Here’s What Happened at Practice 17 of Packers Training Camp

Green Bay Packers training camp is going to end with a bang.

The final practice of training camp will be held on Thursday, with the Packers welcoming the Seattle Seahawks to town. The Packers will wrap up the preseason against the Seahawks on Saturday.

In last year’s preseason finale, coach Matt LaFleur kept all his starters on the sideline. Among the starters were Bo Melton – at receiver – and eight players who’d be released a few days later. LaFleur before Tuesday ’s practice said Malik Willis would start at quarterback on Saturday in place of Jordan Love, who is recovering from thumb surgery. Willis “more than likely” would be joined by the starters.

Here are the highlights from Tuesday at Packers training camp, the 17th practice of the summer.

Jordan Love’s Day

Sticking once again to seven-on-seven drills, Jordan Love was 14-of-17 passing. It wasn’t always flashy. What it was was incredibly efficient, with Love consistently finding the open man.

Love completed his first eight passes. None of them were for explosive gains, with completions going to Matthew Golden, Emanuel Wilson, Josh Jacobs, Luke Musgrave, Julian Hicks, John FitzPatrick, Mecole Hardman and Tucker Kraft. Love’s ninth pass, to Romeo Doubs between the numbers and the hashes, was incomplete but Keisean Nixon was flagged for pass interference by Brandon McManus, who traded his No. 17 jersey for full officiating garb.

The next pass was over the middle to Hardman, who dropped the ball against tight coverage. Up next, Love delivered a perfect deep ball to Doubs up the left sideline against Carrington Valentine. The period wrapped up with a crossing route to Hicks.

Practice ended with a 2-minute drill. Love and the skill-position players on offense started at the 30 with 1:30 on the clock. Love got the ball into scoring range in no time wit h completions of 17 and 20 yards to Doubs. Nixon had excellent coverage on the 20-yarder but the pass was perfect.

The drive stalled, though. Hardman couldn’t make the play against tight coverage by Kalen King, a checkdown to Chris Brooks gained 3 and a pass to the sideline to Hicks gained 5 to set up fourth-and-2. Love ripped one to tight end Luke Musgrave, but safety Evan Williams closed hard on the play, collided with Musgrave and forced an incompletion.

Added together, Love was 14-of-17.

Coach Matt LaFleur said Love would be limited to seven-on-seven work against Seattle on Thursday.

Player of the Day: Javon Bullard

Second-year defensive back Javon Bullard is having an excellent week. He intercepted a pass at practice on Monday and had a chance again on Tuesday.

While Jordan Love was limited to seven-on-seven drills, Malik Willis and the rest of the quarterbacks played 11-on-11. In Willis’ first set of snaps, Bullard was like a bullet to his left but couldn’t quite finish the play. Later, Willis fired a completion to Tucker Kraft for a gain of about 15 but it appeared Bullard took his foot off the gas to avoid a collision.

In one-on-ones at the start of practice, Bullard went 2-1, including a red-zone breakup of a pass from Willis to Tucker Kraft.

“I think Bull’s taken a huge step this offseason,” cornerback Keisean Nixon said. “Not only just playing nickel but also playing at safety, communicating better. He’s country, so sometimes you really can’t understand what he says, but I’m used to that, too. He’s grown a lot, though.”

Play of the Day No 1: Bo Melton

With his excellent athleticism, it’s no surprise that Bo Melton has been able to hang with receivers throughout training camp and the preseason.

This play during one-on-ones was noteworthy, though. He lined up in press-man coverage against receiver Isaiah Neyor, who is 6-foot-4 and has 4.40 speed in the 40. Melton jammed Neyor once and stopped him in his tracks. Neyor regathered, only to be jammed again by Melton to essentially end the play. That doesn’t happen often at practice, let alone by a newcomer to the position. 

Play of the Day No. 2: Matthew Golden