Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
NOTEBOOK Packers to report to training camp on July 28
A pair of reports June 10 provided some clarity to the schedule ahead for the Green Bay Packers and the 31 other NFL teams.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, 30 of the 32 NFL teams, including the Packers, are scheduled to report to training camp on July 28 under new CBA rules. The change was made to make reporting dates more uniform around the NFL.
The reporting date is subject to change based on the league’s future handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has turned the entire offseason virtual.
The preseason might also see change. While the Packers are scheduled to play four preseason games, the NFL and NFL Players Association are discussing canceling half the exhibition schedule and playing only two preseason games, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
The idea would be to provide more time before the start of the regular season to get all preparations ready in time, both logistically and medically.
The Packers are scheduled to play the Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns at home and the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs on the road during the preseason.
The Packers announced the time of the team’s preseason game against the Giants was moved up to 5 p.m. CT. It was originally scheduled for 7 p.m.
Practice squad may expand
An even bigger expansion of the practice squad could be coming for the Packers and the 31 other NFL teams in 2020.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the league is talking about increasing the size of each team’s practice squad to 16 players this season. The idea would be to have bigger practice squads to help teams handle possible positive coronavirus cases.
Practice squads were allowed 10 players in 2019. The NFL was already planning on increasing the size of the practice squad to 12 players in 2020.
All coaches and teams want an opportunity to keep more players, allowing for a higher retention percentage of offseason rosters and more developmental time within the team structure for young players. As Garafolo notes, the NFL Players Association must agree to the change, but four more players keeping a job per team – and four times 32 teams is 128 total players – is a strong incentive for the union to implement the idea.
A bigger practice squad could allow the Packers to stash a few more young players from the team’s 15-player undrafted free agent class. The team also drafted nine players. The addition of four new slots could be huge for rookies, especially after dealing with a virtual offseason and the potential of playing only two preseason games.
NFL cancels Hall events
Even during a worldwide pandemic, the NFL conducted free agency and held its annual player draft with little disruption. That is no longer the case.
The NFL is canceling this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization announced June 25.
The preseason opener between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers was originally set for Aug. 6. The Cowboys
and Steelers instead will meet in next year’s Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 5, 2021.
In addition, the enshrinement ceremonies scheduled on Aug. 8 will be postponed to the next year. Both the 2020 class and Centennial class that had been scheduled to be honored this year will be inducted next August prior to the 2021 class’ ceremony.
Rodgers makes special visit
Aaron Rodgers paid a visit to two young brothers in California who lost their little sister to cancer last month.
Instagram influencer and blogger Ashley Stock shared photos Sunday of the Packers quarterback spending time with her sons, Wesley, 10, and Sawyer, 7, as the family grieves 3-year-old daughter Stevie, who died of a brain tumor.
“He showed up, completely present, authentically engaged, heart and arms wide open, because he knew he could add light to this difficult season of their life,” Stock wrote in the post to her 513,000 followers, adding the hashtag “#goodhuman.”
Ashley and Ben Stock’s daughter was diagnosed in April with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, an aggressive and rare brain tumor, and died May 27. Stock has chronicled the family’s journey on social media.
Favre discusses Kaepernick
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre compared Colin Kaepernick’s largerthan-football legacy to the late Pat Tillman. Favre told TMZ Sports in a video interview that Kaepernick’s willingness to sacrifice his NFL career to fight for social justice felt reminiscent of Tillman’s sacrifice for his country. Tillman, a safety for the Arizona Cardinals, chose to leave the NFL for the U.S. Army in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001. He was killed by friendly fire in 2004 while deployed in Afghanistan.
“I can only think of — right off the top of my head — Pat Tillman’s another guy who did something similar, and we regard him as a hero,” Favre said. “So I’d assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well.”
Favre was asked by the TMZ Sports interviewer if Kaepernick had reached the stature of Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali for helping break societal barriers.
Kaepernick, a former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, hasn’t played an NFL game since 2016, sitting out the past three seasons after he chose to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality.
“It’s not easy for a guy his age — black or white, Hispanic, whatever — to stop something that you’ve always dreamed of doing and put it on hold, maybe forever, for something that you believe in,” Favre said of Kaepernick.
“I think from a football sense, I can’t imagine him being that far out of shape or that far out of touch with football that he doesn’t deserve a shot . ... He’s still young and hasn’t been hit in several years, so there’s no reason to think that he’s lost that much of a step.”
In 2017, numerous NFL players knelt to follow Kaepernick’s lead, with many joining for one week after President Trump said at a September rally that any player protesting during the anthem should be fired.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees recently backpedaled off comments he made saying he would never support
kneeling because he felt the act was disrespectful.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also said in June the league took the wrong approach in its stance on peaceful protests after numerous NFL players asked the league to speak up and support the Black Lives Matter movement in wake of George Floyd’s May 25 death.
COVID-19 funds distributed
The Packers announced grants to 19 Brown County organizations through the Packers Give Back COVID-19 Community Relief Fund.
Grant recipients included:
❚ Ben’s Wish: to purchase food and supplies for the Weekend Food Pack Alliance to support families and reduce food insecurity for local youth.
❚ Boys & Girls Club of Greater Green Bay: to provide scholarships for summer enrollment and purchase an online registration system to eliminate the need for physical contact during enrollment process.
❚ Brown County Oral Health Partnership: to help purchase personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as safety and training materials and air quality testing for clinics to safely deliver dental care services to children in need.
❚ CASA of Brown County: to help provide safety kits for volunteers.
❚ Cerebral Palsy Inc.: to help with
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Chris Bumbaca, Mike Jones and Scott Gleeson of USA TODAY, and Kendra Meinert and Richard Ryman of the Green Bay Press-Gazette contributed to this report.