GREEN BAY – At Ray Nitschke Field on Thursday, the Packers conducted their last practice prior to Family Night.
Here are five things we learned:
- Veteran kicker Greg Joseph is in quite the groove right now.
In his competition with second-year pro Anders Carlson for the kicking job, Joseph grabbed a notable statistical lead Thursday, going 7-for-7 on kicks ranging from 41 to 58 yards, while Carlson was just 4-for-7. His misses were from 45, 47 and 49, all wide left, with one hitting the left upright.
Joseph has now missed just two field goals in 31 tries through the first nine practices of camp, while Carlson has missed six on the same number of attempts. But in his "me versus me" approach to his craft, Joseph isn't focused on how the numbers stack up.
"I don't look at stats. I don't look at yesterday. I'm not looking at tomorrow," Joseph said. "Look at today and literally seeing my foot through each and every ball one at a time, like singularly, and that's it.
"I don't look at it as 7-of-7. It's 1-of-1 times seven in my head, so keeping that mindset and then obviously trying to stay in that groove and then taking that mindset to preseason."
With regard to the modified kickoff, the mental process for Joseph is about learning on the fly. Everyone seems to be waiting to see how this goes in live action.
He's hoping not to be left all alone in the open field trying to tackle a returner, which Packers fans will remember he failed to do two seasons ago at Lambeau Field when Keisean Nixon ran back a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown against the Vikings.
Nixon stiff-armed Joseph to the ground as the last defender with a chance to get him, and the two have already revisited the play since Joseph joined the Packers.
"Before that I was really proud of the fact that high school, college and the NFL I'd never had one taken back on me," Joseph said. "That's my first and only one. And we talked about it of course. But now it's all in good fun because now we're on the same team."
- The end of practice featured plenty of intensity.
In the two-minute drill pitting the first units against one another, receiver Dontayvion Wicks was having himself a drive. He caught a hitch for 13 yards, then on the next snap made a diving, over-the-shoulder catch while getting his feet in bounds for 26 yards on a well-placed ball from Jordan Love.
A few plays later, he drew a pass interference penalty in the back of the end zone on Keisean Nixon, putting the ball at the 1-yard line with just four seconds on the clock.
But on a flat route along the goal line, as Wicks made the catch with Nixon trailing, Jaire Alexander came up to deliver a blow, keeping him from getting the ball in the end zone. He got back up, hot about the heavy contact as Alexander jawed away, and was restrained by teammate and fellow receiver Jayden Reed.
In the locker room afterward, Wicks was much more subdued talking about the play.
"It wasn't live, so I just wasn't expecting it," he said of the hit.
Big picture, he enjoys going to battle against Green Bay's secondary, and it's no surprise that group was determined to stop him after he ended Wednesday's practice with a TD and two-point conversion to conclude two-minute.
"Yeah, it's fun. Everybody in the group's competitive," Wicks said. "I think we've got some good DBs over there, so it's just iron sharpening iron every day. Everybody that steps up can make a play out there. It's big time to go against them."
- Running back Josh Jacobs is new to the injured list, while five players took a veteran rest day.
Jacobs sat out with a groin injury, but he called it a "tweak" and chalked his absence up to an abundance of caution and the medical staff protecting him from himself.
Rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, who dropped out of Wednesday's practice, has a hip injury.
Defensive linemen Kenny Clark, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary, along with offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins and tight end Tyler Davis, were the veterans getting rest.
With Jenkins out and Josh Myers again missing practice for personal reasons, the No. 1 offensive line was shuffled up a bit. One combination had Royce Newman at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center and Andre Dillard at right tackle. Rookie Jacob Monk also played center on the first unit, with Rhyan taking some snaps at left guard and Kadeem Telfort getting work at right tackle.
On defense, Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare were the edge rushers on the first unit, with Devonte Wyatt taking Clark's spot on the interior.
- It's thumbs up all around on the "Winter Warning" gear.
The players appear pretty fired up to wear the all-white uniforms, with the newly introduced all-white helmet, for the Week 7 home game vs. the Houston Texans on Oct. 20.
"It's clean. Clean," said Jacobs, who participated in some of the promo shots. "You can't really see the details in the helmet from afar but, up close, it's got little gold flecks and stuff in it. It's definitely dope."
Added Gary: "That uniform is fire. I just can't wait to go out there and play good ball in them."
- Family Night is next.
Lambeau Field is sold out for Saturday's Family Night, and the energy in the building will bring a different vibe to practice, which both the coaches and players appreciate.
"Just the atmosphere, having that many fans come out, I think it naturally ups the urgency," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said, emphasizing the benefit for young players. "It feels truly like a preseason game. That's why I love it so much.
"To get all our fans in Lambeau, it's a great opportunity for these guys to get that feel without it being a real game, just so that when we get to our first preseason game, it's not the first time they've been there."
The veterans advise the rookies to just soak it all in.
"It's going to be like a gameday, so treat it as a gameday," Gary said.
"Having Lambeau with about 80,000 people cheering you on even though it's just for a practice, that's what Green Bay is. That's our culture, and the fans are going to make us feel it."
