Ahhhh, real football at last.


It's been almost seven full months since the Green Bay Packers practiced with not only helmets, but the shoulder, thigh and knee pads that go with them.


The first padded workout of training camp was a pretty spirited affair that lasted a tick over two hours and forty minutes, longer than any practice all last summer.


The adrenaline levels were running hot right from the get go.   There's always an anxiousness to impress when it's full contact and to make sure the guys were ready to compete, Head Coach Mike McCarthy used the first 11 on 11 team drill in pads to work on some smash mouth red zone and goal line running plays.


The run game surprisingly got some push against the defense but it was a pass play that had the testosterone levels boil over.  On the 4th snap of the team drill, Aaron Rodgers floated a corner fade route to tight end Jimmy Graham in the end zone with Josh Jones in coverage.  The battle for the ball in the air was pretty fierce and the pass went incomplete.   


Graham quickly turned to an official and complained that Jones grabbed his face mask.     Jones got into Graham's face mask yelling "So What! So What!"


Graham took exception to that and the confrontation almost came to blows before assistant coach Joe Whitt got between them.


The competitive tone had been established.


The team broke for fundamental drills and that included some single sled thumping.





During a team pressure/coverage period, again working inside the 20, the offense produced three sharp touchdowns.   The first was delivered by Brett Hundley on a fade round to Marques Valdes-Scantling who made a terrific catch in tight coverage from Raven Greene.   Free agent rookie quarterback Tim Boyle made a play, snapping a tight spiral over the middle to J'Mon Moore who beat Demetri Goodson.   The period ended when Rodgers delivered a quick slant to Davante Adams  that beat Kevin King.


The final team drill ended almost exactly how the first one began, with fuses burning quickly.   Tackle Byron Bell and linebacker C.J. Johnson tangled after the whistle and they continued the wrestling until the rest of team joined in the scrum on what was the last snap of an entertaining afternoon.





(Final play of practice got everyone involved)


With practice number three in pads, and the longest so far, on the warmest day of camp (81 degrees), the guys looked pretty exhausted before making the bike ride back up to Lambeau's locker room.





(Players peel off pads for the first time after practice)


Inside the locker room, I talked to a couple of the big boys about what it's like to hit for the first time since the end of December.   Is it a shock to the body?  Does the soreness take a couple of days to wear off?   For answers I turned to guard Lucas Patrick and first to defensive end Dean Lowry who says you never get used to hitting for the first time.






 (Audio: Dean Lowry, Lucas Patrick)


Some other practice notes:


The first in-camp injury kept running back Aaron Jones on the sidelines.  He suffered a slight hamstring pull and isn't expected to miss a significant amount of time.


Bryan Bulaga was in uniform but not in pads, working on his own with a trainer on the far end of the field.


Mason Crosby made 7 of 8 field goals during the first live kicking of camp.  Starting at the 33 and moving backwards with each kick, Crosby's only miss was wide right from 48 yards.  He finished by nailing a 50 yarder.   Draft pick Hunter Bradley did the snapping for the first four kicks, free agent Zach Triner handled the final four.


Punter JK Scott held for all 8 attempts.   Scott showed impressive hang time in a handful of punts.


Number one draft choice Jaire Alexander made his first appearance with the starting defense working as the slot corner in the opening 11 on 11 period of the day.


Free agent inside linebacker Greer Martini from Notre Dame is getting noticed.    He had a terrific run fill in early goal line work and lined up with the starters on the first kickoff return unit.


The players have Sunday off (might find a few on area golf courses) but Mike McCarthy joked the coaching staff will still be working.  The team returns to Nitschke Field in pads on Monday.




Continue Reading @ Mark Daniels 

Mark Daniels wrote: