GREEN BAY – The Packers conducted their first full-pads practice of training camp Monday at Nitschke Field.
Here are five things learned from the workout:
1. The competitiveness cranked up with the pads on.
There was definitely more intensity to practice, and the running plays in 11-on-11 looked more physical, even without live tackling. The offense seemed to have the edge early in the running game, but the run defense shored things up against the run as practice progressed.
"It's good to get that feeling back," linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said of being in pads. "It's been a while since people been feeling full contact, so it's always good to get back to that."
The back and forth continued with the passing game as well. QB Jordan Love connected on multiple comeback routes with Matthew Golden, and on a pair of deep in-breakers to Christian Watson.
Conversely, one off-target throw over the middle for Jayden Reed was intercepted by a diving Xavier McKinney, Love's first INT of camp. Later, what looked to be the play of the day for the offense on a deep shot for Watson was well-contested by Evan Williams and fell incomplete.
"I'd like to think I got a hand in there," Williams said. "I don't know if it was on the ball as much as just raking through his arm a little bit.
"It was a great ball by J-Love. I was just able to get there and find a way to get it out."
2. The two-minute drills were full of action.
Three units all got a shot at the two-minute drill, with just 50 seconds on the clock down by two points.
The defense won, sort of twice, the matchup of first teams. Love got the offense into position for a field goal with a completion to Watson and two to Reed, but an uncalled sack on the first Reed catch might've ended the drill earlier. Rookie kicker Trey Smack then clanked a 52-yard field goal off the left upright anyway.
The offense won the second-team battle despite a rocky start, with some pass protection issues and incomplete passes. But backup QB Tyrod Taylor let one fly deep down the middle on third-and-long, and Will Sheppard ran under it for a nice sliding catch and roughly 60-yard gain. Smack was good from 33 yards out.
The play by Sheppard was even more impressive considering he had collided with a defender over the middle just a couple snaps earlier, getting the wind knocked out of him. He left for a play, re-entered, and then made his big catch. He had been shaken up earlier in practice from another hit, so it was a rough day for him until that splash play.
"Tyrod basically out of the huddle just said, 'Ay, make sure you run,'" said Sheppard, who spent the bulk of last season on the practice squad as an undrafted rookie from Colorado. "And that's exactly what I did. I just ran and got it.
"It's what we're paid to do. Come out here, get hit, get knocked down, just get back up, next-play mentality. So that's kinda how I go about my day every day."
LB TJ Quinn, an undrafted rookie from Louisville, won the No. 3 two-minute drill for the defense, leaping to intercept a QB Kyron Drones pass over the middle. He deflected the ball to himself and then corralled it as he went to the ground.
Smack was given one final kick anyway and drilled a 51-yarder to end practice.
3. The rookie kicker is working through some ups and downs.
Prior to the two-minute kicks, Smack went 3-for-5 in a field goal period for the second straight day. On Monday, the sixth-round pick from Florida missed an extra point wide right before hitting from 40, 43 and 48 yards, and then coming up short and wide right from 55 when he clearly mis-hit the ball.
On Sunday, when it was much windier at Nitschke Field, Smack's 3-for-5 period included makes from 28, 33 and 42, with misses from 39 and 45, though the first miss came off a low snap from Cal Adomitis.
"It takes a little bit of time," Smack said of getting the operation down after the break between OTAs/minicamp and now, and with a new snapper in the mix due to Matt Orzech's calf injury. "We're just starting to get back that chemistry."
All told, Smack is 8-for-13 thus far in camp.
4. Rookie edge Dani Dennis-Sutton working to find a role.
The fourth-round pick from Penn State has gotten most of his snaps with the second-team defense. He was in the backfield multiple times on Monday, making his presence felt against the run in particular.
Dennis-Sutton also has rotated in with the first unit occasionally, which has included getting pass-rush snaps from the interior on obvious passing downs. It seems experimental at this stage, but he said defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is always looking for matchup advantages.
"I did a little bit at Penn State," Dennis-Sutton said of rushing from a defensive tackle alignment. "I think it's just another way for me to get on the field and create mismatches. J.G.'s always about getting mismatches, one-on-ones, and they feel like going inside is a good mismatch for me going against a guard."
5. The injury list got a little longer.
CB Carrington Valentine and rookie TE RJ Maryland both sat out practice with hamstring injuries.
CB Johnathan Baldwin II, who had been flashing as a slot corner with the No. 2 defense, dropped out of practice, as did TE Luke Lachey.
