GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman might have suspected that one of his players would be missing when the Green Bay Packers opened their June mini-camp Wednesday, but he didn't expect there would be two no-shows.
Instead, Cletidus Hunt's failure to report to camp made him the second unexcused absence of the eight-practice session, along with cornerback Mike McKenzie, who skipped all of the Packers' post-draft mini-camp last month.
While McKenzie's absence is no doubt tied to his trade demands, the reasons for Hunt's nonattendance have yet to be determined.
"You can ask Cletidus that when he gets here," Sherman said Wednesday, when asked why Hunt didn't participate in the Packers' practice at the Don Hutson Center. "Ask him."
Technically speaking, Hunt's absence is not a violation, as the Packers' June mini-camp isn't a mandatory camp, as was the post-draft mini-camp. Still, Sherman said there was an expectation for Hunt to take part in the camp and he was clearly disappointed by the sixth-year veteran's absence.
"It's not a mandatory camp," Sherman said. "It's a mandatory commitment to what we're trying to get done here ... I expect everyone to be here when we have mini-camp."
Linebacker Na'il Diggs said he knew mini-camp was the right place to be regardless of its voluntary status.
"It's not mandatory, but it's mandatory, you know?" said Diggs, who came straight to Green Bay from vacationing in Mexico. "It's one of those unspoken rules -- you don't have to go, but you go because you want to be in shape and you want to get the feel of a new defense and new players.
"But that's the decision that (Hunt) made. That's the decision we all have to live with."
Despite Hunt's absence, the Packers' practice was business as usual, albeit with Kenny Peterson taking the first-team reps at tackle.
Sherman said he expected Hunt would be at practice Thursday, but also added that he "should be here today."
As for Hunt's teammates, Diggs said most just want to know the reason behind the absence.
"There is a little bit of, you know, awkwardness around the locker room of, 'Where's Cletidus? Where's Cletidus?'" Diggs said. "But nobody really knows the whole story. He might be out for a very good reason. He might not be.
"But we all think about it and it goes in and out. We don't really worry about it."
The Packers return to the practice field Thursday.
