GREEN BAY – The Packers were back outside in front of fans Monday for a full-pads practice at Nitschke Field.
Here are five things learned from the workout:
1. Receivers outside the big three are making their share of plays.
WRs Matthew Golden (toe) and Jayden Reed (ankle) missed a second straight practice, creating first-team opportunities for several others.
While Christian Watson was his usual productive self, second-year WR Savion Williams showed up for the second straight day, making a pair of third-down catches in traffic to move the chains.
It wasn't as eye-opening a practice for Williams as Sunday, when he made a handful of catches and was the obvious star of the workout. But he stacked something on top of his big day with a quick slant against Keisean Nixon and a downfield hook route in front of Brandon Cisse.
"The good thing about Say, that I love about him, is his poise," said fellow WR Bo Melton, who added he's grown close to Williams. "Knowing Say, when he's going out there and he's joyful, he's great. In training camp, there's days when you're up and down, but Say, … the way he plays the game is really good. He could be a great player. He knows that."
Melton had a couple of big plays himself Monday, and QB Jordan Love fed multiple throws to WR Skyy Moore as well.
Melton's most impressive catch came when he outjumped Nixon on a downfield shot. He also found himself wide open on the back end of a trick play for an easy catch.
"You gotta want it," Melton said of his jump ball vs. Nixon. "I feel like Kei kinda didn't see me. When the ball's in the air, you either attack it and go get it or you don't want it. I want to make plays. Especially if the ball is deep, I feel like that's my specialty, taking the top off the defense. I gotta make sure I'm coming down with it all the time."
2. A roster hopeful made a big play to end practice.
CB Jaylin Simpson, who spent the bulk of last season on the Packers' practice squad, broke on a QB Kyron Drones pass headed for the front pylon of the end zone and picked it off, heading the other way for what could've been a field-length pick-six. It was the final play of practice.
"Just go get that ball," Simpson said of his mentality. "A ball in the air is ours. It's mine."
Just before that, Simpson got a little encouragement from safety Javon Bullard, who told him to "be greedy." Sure enough, the play came his way.
Simpson and Bullard are from nearby Georgia towns (Brunswick and Milledgeville, respectively) and they played at SEC rivals Auburn and Georgia. Simpson has broken up his share of passes in training camp, but this was the most noteworthy play for the 2024 fourth-round pick who was drafted by Indianapolis and has also spent time with the Jets in his young career.
Over time, he's been playing various positions in the defensive backfield, from safety to nickel to corner, but he's playing mostly boundary corner now with the reserve defensive units and making a run at a roster spot.
"I always admired Simp's game," Bullard said. "Simp a baller. I'm proud of him for sure."
3. Bullard is the new addition to the injury report.
Bullard sat out practice with a foot injury that he called a bad bruise. It's the same foot that required surgery after his rookie year and occasionally gives him trouble, but he's not overly concerned.
"I'll be back in no time," he said. "If we had a game tomorrow, I'd play. It's nothing crazy. We're just trying to proceed with caution right now instead of letting it linger and be dealing with it later on."
Safety Kitan Oladapo replaced Bullard in the slot with the first-team defense. Around that spot was a constant rotation on the first unit, as Nixon and Cisse were one pair of starting corners, with Cisse and Benjamin St-Juste the other pair when the period changed.
"We've got a lot of confidence in all those guys," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said of the corner competition. "We'll just let it all play out."
Elsewhere injury-wise, LBs Edgerrin Cooper (foot) and Zaire Franklin (excused travel) both returned to practice.
4. Two key starters keep working toward full-go.
Coming off season-ending injuries last year, RT Zach Bako-Bewele and DT Devonte Wyatt started taking 11-on-11 reps Sunday and continued to do so in full pads for the first time Monday.
Both are taking limited snaps, though, and they haven't yet entered the one-on-one drill between rushers and blockers. But they were seen off to the side of that drill working a little one-on-one against each other, perhaps another sign their workload will increase more soon.
5. Starters are going to play some in the preseason, but when and how much remains TBD.
LaFleur's message remains anyone healthy needs to be ready to play in the preseason, and he made it clear he's in favor of the starters getting some preseason work.
"My experience here is that when we've played in the preseason, we've been better earlier in the season," he said. "Plus there's a lot of data out there that will tell you that if your guys get 'X' amount of snaps in the preseason, I think it's like over three times less likely that they get injured in the regular season."
That said, he's not about to overdo it, and he hasn't determined a specific number of snaps nor which game(s) to get the starters action. He did indicate the third preseason game against Arizona is the most unlikely, because the starters will get a ton of work in the joint practice against the Cardinals two days before that finale.
