Head Coach Mike McCarthy on Wednesday laid out the schedule for the Packers' on-field workouts between now and the start of training camp.
Two notable changes from past years include the starting date for training camp and the schedule for the mandatory spring mini-camp.
The first training camp practice is slated for the morning of Monday, July 28, with the players reporting to camp the day before. Normally, the Packers open training camp on the final weekend in July, but league rules mandate that players cannot report to camp more than 15 days prior to their first preseason game, and the Packers don't begin preseason play until Monday, Aug. 11.
The mandatory mini-camp also has been moved from mid-May to mid-June and will follow the four weeks of OTA (organized team activity) sessions. The mini-camp will be held from Tuesday, June 17, through Thursday, June 19.
In the past, the full-squad mini-camp preceded the OTAs. The rationale behind the change is, in part, to give the rookies more work with the coaches and more exposure to the schemes during the OTAs prior to the mandatory mini-camp. Also this way, McCarthy said, the team will finish the offseason program as a full squad and depart together for their last break before training camp.
Rookies will begin their on-field work following this weekend's draft with the rookie orientation camp from Friday, May 2, through Sunday, May 4, in the Don Hutson Center.
OTAs then begin the week of May 19 and continue for the next four weeks. One OTA session each week, weather permitting, will be held on Ray Nitschke Field and open to the public. Those sessions are scheduled for Wednesday, May 21; Thursday, May 29; Wednesday, June 4; and Wednesday, June 11.
The mandatory mini-camp also will be held on Nitschke Field and open to the public, weather permitting.
Packers' on-field schedule
May 2-4: Rookie Orientation Camp (Don Hutson Center)
May 19-June 12: OTA sessions (Ray Nitschke Field, weather permitting, on May 21 & 29, June 4 & 11)
June 17-19: Mandatory mini-camp (Ray Nitschke Field, weather permitting)
July 28: First training camp practice (Clarke Hinkle Field)
