Packers practice news and notes, 8/14: Kickers struggle on Wednesday (2024)

On the 15th practice of training camp, the Green Bay Packers brought in an interesting visitor: former tackle Billy Turner. Turner, dressed down, is apparently “keeping the door open” to play in 2024, according to Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber. After being released with an injury designation in 2022, Turner has played the last two years with the Denver Broncos and New York Jets — both coached by former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett — but is now a free agent.

Speaking of offensive coordinators, head coach Matt LaFleur stated on Wednesday that offensive coordinator Adam Stenovich called the Packers’ offense in the first week of the preseason. LaFleur said he might get some other coaches involved in the playcalling in the team’s final two games of the preseason, but that he doesn’t plan on calling plays himself — as he was allowed to call preseason plays as an offensive coordinator under Sean McVay during their time with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Packers also made news today when they released long snapper Peter Bowden and safety Tyler Coyle in exchange for the roster spots needed to sign linebacker Chris Russell and running back Nate McCrary. Green Bay isn’t fully healthy at either linebacker or running back, so it makes sense why they’d need the bodies at those positions before their joint practice and preseason game against the Broncos this week.

On the field, here’s what you missed from practice today:

Participation

LaFleur said in his pre-practice presser that linebacker Quay Walker and offensive lineman Jacob Monk dropped out of practice yesterday due to heat, not injury. He said that the abnormally hot day in Green Bay, the players’ youth and the fact that the team was coming off of extended rest were all factors that led the rookie pairing to drop out.

Cornerback Carrington Valentine (hamstring), who many expected to push Eric Stokes for the starting outside cornerback job this summer, returned to the practice field today. Valentine is either the third or fourth outside cornerback option that the team has, now that Keisean Nixon is not exclusively getting snaps in the slot, as he could not displace Stokes before his injury.

The players who remain out of practice are running back MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring), running back Jarveon Howard (ankle), defensive end Keshawn Banks (groin) and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (hip).

Offense

The big news from yesterday’s practice was that Michael Pratt finally got second-team snaps at quarterback over Sean Clifford, who has been struggling this summer. LaFleur said that Clifford would be playing first in Sunday’s preseason game with Pratt coming off the bench after, though. While there has been no formal change on the depth chart, Clifford continued to lead the second-team offense up until the two-minute drill, when Pratt again was allowed to run the unit. If you’re reading between the lines here, Clifford is being tested.

With Jordan Morgan still nursing a shoulder injury, the starting offensive line today was Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Sean Rhyan and Zach Tom (left to right), per Andy Herman of Packer Report. The most interesting player to get a look with the first-team offense, though, was Grant DuBose, who is the leader for the sixth receiver spot on the team after a strong camp and leading the Packers in receiving in their preseason opener. On Tuesday, Green Bay’s coaching staff not only praised DuBose’s receiving production but also his ability to block well on the perimeter when the ball wasn’t in his hands.

As Herman put it, the “run game is a major struggle right now for the offense,” which shouldn’t be much of a surprise considering how often the team was getting stuffed by the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. The defense continues to best the offense in practice, as the first-team offense’s two-minute drill ended with an expired clock and the second-team offense’s attempt concluded with a missed field goal.

Defense

Defensively, at least until Cooper returns to practice, the biggest camp battle going on is at defensive tackle. After Devonte Wyatt got the start yesterday, T.J. Slaton earned the nod on Wednesday — marking his 13th “start” in practice over 15 training camp sessions. Safety now seems to be a relatively settled position, as rookie second-round pick Javon Bullard has been able to hold onto the reigns for the last two weeks — including all of the first-team snaps versus the Browns.

Walker participated in team drills today, but he was not starting in the nickel unit at the beginning of practice. This allowed Eric Wilson and Isaiah McDuffie to get reps as the linebacker with Cooper out. Prior to Cooper’s injury, he was competing with McDuffie as the second nickel linebacker (next to Walker), while Wilson and McDuffie were the primary outside linebackers (Walker at middle linebacker) when the team was in a 4-3 set.

According to Herman, a standout in practice was second-year defensive end Lukas Van Ness, who was able to record a no-gain tackle early on in the day. Last week, Pro Football Focus called Van Ness the standout of the team’s win over Cleveland after he posted three tackles for losses, including one sack.

Special Teams

Today was not a strong showing for the kickers. Yesterday was Alex Hale’s shot at kicking, so Wednesday went to the veterans. Before the two-minute period, Greg Joseph went three of six on kicks in designated kicking periods while Anders Carlson was four of six on the day, per Herman. Joseph ended up missing a two-minute period fire drill kick, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, which brought his total to three of seven on the day.

Joseph is now 50 of 61 in training camp (82 percent). Carlson’s total is 48 of 60 (80 percent), and Hale comes in at 10 of 15 (67 percent). Wednesday was easily the worst the veteran kickers have looked all summer.