Welcome to training camp. The Green Bay Packers are still in their acclimation period, meaning that the shoulder pads haven’t come on yet, but the boys are back at work and real football is around the corner.
A lot of news was made in general manager Brian Gutekunst’s press conference this morning. First of all, center Elgton Jenkins, who had been “holding in” due to a contract dispute, apparently has a back injury. Gutekunst did say, though, that the expectation, based on conversations with the offensive
lineman, is that Jenkins will return to the practice field once he puts the injury behind him.
Wide receiver Bo Melton, who has been splitting time between offense and defense this summer, is going to spend most of his time in early training camp at cornerback, per Gutekunst. Melton has changed his jersey number to #16, which is also held by third-string quarterback Sean Clifford. That’s a sign that only one will be on the squad in 2025.
The Packers still apparently want to extend linebacker Quay Walker, based on Gutekunst’s comments, despite the team turning down his fifth-year option earlier this offseason. Former Green Bay offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is back with the Packer, too, joining the team as a defensive analyst who is working with the coaching staff to reverse engineer offenses.
Now, let’s get onto the on-field work.
Participation
The Packers who were non-participants in practice today were running back Amar Johnson (hamstring), receiver Christian Watson (knee), offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins (back), offensive lineman John Williams (back), defensive end Collin Oliver (hamstring) and linebacker Quay Walker (ankle). None of this should have been a shock, considering those six players were placed on the injury lists upon reporting to Green Bay. The good news? Cornerback Micah Robinson (knee) has been taken off of the physically unable to perform list.
Gutekunst said that there are no long-term medical concerns on the team beyond Watson, who is coming off of an ACL tear, and Williams, whose injury was confirmed to be a back issue today. The general manager also revealed that Walker had an offseason ankle surgery, but is expected to return to the field in about a week.
Offense
Good business decision.
— Weston Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) July 23, 2025
That scooter wasnt gonna stand a chance.
A tradition unlike any other. pic.twitter.com/ZZlszL737N
The big question on offense this summer is what the offensive line will ultimately look like. In his press conference, Gutekunst called the battle between returning starter Rasheed Walker and 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan “an open competition” at left tackle. Up until the start of camp, Morgan had spent the vast majority of his reps in media-open practices this summer at left tackle.
On Wednesday, that changed, with Morgan “starting” as the right guard on the team. Previously, with Jenkins out, Sean Rhyan and Jacob Monk were flipping between center and right guard. Rhyan rotated at right guard with Morgan last season, while Monk essentially took a redshirt year as a rookie.
To open practice and team periods, the starting offensive line (left to right) was Walker, free agent signing Aaron Banks, Rhyan, Morgan and the recently extended Zach Tom. Later on in practice, Morgan was replaced by Rhyan at right guard so that Monk could come in at center, per Packers.com’s Weston Hodkiewicz.
The second-team offensive line was made up of 2024 second-round pick Anthony Belton, Donovan Jennings, Monk, Kadeem Telfort and Travis Glover, if you want to monitor the pecking order here. The Packers will probably keep between 9 and 11 players at the position on their opening day roster, but it’s worth remembering that both Jenkins and Williams are out with injuries, too. At this point, Tyler Cooper, Brant Banks and J.J. Lippe, the team’s 2025 undrafted rookie free agents, along with Trey Hill, are viewed as reserves.
The offense had unusual success today. I say unusual because defenses are typically ahead of schedule compared to offenses, which rely on chemistry more, at this point in the summer. In the competitive period at the end of practice, though, it was the offense that came ahead, in part due to a Malik Willis to Matthew Golden touchdown. For what it’s worth, Golden worked with both the first- and second-team offenses in practices today.
Result? Push-ups: defense.
That’s it for Day 1 of practice.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) July 23, 2025
A couple of highlights:
* Xavier McKinney with an end zone INT
* Matthew Golden TD catch from Malik Willis
* One hour and 36 minute session. pic.twitter.com/lYfRn577oK
Defense
As promised, Bo Melton working with the CBs as training camp gets underway.
— Weston Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) July 23, 2025
He’s wearing his brother’s college number. Bo’s college number - 18 - is worn by Malik Heath. pic.twitter.com/JCYNnaI2D8
2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness is receiving “starting” first-team snaps at defensive end opposite of Rashan Gary. If LVN earns a start this year, it will be his first since high school. At this point, though, the only real questions about who will start on the defensive side this year revolve around the defensive backs.
The defensive line should be made up of LVN and Gary on the edge, with Kenny Clark moving back to his ideal nose tackle position and Devonte Wyatt playing the three-technique under tackle position inside. At linebacker, the expectation is that Edgerrin Cooper and Walker are going to be the team’s preferred pairing in two-linebacker sets and Isaiah McDuffie will come off of the bench in three-linebacker looks.
With Walker out, McDuffie replaced him in the lineup, but otherwise, there was no surprise in the front seven.
In the secondary, there are a couple of ways this thing could shake out. Keisean Nixon (outside cornerback), Nate Hobbs (outside cornerback/slot cornerback) and Xavier McKinney (safety) are going to be starters for this team. From there, the Packers have to decide on two of the following players to make up the rest of their nickel defense: Evan Williams (safety), Javon Bullard (safety/slot cornerback) and Carrington Valentine (cornerback).
The Packers chose to mostly deploy a look where Nixon and Hobbs were outside cornerbacks, Bullard played the slot and McKinney and Williams played safety today. They have switched this up pretty consistently throughout the summer, so don’t set that lineup in stone just yet. Valentine did ultimately get some reps at outside cornerback with the first-team unit, too — looks where Hobbs was kicked inside.
Melton, the wide receiver convert, also got some reps with the first-team defense, which only adds to the evidence that the staff is trying to find a way for him to make the 53-man roster come September.
When the Packers were in three-linebacker sets today, Isaiah Simmons, who blew up a screen in the team period, was brought off of the bench over 2024 third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper, special teams ace Kristian Welch and highly-touted undrafted rookie Jamon Johnson.
Green Bay seems to be playing around with pass-rushers getting after the quarterback out of both three- and two-point stances. As Hodkiewicz noted that both Cox and Van Ness played out of two-point stances on the weak side of the formation (opposite of the tight end.
The defensive highlight of the day was when McKinney made a jump ball interception on a Love-to-Wicks attempt in the end zone.
Special Teams
If you can believe it, tight end Tucker Kraft got some reps at kicker returner today. That job is probably gonna end up going to Keisean Nixon or a running back, but there are few things in the world that would be scarier than trying to tackle Kraft with a full head of steam. The players who worked out as punt returners today were receiver Jayden Reed, Nixon, receiver Mecole Hardman, receiver Romeo Doubs, receiver Matthew Golden and receiver Dontayvion Wicks. Hardman, who has made a Pro Bowl as a punt returner before, probably needs to win that job for him to keep a roster spot come cutdowns.
In the kicking game, Brandon McManus made all six of his attempts on Wednesday. We still haven’t seen an attempt from Mark McNamee, the Irish Gaelic football convert who signed with the Packers yesterday.
More from acmepackingcompany.com:
- Black and Blue News: This Week in the NFC North for July 6, 2014
- Cheese Curds: Green Bay Packers News and Links for July 7, 2014
- Packers 2013 Top Plays Recap: Top Ten Best Plays of the Year
- Packers Featured Heavily in NFL's Top 20 Games of 2013
- Packers' 2014 Roster Preview: Returning Quarterbacks
- Packers' 90-Man Roster Countdown: Players 5-1
