One Packers Position Battle Just Took an Interesting Turn

There was a new twist on an old position battle at Green Bay Packers training camp on Sunday.

Promising young cornerback Kamal Hadden practiced for the first time since a devastating injury sustained against the Ravens last season.

Meanwhile, starting cornerback Carrington Valentine dropped out early in practice with an undisclosed injury. Rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse replaced him in the lineup with the No. 1 defense.

Combined with the picture-perfect start to training camp by veteran addition Benjamin St-Juste, the plot has thickened at a crucial position during the first four practices.

Kamal Hadden’s Debut

In what might have been a major personnel move for the playoffs, the Packers replaced Valentine with Hadden for the start of the second half of the Baltimore game in Week 17 of last season. Unfortunately for Hadden, he was injured on the opening play. He suffered a broken tibia, broken fibula and dislocated ankle.

“Man, I watched that play almost every other day,” he said after Sunday’s practice. “Some people different. Some people like, ‘Mal, I don’t know how you do it’ and I just replay the moment. When it first happened, I watched it like 100,000 times. I keep watching it. If I could re-do it, man, I would do it again.

“That’s the way we were taught. I was taught once I see the tight end crack and I’m the open hat, I got to go down there and set the edge and set the tone of the game, and that’s what I wanted to do and ultimately that’s what I did. It was unfortunate, the outcome, but it’s part of the game.”

Not long into practice, during individual drills, Hadden tried to catch a pass but sustained a dislocated pinkie. He barely flinched.