Everything seems to be going right for Packers
GREEN BAY - About the only way general manager Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur could have gotten more out of their training camp this year was if they had been given permission to practice in a bubble where no one could watch what they were doing.
At least, that's what it seemed like. The Green Bay Packers will open the season Sept. 12 against the New Orleans Saints in Jacksonville's TIAA Stadium, the NFL's choice for an alternate site after Hurricane Ida wreaked widespread destruction and human suffering upon the Gulf Coast earlier this week.
Playing somewhere else is a small price to pay for a Packers team that enjoys fresh water and electricity every day.
The Packers began preparing for the Saints on Wednesday and after a practice Thursday will adjourn for a “bye” weekend before beginning their regularseason routine Monday. They have a good start on things with all but outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith (back), nose tackle Tyler Lancaster (elbow) and safety Vernon Scott (hamstring) taking part.
From the day the Packers reported to training camp to their final exhibition game against the Buffalo Bills played in stifling heat, just about everything has gone right.
The Packers had only one player test positive for COVID-19 and that was revealed before they even hit the field. Not a single player was even deemed a close contact even though the vaccination numbers did not meet the team's expectations until much later in camp.
In addition, none of the Packers' starters suffered a practice injury that cost him considerable time, put his season in jeopardy or resulted in the prospect of not playing against the Saints. Just ask the New York Jets, who lost their best pass rusher (Carl Lawson) and a talented, young safety (Zane Lewis) to season-ending injuries during joint practices with the Packers how fortunate they are.
Gutekunst's work in the offseason made it so LaFleur had all but a couple of starting positions filled heading into camp, thus giving both sides of the ball ample time to build chemistry and iron out problems that might pop up early in the season. Though most of the starters didn't play in the preseason, they have been practicing side by side since the end of July.
All signs point upward heading into the regular season, although LaFleur isn't taking anything for granted.
“I think that's always the unknown going into Week 1 each and every year is just how are these guys going to respond when it's game time,” he said. “We do have a lot of veterans.
“And those guys that we're counting on that maybe are our younger players, we feel like we gave them enough snaps in the preseason. So, we feel good about the group. But ultimately, it's one thing to feel great. It's another thing to go out there and do it.”
Defensively, the Packers will be playing a new system under new coordinator Joe Barry, but they will be doing it with 10 returning starters and veteran free agent De'Vondre Campbell. Even if Smith, who came into camp with a back injury and took part in just one practice, isn't available, the experienced Rashan Gary would replace him.
Offensively, the Packers return five of their best skill players and have ample backup options in receivers Randall Cobb and Malik Taylor, tight end Josiah Deguara and running backs AJ Dillon and Kylin Hill.
The biggest question mark throughout camp was how the offensive line would shake out with left tackle David Bakhtiari recovering from a torn ACL. LaFleur addressed the edges first, moving left guard Elgton Jenkins to left tackle and keeping Billy Turner solely at right tackle. Then, he signed 10th-year veteran Dennis Kelly, who had started 16 games for Tennessee last year, as camp began.
He gave the center job to secondround pick Josh Myers and then let the guard position sort itself out. It started as a three-way race between Lucas Patrick, Ben Braden and Jon Runyan and wound up with fourth-round pick Royce Newman blasting up the depth chart to earn a likely starting spot. Veteran starter Patrick will probably play the other guard position.
The decision to allow the group to rotate at guard, and in some instances, center, stressed each of the candidates.
The interior of the offensive line remains the most vulnerable spot on the Packers' roster, but due to good health, LaFleur and his staff were able to weigh five weeks of practice and three games into their decision on Newman and Patrick.
“I thought the competition across the whole offensive line was fantastic this camp,” Gutekunst said. “We have a lot of new faces that are going to be playing in some of those roles, but I thought the depth that we had is as good as I've seen.
“Now there's a lot of guys that are maybe unproven. They're going to have to prove it over the course of a season. But the depth and competition was as good as we've had here in a long time.”
The good news for LaFleur was Myers held up well both in physical practices with the Jets and against the No. 1 Bills defense in the finale. In between, he got a lot of work with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, even if there were moments when his play was uneven.
Newman's play seemed like an optical illusion. He did not look out of place against the Bills' tough interior line and didn't yield much against anybody else he faced in preseason games. If it was an illusion, the Packers will find out quickly against the Saints.
“There may be some growing pains in there,” LaFleur said. “That's just the way it is. That's the nature of it. And that's a tough position to play. Thankfully, we've got a lot of talent around the offensive line as well.
“And I think we'll do our best as coaches to make sure that we're getting the ball out and whatnot to try to put those guys in position to be successful.”
The offense has had more than a month to work with Rodgers following his boycott of offseason workouts and it often looked like the two were never apart. Rodgers had one of the best training camps of his career and enters the season knowing he might not have a better shot at a second Super Bowl ring.
Where the Packers finish this season won't weigh solely on five weeks of preparation that went their way. As LaFleur said, there's no way to predict whether camp was an accurate portrayal of the way the season will go.
The thing few can argue is that it couldn't have gone much better.