At this time next week, the Green Bay Packers will be 1-0 after opening their season with a win against the Minnesota Vikings (or at least we hope). The third and final week of training camp or “pre-season 2020 edition” was a bit quieter for Green Bay and sadly 27 Packer prospects were told they didn’t make the final 53-man roster at the end of it all.  

With training camp/pre-season now in the books, let’s look back at each day of practice, players who stood out and what we learned.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2020

Before the official transition from the Packers’ “training camp” schedule to an “in-season” schedule, Green Bay held an unscripted scrimmage inside Lambeau Field on Sunday.  

According to Packers reporter Wes Hodkiewicz, MVS continued to look sharp in Sunday’s scrimmage, turning heads with a handful of impressive third-down plays to move the chains. Hodkiewicz reported that on one play, Valdes-Scantling was even being held like crazy and still managed to make a big third-down grab. Although it wasn’t reported, I’m sure Aaron Rodgers loved that toughness from MVS. The two have been off beat at times but, if we’ve learned one thing from camp this year, it’s that they are really starting to find a rhythm.  

Speaking of Rodgers, his hot streak continued Sunday as well. Several media reported that QB1 looked sharp and showed noticeable improvements from last season. According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky’s “official unofficial” stats from the scrimmage, Rodgers was 25-of-31 for 192 yards and one touchdown.

Demovsky also reported a bit of a scary moment during the scrimmage when Rodgers and running back Jamaal Williams got their feet tangled on a handoff. Apparently, both stumbled to the ground and trainers evaluated Rodger’s left foot, but it wasn’t serious enough for him to leave the scrimmage for more than a couple of minutes. 

On the defensive side of things, once again linebacker Rashan Gary broke through coverage to make some nice plays. Hodkiewicz reported he had a nice sack early in the scrimmage and was a consistent force for the defense.  

According to Hodkiewicz, Marcedes Lewis was back and active in Sunday’s scrimmage after a veteran’s rest day Saturday. Oren Burks did not practice after dropping out of practice early Saturday. Greene, St. Brown, Ento, Sunderland, Ramsey, Montravius Adams and Hester also did not practice. According to Demovsky, the scrimmage ended after 2 hours and 14 minutes.  

At his post-scrimmage media availability, coach Matt LaFleur said the team planned to use Monday as an in-season recovery day and Tuesday as an off day with three practices on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

There wasn’t too much reported from practice itself Wednesday, as disappointing injury news took over most of the day. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky first broke the news that rookie linebacker Kamal Martin is expected to miss several weeks after undergoing knee surgery.

Sources told ESPN that Martin’s injury was “nothing serious” but this is still a huge blow for Green Bay. As I mentioned in my roundup last week, Martin was having a really great camp and easily looked like the best pick of the Packers’ 2020 draft class. Although he’ll be back at some point this season, it certainly would’ve been nice to have him in the mix during week one.  

Demovsky also broke injury news on the offensive side of things. Sources told ESPN that right tackle Billy Turner suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s scrimmage and although “it’s nothing serious,” will still most likely put him out of week one. Although the nature of Turner’s injury seems fairly minor, he was the presumptive starter at right tackle to open the season. Now, the Packers are tasked with choosing his replacement at the already thinning tackle position.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke to media after practice Wednesday and was rather complimentary of his teammates. FOX6 Sports Anchor & Reporter, Lily Zhao, shared that Rodgers believes running back Jamaal Williams made the biggest year leap, stating that he’s been “extremely explosive in the run game.”

Rodgers also confirmed my theory that he’s been really impressed with MVS during camp. In his post-practice media availability, he sung his praises and doubled down on what LaFleur shared last week about the “new standard” for Valdes-Scantling.  

“I think the receiver that I’ve been most impressed with, especially in the last week, ten days of camp, is Marquez,” Rodgers said. “I think he’s had some really good practices in a row, at the same time, and I know Matt said this that ‘this is the new standard for MVS.’ Now he’s making the catches he’s expected to make, doing some smart things and showing the growth. So, I’m really proud of MVS.”

According to Packers reporter Wes Hodkiewicz, St. Brown and Burks both returned to practice Wednesday. Turner, Martin, Greene, Ento, Sunderland, Ramsey, Hester and Montravius Adams did not practice.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Thursday was another quiet practice day, but media had the opportunity to hear from defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

I mentioned a couple weeks back that corner Josh Jackson was finally starting to breakthrough a bit on the defense, after struggling to do so the last two seasons. Pettine seems to agree with that statement, sharing that he too was happy with what he’s seen from Jackson thus far.

“…He’s [Jackson] had his moments in camp. He’s done some really good things,” Pettine said. “He’s put on display his length and his ball skills, but other times, he’s showed that he’s got some things to clean up technique-wise as well. We like the way he’s trending and just knowing what type of year this is going to be. He’s going to play some significant minutes for us...”

Pettine also confirmed that Chandon Sullivan will be the Packers’ nickel cornerback heading into Viking’s territory week one, per the Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.

According to Packers reporter Wes Hodkiewicz, Roberts and Sunderland returned to practice Thursday. Lewis took another veterans rest day and Greene Ento, Martin, Turner, Ramsey, Hester and Montravius Adams did not practice.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

To close the week, the Packers practiced inside Lambeau Field on Friday. The sound was pumping throughout the afternoon and it turns out that wasn’t a confidence. In fact, it was LaFleur’s intention.  

“I just wanted to give the guys an opportunity, the league finally came out with what the decibel level was going to be, so I just wanted to give our guys the opportunity to know exactly what the 70-decibels was going to be when we go to play at the Vikings,” LaFleur said at his post-practice availability. “So, I just wanted to get them in that environment again.”

Per the Journal Sentinel’s Olivia Reiner, Billy Turner did not practice Friday but he was off to the side getting some work in with various trainers.  

According to the Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, Greene, Montravius Adams, Ramsey, Hester, Ento, Martin, Patrick Taylor, Curtis Bolton, Sunderland and Stepaniak also did not practice.

THE 53

On Saturday the Packers completed final cut downs and officially named the 53-man roster. This is always a bitter-sweet day but its unfortunately just the tough side of the business. It’s never easy to see so many guys get cut, but it’s especially difficult to be the judge of these decisions without a true pre-season and condensed training camp.

For a look at the Packers’ full 53-man roster, check out CheeseheadTV’s Tim Backes’ story here.