WESTFIELD, Ind. – The Packers and Colts conducted a joint practice on a warm Thursday on the outskirts of Indianapolis.
Here are five things learned from the workout:
- QB Jordan Love is focused on getting healthy for the regular season.
The decision to have or not have surgery on the torn ligament in his left thumb came down to the amount of time Love currently has to heal and be hopefully back to 100% for the Packers’ Week 1 game vs. the Lions.
Love won’t practice until next week at the earliest, when he expects to ease back into things, but he spoke to reporters in Indy after returning from his Tuesday surgery in Los Angeles.
He said had the injury occurred during the season, he probably would’ve just tried to play through it. But the recovery window between now and Sept. 7 allows for a different decision.
“The choice to be going into the season 100 percent healthy was definitely the call I wanted to make,” he said. “Dealing with injuries last year, I wanted to go into this thing feeling good.”
When the injury occurred in last Saturday’s preseason game against the Jets, Love didn’t think much of it. But after further evaluation and the attempt to practice Monday with this left thumb taped up, various options were discussed.
It’s not ideal for him to miss whatever portion of training camp he’s going to miss – his availability for next week’s joint practice with the Seahawks remains uncertain – but when he’s back to full capacity he hopes to pick up where he left off.
“That’s the ultimate goal is to get ready for the season, so we’ve been putting a lot of good work in, we’ve had a lot of great days,” he said. “Missing a couple days here is definitely not going to stop all that good work that we put in. Guys are ready and we’re just (going to) keep rolling, keep growing, keep getting better.
“Me being out a couple days is not going to stop these guys from continuing to put that work in.”
- The first-team offense struggled in the passing game.
Somewhat to be expected, going against the Colts No. 1 defense with Malik Willis in place of Love and with Green Bay’s top four veteran receivers out, the Packers couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm with their passing game.
The Colts got through for a couple of sacks, but the greater struggle was connecting downfield, either with receivers not getting open or the passes not getting there.
“Some of our youth showed a lot,” tight end Tucker Kraft said. “We left some meat on the bone … we were doing a good job competing, but we know the level that we expect to play at and … we didn’t empty the tank.”
How all that youth in the passing game bounces back on Saturday in the preseason game will be a big test.
“You get these young guys in a situation where they might not be as confident in themselves as far as the textbook goes,” Kraft continued. “So they might not be surging off the rock, working edges, angles in the route game to the best of their ability. They got another shot with these guys, so we’ll just have to see how they do in Part 2.”
The ground game found some measure of success, though it’s always difficult to tell when tackling isn’t live.
On the very first snap of 11-on-11, Josh Jacobs took a handoff to the left, and Colts LB Zaire Franklin shot a gap into the backfield. Jacobs didn’t stiff-arm him, which is a no-no in this type of practice setting, ran through the tag-off and then turned the corner upfield for a big gain.
Would Franklin have gotten him before Jacobs got to the edge?
“Just roll the tape from the last three times I played him and you’ll get your answer,” Jacobs said with a smile.
For the record, Jacobs had 32 carries for 151 yards against the Colts last season.
- The Packers’ first-team defense had a very strong day.
Whether it was Lukas Van Ness and Rashan Gary getting multiple sacks each, Javon Bullard forcing the kind of fumble that’s been emphasized all training camp, or three different players getting interceptions, Green Bay’s defense was tough to handle.
The Colts, who are trying to figure out whether Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones will be their starting quarterback, didn’t get a whole lot done until the two-minute drill at the end of practice, when Richardson – with the help of some impressive catches by Colts receivers – directed a drive all the way inside the 5-yard line.
But then the Packers stiffened again, forcing a couple of incompletions before Van Ness broke through for what was likely his third sack of the day as he continued his standout work in camp. The unit felt it gave up too much on that drive, though.
“We felt good, just trying to keep the gas going,” linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said of the overall effort. “At the end, two-minute, we didn’t really like the result. That’s the hard part about defense. No matter how good you play the whole game, you gotta finish it out the whole way.”
When Jones took over at QB for his two-minute drive, linebacker Isaiah Simmons promptly picked him off, as he joined Keisean Nixon and Johnathan Baldwin with interceptions on the afternoon.
- Romeo Doubs didn’t practice but almost did, which is good news.
Doubs went down following an incomplete deep ball during Tuesday’s practice in Green Bay and left the field, but it turns out he just had his back tighten up on him and he was almost able to practice Thursday.
He was a late scratch, according to Head Coach Matt LaFleur, but his injury is not a long-term concern.
Elsewhere on the injury front, fellow receiver Savion Williams also didn’t practice. He’s been limited throughout camp due to a shoulder injury. Running back Israel Abanikanda returned to practice from his hamstring injury.
- Brandon McManus showed off his leg.
With the biggest NFL preseason kicking news surrounding Jacksonville’s Cam Little drilling a 70-yard field goal in a game, McManus took his shot from that distance, too.
After an impressive session against the Colts during which he made field goals from 38, 44, 47 and 56 yards – the last one being good by plenty with a nice breeze at his back – McManus and his battery mates stayed on the field after the Colts departed to try one from 70.
It hit the crossbar and bounced over.
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