The Green Bay Packers’ players won’t have another open practice until after Friday’s Family Night scrimmage at Lambeau Field, but the media did get a chance to talk to the team’s coordinators on Wednesday. For the first time during training camp, we got to hear feedback from each unit’s top coaches, rather than just from head coach Matt LaFleur.
Here’s your recap of the major news from today’s press conferences.
Cam Achord, special teams
I’m not going to bore you guys with too much special teams talk, but Cam Achord’s breakdown of why Trey Smack prefers a different way for his holder to position the ball than the typical straight up and down every single time is worth your time. Inject this into my veins. More of this PLEASE.
Jonathan Gannon, defense
So far, the Packers, overall, have exceeded expectations, according to new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. This goes for “leadership, the operation and players,” in Gannon’s words. That’s great to hear!
Gannon brought up versatility a lot, in the context of almost any position group in his unit. The interior defensive linemen are playing everywhere right now. The edge rushers are even kicking inside. The safeties are being placed all over the field. He said that they have the talent in the secondary to present different looks to get into the same calls, because Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams and Javon Bullard can do so much.
As far as what his defense will look like, Gannon said that “each game should look different,” not because of the Packers’ talent but because of the variance from opposing offenses from week to week. It’ll be interesting to monitor how many tools Gannon has in the toolbox early on in the season, when Green Bay doesn’t have Micah Parsons, and how that will change as his players get more time in the system and Parsons returns.
Adam Stenavich, offense
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich seemed pretty pleased with his unit, stating that backup interior offensive linemen Jager Burton (a fifth-round rookie) and Jacob Monk (a third-year fifth-round pick) have the “right mindset.” He also stated that Jordan Morgan is “our left tackle, and he’s out there to prove it to everybody,” if anyone had any questions about whether or not Morgan was going to stick outside after primarily playing guard for his first two years in the NFL. Stenavich called left tackle Morgan’s “natural spot.”
On the tight end front, with all the injuries, Josh Whyle and Drake Dabney have been forced into the lineup with the starting offense a lot during camp. Stenavich stated that both have improved and that maybe no one has “improved as much as [Dabney] in the first few days.” He also called Dabney more of an in-line tight end than Whyle, who has been playing a lot of fullback in camp, though that might just be the nature of being down so many bodies at the position.
Running back MarShawn Lloyd, who has only been healthy enough to play 10 regular-season snaps over two seasons after being taken in the third round, has been looking good in camp, per Steno. He’s hoping that Lloyd gets a big workload in the preseason, considering how many limited live snaps Lloyd has gotten in NFL games for a third-year player.
