Packers Notes from 12th Camp Practice: Kevin King Returns

Today was the final practice for the Green Bay Packers before they take on the Houston Texans in their first preseason game. After a lighter practice on Wednesday, with some veterans —including Aaron Rodgers — taking the day off, things were kicked up a few notches today.

If you missed anything, here is a rundown of what took place from the reporters and beat writers that were in attendance.

– A number of players who were on the NFI list returned to practice today, including Kevin King, Isaiah McDuffie, Kingsley Keke, Chris Blair, and Kamal Martin — who was not on the NFI list — was back as well. We will see if any of them are on the field Saturday.

– Although King has missed the first two weeks, as Jerry Gray told reporters, he doesn’t believe that King should lose playing time due to injury. From the sounds of it, he will be CB2 to start the season.

– With that said, Eric Stokes began the day with the 1s—not King, although that’s likely because they are working him back more slowly.

– Keep your eyes out for Isaiah McDuffie on special teams. He could be an immediate contributor.

– Za’Darius Smith and Will Redmond are now the only players left on the NFI list with David Bakhtiari the only player on PUP.

– Other players who remain out due to injuries include: Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, Equanimeous St. Brown, Randy Ramsey, Aaron Jones, and Juwann Winfree.

– It will be interesting to see how Kamal Martin is worked into the linebacker group, which seems pretty well established with Campbell and Barnes as the starters. And will we see more of Martin at edge?

– Will Devin Funchess make the final roster? He’s made some nice plays on offense recently but will have to show that he can contribute on special teams as well.

– In what has become a game of musical chairs at left guard, Jon Runyan begins the day there with the starters.

– With Jones out, Kylin Hill takes some reps with the starting offense.

– A few notes from Andy Herman on some of the 11-on-11 work:

– Andy also notes that Krys Barnes is “undoubtedly playing much faster.” Likely a product of being in Year 2 with the team. A different defensive scheme but more experience and likely more comfortable overall.

– Love was picked off by Adrian Amos but before that and after that, he had two beautiful deep balls. The ups and downs continue.

– As Andy Herman notes, there were several nice coverage plays by Eric Stokes, who was all over the receivers on those reps.

– I wrote about Dean Lowry recently, and he continues to make plays, finding his way into the backfield for what would have been a sack. Lowry noted that he has more freedom to move around and find favorable matchups.

– Some more notes from team drills:

– Chauncey Rivers, who was recently claimed off waivers, has strung together some nice practices since joining the team.

– Funchess continued to play but was seen favoring his right leg after tweaking it early on in practice.

– As I’ve mentioned, we should expect to see a healthy dose of AJ Dillon in the passing game but it may not come without some growing pains. He had a bad drop yesterday and another today.

– That’s an impressive rep by Patrick to move the 6’4” – 330 pound Slaton like that:

– There could be a few different reasons why — early read, Begelton simply getting open, etc. — but Love and Begelton have been on the same page a lot lately.

– Josiah Deguara continues to get more reps with the 1s in that do-it-all H-back role and looks really good out there. He will be a big factor this season.

– And some more notes from 11-on-11 work:

– As Aaron Rodgers does, he catches the defense with 12 men on the field. After the team period ended, Rodgers gave a big hug to rookie center Josh Myers. About a week ago, Rodgers called Myers’ performance “really impressive.”

– Another thing we’ve learned about Love this summer is that he is not afraid to air the ball out downfield—even after a miscue. Always a good thing when a QB has a short memory.

– The starting defense wins the 2-minute drill as the offense stalls.

– We haven’t hear much about Malik Taylor on the offensive side of the ball this summer but he came up with a 53-yard touchdown grab on pass from Love. Uphoff blew his coverage assignment.