want guys thinking, bogged down by that. Now, there are some nuances that come with whatever we were doing out there. But, for the most part, it was a pretty pared-down menu. When we get to the real installs, there’s going to be much more volume to them.”

The LaFleur-led offense and Jeff Hafley-coordinated defense will begin putting in their playbook when three weeks of organized team activities begin on May 20.

Until then, here are four things we learned on Friday.

1. New Training Staff, Routine

Not only did LaFleur replace Joe Barry with Hafley as defensive coordinator, he replaced Chris Gizzi with Aaron Hill as strength and conditioning coordinator.

Hill’s warmup routine looks nothing like the one Gizzi used for five years. Hill split the team into two groups, with the offensive linemen and defensive linemen on one side of the Don Hutson Center and everyone else on the other side. Hill got the big guys warmed up while assistant Marcus Jones got the skill-position players loose and ready.

Gizzi’s routine focused on getting muscles loose. Hill’s did, too, but he also had the players hopping and cutting, sprinting and stopping. Under Gizzi, players’ movements generally were contained between the hashmarks and the numbers. Hill used a lot more of the field.

Will it help? We’ll see.

2. Jordan Morgan Is Smooth

First-round pick Jordan Morgan looked like, well, a first-round pick from one perspective.

“You can see his athleticism,” LaFleur said.

Morgan spent Day 1 stationed at left tackle. That’s the position he started at for three seasons at Arizona. However, even with his obvious athleticism, can he hold up on the edge without the requisite length? Morgan’s 32 7/8-inch arms are about an inch shorter than some teams desire. Some, but not all: Last year’s Packers starters, Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom, have 33 1/4-inch arms.

“I’m trying to show that I’m a true left tackle and show I’ll be out there on the edge to protect the quarterback,” Morgan said before practice.

“I get that a lot – the short arms stuff. It’s like you obviously haven’t watched film. I use them pretty well. I move people off the ball. I pass set really well, protect the quarterback. You see the stats. That doesn’t bother me, though. I’m just going to prove everybody wrong.”

The No. 1 line had Morgan at left tackle, Donovan Jennings at left guard, Jacob Monk at center, Trente Jones at right guard and Kadeem Telfort at right tackle. Telfort spent last year on the practice squad; the other four are rookies.

3. Edgerrin Cooper and Ty’Ron Hopper Are Fast

The Packers used a second-round pick on Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper, making him the first linebacker selected. In the third round, they added Missouri’s Ty’Ron Hopper.

As general manager Brian Gutekunst put it: “These are exactly the kind of guys that we’re looking for – the guys that can run and hit.”

Both players exude obvious athleticism. Cooper flew out into the flat to stop a swing pass for a minimal gain early in practice and had a scoop and score later. Hopper “stopped” quarterback Michael Pratt for little or no gain on a scramble.

In the base 4-3, Hooper was the middle linebacker, flanked by Cooper and first-year player Christian Young. In nickel, the linebackers usually were Hopper and Young.

Is Hopper locked in at middle linebacker with Cooper on the outside?

“It’s just new right now,” LaFleur said, “so I think it’ll happen organically, where those guys end up, just like I’m sure you guys are going to ask why Jordan was at left tackle only. Everything’s fluid around here.”

4. Quarterbacks

Michael Pratt, a seventh-round pick last week, and Jacob Eason, a fourth-round pick by the Colts in 2020 who is 5-of-10 passing with two interceptions in his career, ran the show.

No players on the field faced a bigger challenge. The offense can’t function if the quarterback doesn’t know what he’s doing.

“It seemed for the most part it was pretty efficient for Day 1,” LaFleur said. “I don’t recall many snaps on the ground, and that’s one thing that you’re always concerned about. But I thought they operated and got in and out of the huddle as good as you can expect them to do on the first day. So, all in all, I was pretty pleased.”

With Alex McGough moved to receiver, the Packers have three quarterbacks with Jordan Love, Sean Clifford and Pratt. Eason was part of the 13-strong contingent of tryout players.

Does LaFleur want three or four quarterbacks?

“It’s pretty fluid, like it is every year,” he said. “Different circumstances come up and then you adjust. It is challenging to rep a bunch of quarterbacks. Jordan’s still a relatively young quarterback and you want to get him a bunch of reps. Just to divvy those out can be challenging.”

Rookie Camp: Broken toe | Michael Pratt

All-Star Scouts: Jordan Morgan | Edgerrin Cooper | Javon Bullard | MarShawn Lloyd | Ty’Ron Hopper

Triple dipping | Ranking undrafted free agents