Packers Practice Roundup: July 24, 2025
The defense won Thursday's practice.
Practice No. 2 ends after 1 hour, 54 minutes. Hodkiewicz
PERSONNEL:
Rookie seventh-rounder Micah Robinson (knee) has returned. Not participating: LB Quay Walker (ankle) WR Christian Watson (knee) DE Collin Oliver (hamstring) RB Amar Johnson (hamstring) OL John Williams (back) OL Elgton Jenkins (back). Hodkiewicz
Players with the 1 group: Gary - Cox Wyatt - Clark - Brooks McDuffie - Cooper - Simmons Valentine - Hobbs - Bullard - Nixon McKinney - Williams. [Offense:} Love - Willis Jacobs - Brooks Williams - Doubs - Wicks - Reed - Heath Kraft - Musgrave - Sims Walker - Banks - Rhyan - Morgan - Tom. Herman
Travis Glover has been taking left guard reps on starting offensive line. Might just be getting some work. Aaron Banks is still on the sideline, wearing his helmet. 2) Wood
LVN with the ones in the first actual team drills - it was Cox in walkthroughs. Everything else status quo. Herman
OFFENSE:
Matthew Golden catches a pass from Malik Willis in the right flat and made two guys miss. Juked CB Gregory Junior and LB Ty’Ronn Hopper to break it into a big play. Rookie has moves. Wood [I like this description by Andy Herman: Willis to Golden short who broke Junior’s ankles, then broke Hoppers ankles, two sweet jukes and a big run after the catch. TGR]
Love to Wicks over the middle for a nice pickup off a fake toss. Love finds wicks again on a nice little dig route. Shorter pickup this time. Emanuel Wilson finds a crease for a nice gain! 2) Willis with a beautiful deep ball to Savion Williams deep down the right sideline who tried to make a diving attempt but couldn’t hang on. Willis to Hardman on the next play on an intermediate crosser for a nice gain. Checkdown to Wilson for a good gain. Willis overshoots Hicks - good coverage by Dunn. Herman
Jordan Love misses him [Jacobs] for a TD. Overthrown. Next snap, Love navigates dirty pocket and fires a laser to Matthew Golden on a slant for about 15 yards. Threaded it through two defenders. Wood
DEFENSE:
Barryn Sorrell would’ve had a sack on Malik Willis rushing from perimeter. Also hopped inside as an interior rusher. The coaches checking out the rookie’s versatility up front. [Herman called it a coverage sack, fwiw.] Wood
Mosby got a great job for a quick pressure (maybe sack) on Elgersma. Steno was looking for a false start but no flat. I thought he looked slightly early. Close call. Herman
Love to Reed to open practice off play action complete for a nice gain but McKinney would have had him lit up in an actual game. Next play - LVN with a pressure, Love gets the ball off and threads a pass to Hardman for a big gain. Williams gambles to try and break it up but misses and Hardman was free. 2) Javon Bullard with a nice pbu with coverage on Kraft. Looked like Love was slightly behind Kraft to allow Bullard to break it up. Herman
It was Isaiah Simmons who tipped the Malik Willis pass that led to a Carrington Valentine interception. Carrington Valentine made the sliding interception before pass could hit the ground, got up and returned it for 6. Wood
Edgerrin Cooper just had one of those plays where he shoots into the backfield at warp speed for a tfl. Becoming routine. Herman
Nice jump on an out route from Javon Bullard, breaking up a Jordan Love pass to Tucker Kraft. Read it perfectly. 2) Tight cover from Bo Melton on a Savion Williams in cut forces a Taylor Elgersma incompletion. Impressive rep for the new CB early in camp. 3) On the next 3rd & 2, Hobbs blanketed a Dontayvion Wicks out route for PBU, preventing the first down. Hobbs got up and let everyone know. Wood
Bo Melton all over a read option keeper by Willis. Bo Melton follows up with a pass breakup and perfect coverage on Savion Williams over the middle. [I think this is the same play as Wood #2 above.] Bo showing up. Herman
2-minute drills:
[First was the INT by Valentine on Willis pass tipped by Simmons.
2) Same situation - same groups but mix of 1s and 2’s on defense. 1st down: Willis throws a super impressive deep corner route fading away to Hicks but it glances off his finger tips incomplete. Willis to Hardman for 5. Clock ticks. Willis to Williams for 5. A generous First down. Out of bounds. Screen to Brooks loses 3-4 yards. Clock ticks. Hardman gets back to the original line of scrimmage. Clock ticks. Check down to Lloyd for about 7. Clock ticks. Timeout. 4th down. Defense wins as offense would be forced to punt.
3) Same situation. 1s vs 1s Love to Doubs on a slant for 7. Clock ticks. Love to Reed for 4. First down. Clock ticks. Handoff to Jacobs. Gain of 2-3. Clock ticks. Love to Kraft, LvN with great pressure. Kraft can’t come up with it. Solid coverage. Incomplete. Neutral zone infraction by Hobbs. Hobbs atones with a huge breakup on 3rd down forcing the “punt”. Defense wins.
4) 3’s up next. Elgersma at QB. Short completion along sidelines to White. Oob Run by White for a handful. Elgersma tries the seam and Omar Brown is all over it for the pick and the win for the defense. Herman
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Jayden Reed let a punt off the JUGS machine drop in front of him. Scooped it as swarm was closing. Matthew Golden muffed a punt off JUGS. Dontayvion Wicks muffed a punt off JUGS. Wood
Worth adding that I think the punt returners were lined up way too far back for the machine. Keisean Nixon said so. Golden had to sprint up to reach the punt. Doesn’t fully excuse muffing it off his knee, but some context. Wicks also botched one later off his family jewels. Schneidman
MISCELLANEOUS:
Isaiah Simmons, Nate Hobbs and Mecole Hardman are standing out two days into Training Camp. 2) Mecole Hardman has caught a lotta passes this summer, going back to OTAs. Hodkiewicz
Under Mark Murphy, the Packers have put $675 million into Lambeau Field/facilities, countless millions more into Titletown development, and now have a reserve fund of almost $600 million. Murphy provided a Super Bowl and incredible financial stability for the franchise. Kruse
LaFleur on Bo Melton switching to CB: “Day 1 was good. Did some nice things. I just love the attitude, what he represents.” 2) Quay Walker will only do walkthrough stuff after being activated yesterday, LaFleur says. Schneidman
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Comments (19)
Thegreatreynoldo
July 25, 2025 at 12:22 am
I think we are seeing who looks good in shorts. Golden, Simmons, Hardman, Cooper, and Lloyd.
Guam
July 25, 2025 at 07:23 am
Thanks for the daily TC updates TGR. Really good reading and info that I can't get anywhere else. Appreciate it!
Coldworld
July 25, 2025 at 09:06 am
Fast or agile types always stand out in shorts. Smaller WRs often do particularly well, as there’s no contact and thus physicality. The player seemingly doing better than might be explained by being in shorts, is Hobbs. That’s encouraging. I’d add Bo Melton because he’s showing an ability to read and get himself in position that often is a struggle for converts.
GregC
July 25, 2025 at 04:41 am
After two days of training camp, there has been one change to my off-season roster projection. Bo Melton has replaced Kamal Hadden at CB. I only picked 4 CBs. We'll see if Melton can solidify his place on the team and if a fifth CB emerges. (I only picked four for the roster.)
Simmons may not look as good when the pads come on. From what I've heard, his speed is his biggest asset.
No mention of Sean Clifford here. He's battling Taylor Elgersma for the #3 QB job.
Mecole Hardman has picked up where he left off in the minicamps. When they signed him, I figured he would probably not make the team if they drafted a return specialist. Well, they did not draft a return specialist, and he's helped his cause by looking really good at WR so far. With Melton out of the WR competition, it's Hardman vs. Heath for the #6 WR spot. I think they will keep six, and Hardman looks like the favorite.
Guam
July 25, 2025 at 07:27 am
Hardman has been a pleasant surprise so far given that KC let him go and their wide receiving corps was not all that great to start with. Hope it continues.
T7Steve
July 25, 2025 at 07:38 am
What does KC know they let Valdes Scantling go too. HA!
Thegreatreynoldo
July 25, 2025 at 01:22 pm
I don't think I have seen a single tweet with Clifford's name in it. The #3s often play at the far end of the field. Moreover, the 3s and the 1s often scrimmage at the same time. These media observers can only see part of the field (there is no bird's eye view available), so they naturally focus on the north end of the field where the starters tend to work out. Same issue with special teams - they are at the other side of the field and only a few observers are close enough to know the results. Hodkiewicz always seems to know the results.
Just to be clear, this is supposed to be raw data. If I cannot contain my opinion, I will put it in brackets. I do compare one media guy's take with another person's if they differ. I write my opinions down here in the comments. The other expression of my opinion is which tweets I include in the article and which ones I omit.
I organize the tweets in a half assed way. For example, under defense the first tweets will be about DTs, then ILBs, they pass rushers, and then secondary. Sometimes I could put a tweet under DBs or under the WR part of offense. I budget about 3 seconds to decide such things.
GregC
July 26, 2025 at 05:33 am
Thanks for the explanation. Lots of stuff happening at the same time on that practice field.
T7Steve
July 25, 2025 at 07:22 am
Thanks, TGR. Always appreciate your roundups.
I hope they can get a handle on what's sounding like allot of drops and muffs. Seems that's what defined last season.
Bet Bo played a bunch of DB in high school like his brother. Way to keep him on the 53 for his special teams' services if nothing else. If a converted WR can beat out any of the existing DBs in his first attempt it shows great athleticism but doesn't say much about the rest of the room.
Guam
July 25, 2025 at 07:25 am
Bo did play both CB and WR in high school. Would love it if he became the next Sam Shields.
LambeauPlain
July 25, 2025 at 07:39 am
I don't get too excited over players in shorts and no tackling after two practices.
It is fun to have camp back again even while the first few days are mostly evaluating players as on simple basics, lining up and executing correctly, avoiding penalties and drops, following blockers and hitting holes and defensive fits correctly.
Few more of these then the pads come on! That's when the depth chart starts to take form.
T7Steve
July 25, 2025 at 07:55 am
What's your take on, "Travis Glover has been taking left guard reps on starting offensive line. Might just be getting some work. Aaron Banks is still on the sideline, wearing his helmet."
Think Banks is trying to catch up on the playbook or calls? You'd think they'd want to get him dialed in with the other starters as soon as possible.
Thegreatreynoldo
July 25, 2025 at 08:38 am
I looked but Banks did not return to practice. Apparently, Banks stayed on the sidelines watching practice. I just did a quick google search and did not find any updates. There is a practice today so we should find out more in a couple of hours.
Edit: I did find Bill Huber's article. He notes that Love was 8 of 12 and then 9 of 14 but that includes at least 3 hospital balls and a couple of super accurate strikes that were not caught but were not called drops. Hicks had one go off his fingertips, for example.
Nate Hobbs has made some plays. CB Omar Brown had an INT against Elgersma.
We have 2 guys competing at LT (Morgan and Rasheed) and with Belton getting some reps. We have 3 guys competing at RG (Belton, Rhyan, and Morgan). Monk and Rhyan rotate at OC with Jenkins on the sidelines. I have not sees much on the DTs. Clark and Wyatt are the starters. I am on the lookout for Brinson and Stackhouse but I don't remember seeing their names. That is to be expected since pads don't come on until later, maybe next week though nothing has been announced.
T7Steve
July 25, 2025 at 08:50 am
Thanks. Now another thing to worry about. Hope he's not a slow learner. The plays should be like something he's used to.
GregC
July 25, 2025 at 09:07 am
FYI: Aaron Banks got knocked out of practice with an injury. Someone said he was grimacing when he came off the field. Probably nothing serious.
dobber
July 25, 2025 at 09:29 am
My understanding is that he stayed on the field and didn't to the locker room or leave with trainers, which argues it's something minor.
Coldworld
July 25, 2025 at 09:12 am
The long Hicks ball ended up overthrown, but it was that kind of play. It was out of Hicks reach, just. Was that timing, a route error or just putting it out there where only the WR had a chance, if not a high percentage one? Either way, neither party obviously at fault.
Thegreatreynoldo
July 25, 2025 at 09:28 am
Exactly, but if i recall the tweet complimented the throw as well. So, getting used to each other is part of what training camp is for.
I took a week off in August. I am going to wait to see which practice is padded and attend. I have met some readers at practice - last year Greengold and I watched practice together with his wife and went to Krolls afterwards. That was great and I would like to do that again and with more folks. The more knowledgeable, the better. I know about the CBA than I know about jab steps.
Coldworld
July 25, 2025 at 09:57 am
You do a great job. This piece is a highlight of camp, whether you are there or not, though obviously it’s great to have actual in person observations. It’s pretty hard to see a lot of the detail anyway from the stands, especially while multiple groups are at work.
It’s very helpful to compare voices and you do that for us—the punt issues yesterday (wrong jugs setting or positioning it turns out) are a classic example. Media proto drama turns out to be a coaching staff error. One point from experience: I don’t want my returner sprinting forward 10+ yards to dive to catch a ball. That’s a recipe for a catastrophic impact as well as a fumble. Let the ball bounce short if one must in those situations. Reed was more sensible than the media pundits and covered the bounce (actually it bounced favorably, but that’s luck).