Mason Crosby is kicking well.
GREEN BAY - Mason Crosby’s eighth and final field goal attempt sailed through the uprights with an unusual flight Tuesday.
The 48-yard kick came out low off Crosby’s foot and took a linedrive trajectory into the net. It wasn’t pretty, but the result would have been three points for the Green Bay Packers.
“Other than that, I feel really good,” Crosby said. “It’s nice when they all go in and you can just be picky about the little details.”
Crosby can afford to be picky thanks to an impressive start to training camp. He has made 14 of his 15 attempts through the first five practices and made solid contact on almost every kick. Based on appearance, you’d never know he’s dealing with a new long snapper in Derek Hart and new holder in punter Justin Vogel.
“You know the more reps we get the better it looks every day,” Crosby said. “Just working on timing, trust and making sure that everything is on time and smooth each time we have an opportunity.
“The live reps are good. It’s good to get in there and have the pressure of the rush and just kind of get back into the flow of things. We didn’t take any live reps with the team in OTAs, so that’s always a work in progress.”
In truth, Crosby’s last 20 months have been more about adjustments than anything else. Beginning on Dec. 20, 2015, when the Packers visited the Oakland Raiders, there has been significant turnover at the other two specialist positions following six years of stability.
Dec. 20, 2015 — Long snapper Brett Goode tears his ACL against the Raiders
Dec. 22, 2015 — Packers sign long snapper Rick Lovato off the street
Aug. 9, 2016 — Packers sign long snapper Jesse Schmitt to compete with Lovato
Aug. 14, 2016 — Packers place Schmitt on injured reserve and waive him a week later
Aug. 30, 2016 — Packers release punter/holder Tim Masthay and claim punter/holder Jacob Schum off waivers
Sept. 5, 2016 — Packers resign Goode, whose rehab from a torn ACL is complete
Jan. 27, 2017 — Packers sign long snapper Taybor Pepper with Goode set to become an unrestricted free agent in March
March 31, 2017 — Packers sign Hart to compete with Pepper. Goode’s contract has expired
May 5, 2017 — Packers sign Vogel to compete with Schum
June 1, 2017 — Packers release Schum
“You’ve got to give Mason a lot of credit,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “That’s a challenge, there’s no doubt about it.
“He’s got a lot of patience, a lot of professionalism working with those guys. I think he definitely has the right combination of demeanor and experience to work through that, but it’s definitely a challenge.”
The trio of Goode, Masthay and Crosby remained intact from 2010’15. The current trio of Hart, Vogel and Crosby has worked together since May.
Method to scheduling madness: A quick glance at the Packers’ training camp schedule is likely to convey whimsy. The practice times change frequently and drastically — from 8:15 a.m. to as late as 6:15 p.m. — and with seemingly no rhyme or reason.
There is a method to McCarthy’s madness. You just have to ask.
The Packers began training camp with five consecutive morning practices, the last of which was Tuesday.
Each practice began at 8:15 a.m. sharp and lasted a minimum of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The rookies do their daily lifting even earlier, prior to the start of practice. The veterans lift during lunch.
McCarthy believes the morning sessions are the most productive of training camp.
“Get up, get your heavy lifting done,” McCarthy said. “That’s how we’ve always done it. You look at even during the season, we lift early in the morning.”
The overall schedule looks something like this: rookie lifting at 6:30 a.m.; practice at 8:15 a.m.; lunch and veteran lifting; correctional meetings analyzing tape of the morning’s practice; dinner; installation for the next day’s practice.
Beginning Thursday, the Packers will have three consecutive night sessions culminating in the annual Family Night practice Saturday at Lambeau Field.
“We play night games in preseason; we obviously play a lot of night games, national games during the season so we need work under the lights,” McCarthy said. “So we need to be on that, have a feel for that time clock, how that day feels as we all have experienced it in the past, whether we play Sunday night or Monday night, there’s a lot of time there in the hotel and those types of things.’’
On Aug. 7, the Packers enter their regular-season schedule. The final seven public practices all begin at either 11:45 a.m. or 12:15 p.m. This gives players and coaches a three- or four-week taste of what things will be like after the 53-man roster is in place.
Surgery for Adams: Rookie defensive lineman Montravius Adams had surgery to repair a reported stress fracture in his foot and will need “a few weeks” to recover, McCarthy said.
Adams, the Packers’ third-round pick, practices throughout the offseason program. He participated in training camp’s two non-padded practice, but was sidelined Saturday when the pads came on for the first time.
The Packers have yet to see Adams in pads, making evaluations difficult at his position.