GREEN BAY – With two weeks left in the offseason program, Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy wants to start seeing the young players catch up a little on the practice field.
"There's a sizable gap between our veteran players and first-year players, and it needs to start to close, especially before we depart next Thursday," McCarthy said prior to Tuesday's open OTA practice. The Packers have one more week of OTAs, followed by a three-day minicamp next week.
"What we're doing, how we're doing it, it takes time. We understand that. Our veterans know that. The newer people, we need to close that gap and come together. It's all about the opportunity to be an excellent football team."
McCarthy said the Packers would finish their playbook installations this week, begin reviewing the installs late in the week, and then continue reviewing in minicamp.
These stages are especially important for the young quarterbacks, Joe Callahan and Taysom Hill, as they prepare for training camp. McCarthy noted they've been "playing uphill" in practice lately, a good challenge for their development.
"Offensively we haven't practiced very well. That's normal this time of year. The defense is normally ahead of you," McCarthy said. "I'm looking forward to getting back on the field today.
"We'll get into review practices next week, and history would tell you it starts to flip a little bit, the offense gets more productive. We're kind of going through that phase right now."
Packers.com will have more following Tuesday's practice.
