Lancaster trying to improve pass-rushing skills
BAY - Tyler Lancaster knows the Green Bay Packers pay him to stop the run. That doesn't mean the young defensive tackle is willing to settle.
Lancaster, who naturally plays most of his snaps on run downs, is built to fill gaps and consume blockers. His production has followed that in his first two seasons. Lancaster had no sacks as an undrafted rookie in 2018. He had a modest 1.5 sacks last season.
“I know my downfalls,” he said, “and I know what I'm good at and what I need to work on. Every offseason, when I talk to my trainers, I tell them, ‘Hey, I feel strong enough. If we could prioritize my speed over my strength, let's do that.'”
That's what Lancaster did this offseason. He focused on his cardio, his stamina, hoping it would help him be quicker getting off the line of scrimmage.
It's much too early to know whether that focus will pay off this fall, but Lancaster had a promising sign during Sunday's lengthy scrimmage inside Lambeau Field. On one rep, Lancaster broke through the line of scrimmage. He met face to face with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who, of course, was wearing a red, no-touch jersey.
That's the difficulty in evaluating pass rush during practice. The officials inside Lambeau Field allowed the play to continue, leaving ambiguity to whether it was a sack. Rodgers later aptice proached Lancaster on the sideline, and asked him what he thought.
Lancaster's answer, naturally, left no doubt.
“I told him, yeah,” Lancaster said. “I said, ‘That was definitely a sack.'"
Noise adjustments
Early in the season, adjusting to the piped-in noise teams are allowed to use in place of fans might be a work in progress.
The Packers again used piped-in noise during their practice inside Lambeau Field on Sunday. Coach Matt LaFleur said the league hasn't informed him of what the maximum decibel level will be this season, so the noise was set to the same decibel level as a prior pracGREEN at Lambeau Field.
This time, however, it sounded much louder.
“It sounded like twice as loud as the other day,” LaFleur said, “so we had to taper it back a little bit. That's something we're going to have to work through.”
Packers shift to regular-season schedule
Training camp, such as it was, formally ended for the Packers on Sunday and now the team switches into regularseason prep mode Monday.
The team will then practice for three days to serve as the final roster evaluation before general manager Brian Gutekunst trims the roster from 80 to 53.