It took until the 12th day of training camp, but we finally got some fights in practice in Green Bay. The first scuffle was between running back Chris Brooks and linebacker Zaire Franklin, but the second one was more involved. Defensive lineman Chris McClellan landed hard on running back Pierre Strong Jr., which led to McClellan and offensive tackle Travis Glover punching and shoving, and the sidelines clearing.
On top of that, edge rusher Barryn Sorrell, who has been starting opposite Lukas Van Ness
all camp, pushed tackle Anthony Belton all the way into quarterback Jordan Love. Sorrell was ripped from the drill and was “tore into” by head coach Matt LaFleur, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.
At some point during camp, players get tired of banging around with the same guys over and over again. Apparently, the Packers crossed that threshold today.
Beyond the chippiness, here’s what happened at practice on Sunday.
Injuries
The PUP list remains the same, with tight end Luke Musgrave (neck), defensive lineman Jordon Riley (ankle), edge rusher Micah Parsons (knee) and Matt Orzech (calf) still not being activated. The non-participants in practice, beyond the PUP list, were running back Josh Jacobs (groin), offensive lineman Darian Kinnard (ankle), edge defender Lukas Van Ness (shoulder), edge defender Dani Dennis-Sutton (illness) and safety Javon Bullard (foot). Notably, though, Bullard was no longer in a boot in practice, as he’s making progress on his bone bruise.
The following players returned to practice after being non-participants in the Packers’ preseason opener: running back Chris Brooks (hamstring), tight end Tucker Kraft (knee), left guard Aaron Banks (knee), right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele (knee), defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt (knee), defensive lineman Javon Hargrave (knee), cornerback Carrington Valentine (hamstring) and cornerback Domani Jackson (abdominal). Defensive lineman Anthony Campbell, who dropped out of action against the Steelers, was also a participant in practice on Sunday.
Offense
The big news of the day on the offensive side of the ball was that Tucker Kraft returned to team drills for the first time, and “started” with the first-team offense. He scored a touchdown in a competitive period, which led to team-wide chest bumps, according to Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber. By all accounts, Kraft looks like his pre-injury version of himself, which I’m sure fans like to hear.
Aaron Banks is still sidelined for team periods and Zach Bako-Bewele is in and out as he recovers from his own knee injury, so the first-look line today was the same as in the preseason opener: Jordan Morgan, Jager Burton, Sean Rhyan, Jacob Monk and Anthony Belton (left to right).
When Morgan dropped out of action to get checked out for injury during practice (he later returned), Belton slid over to left tackle with the first-team offense and Bako-Bewele took over at right tackle. When Morgan returned to the field, the Packers debuted their six-offensive line formation for the first time in camp (they did this in the regular season last year), and Belton was playing “tight end” in that look. In the past, Darian Kinnard played that spot, but Kinnard was not practicing today.
Still, it is interesting, though, that Belton was pushed outside instead of playing the guard position, where he performed better than tackle in the 2025 season.
Third-string quarterback Kyle McCord, who is now getting more reps since Kyron Drones was released this weekend, went the entire length of the field on a two-minute drill and hit tight end Messiah Swinson for a touchdown and a two-point conversion. McCord led a successful two-minute drill at the end of the first half against the Steelers, completing several out routes that led to a Trey Smack field goal.
Defense
With Lukas Van Ness out of the lineup, the replacement starter was Brenton Cox Jr. opposite Barryn Sorrell, which was expected based on the Packers’ pecking order in their preseason opener. Cox is probably slightly ahead of Collin Oliver on the depth chart, with Oliver, a true speed rusher, leaning toward playing time in obvious passing situations. Mind you, this is all with rookie fourth-round pick Dani Dennis-Sutton still sidelined with an illness.
The starters on the defensive line today, with Javon Hargrave still being slow-played in team drills as he recovers from his knee injury, were Devonte Wyatt, Jonathan Ford and Karl Brooks. Brooks was treated like an entrenched starter in the preseason opener, which is notable.
As far as the nose tackle job goes, Ford is a really interesting case. While Ford was out-snapped by Warren Brinson, Chris McClellan, Anthony Campbell and Nazir Stackhouse with the first- and second-team units against the Steelers, Ford almost exclusively played as an odd-front (three defensive linemen) nose tackle head up on the center. He has a very defined role, while the rest of the defensive linemen bounce around. If there’s a “run-stopping nose tackle specialist” on the team, it seems like the team has Ford as their number one pick there. The question now is how often that player will get on the field compared to others who can move around a little bit more, and whether Ford is doing enough to win the DL6 spot (behind Wyatt, Hargrave, Brooks, Brinson and McClellan) on the 53-man roster.
At cornerback, Keisean Nixon took all of the first-team snaps with the defense today, as the cornerback competition really seems to be for the number two spot. Brandon Cisse got most of the looks there opposite Nixon, but Benjamin St-Juste also got in the rotation. This is your reminder that while Carrington Valentine is practicing (and was playing the majority of the snaps opposite Nixon before his injury), he is not participating in team drills yet.
Cisse made an interception today, and honestly played pretty well in the preseason opener. There’s certainly buzz building among the fan base to have Cisse start in the regular season.
A player who had a little bit of a redemption arc today was safety Kitan Oladapo, who has been subbing in as the “starting” slot with Javon Bullard sidelined with his foot injury. Oladapo frankly looked lost in the slot against the Steelers, but continued to play well at safety, in his opportunity on Thursday. He had two interceptions today, including one from starting quarterback Jordan Love during a two-minute drill.
Cornerback Kamal Hadden, who was listed as the Packers’ number two slot defender on the team’s first unofficial depth chart, got some looks there today with the first-team defense in his return to team periods. He had an early pass breakup. Maybe the Hadden and Oladapo competition will bring the best out of each other, as Green Bay’s depth in the slot took a hit when safety Johnathan Baldwin — who was the team’s preferred number two slot option — was waived with an injury designation recently.
Special Teams
After going four for four, including a 58-yarder and a 57-yarder, against Pittsburgh, rookie kicker Trey Smack was four for four in practice today, with the long being a 43-yarder. Last year, Brandon McManus looked unstoppable in training camp, too, but it’s hard not to get excited about the idea of the Packers finally potentially finding their long-term answer at the position post-Mason Crosby. For what it’s worth, Smack looked good on kickoffs, too, pinning kicks inside the five-yard line regularly against the Steelers.
Here’s the nerdy special teams tweet from practice (thank you, Andy Herman). Usually, the shield for Green Bay has been Nick Niemann (who will likely make the team as the fifth linebacker and a special teams ace), Chris Brooks (who will likely make the team as the third running back, blocking back and special teams ace) and Evan Williams (who obviously starts at safety). Pierre Strong Jr., the Packers’ fourth back, had been taking on Brooks’ snaps while he was out of practice.
Maybe Strong playing on punt team and giving Green Bay a little more running back depth going into the season, along with giving Williams a rest instead of having to run 40 yards before a defensive drive, could earn him a spot on the 53-man roster. Stay tuned. If this continues, Strong might have a better chance of sticking on the roster than we initially thought. He’s mostly been a practice squadder in his time with the Packers.
—
Beyond just the nuts and bolts of practice, the Packers brought in the Menasha HS football team after their stadium was torn up by the tornado that hit the area a couple of weeks ago. Sometimes it’s about more than just the Green Bay Packers.
