What to Know: Packers activate Jenkins, Tonyan & Watson off PUP
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers offense has taken its lumps during the first two weeks of training camp practices.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, however, as the Green Bay defense could be among the best in football this season, while the offensive side of the ball dealt with key injuries and adjusting to not having Davante Adams to lean so heavily on.
But on Sunday, the Packers offense got a huge boost with Elgton Jenkins, Robert Tonyan, and Christian Watson all being activated off the PUP list, according to the team.
Regardless of where Jenkins lines up, his return will provide some much-needed stability to the offensive line unit.
Against San Francisco, we saw the starters hold up well in pass protection — although they were aided by the quick passing game — but they struggle with run-blocking. Practice against the Packers’ stout front-seven has been challenging as well.
For this team to truly challenge for a Super Bowl, the offensive line play will have to be improved. Although this group held their own last season with numerous injuries, Aaron Rodgers pressured more often despite getting the ball out quicker compared to 2021, and the run game averaged nearly half-a-yard less per carry.
Improvement begins with getting Jenkins as well as David Bakhtiari back.
The return of Tonyan will give Rodgers another trusted target. His presence was greatly missed down the seam, over the middle, and in the red zone last season. There are no other tight ends on the roster who can do what Tonyan can in the passing game.
Rookie Christian Watson will be playing catch-up after missing the first two weeks. While he may be familiar with the playbook, as Rodgers says, there is the offense that’s on paper and the one that takes place on the field. Watson will have to familiarize himself with the latter.
Romeo Doubs has positioned himself to take on a much larger role out of the gate with his play this summer, and hopefully, Watson can do the same–specifically in higher leverage situations.
But right away, he will provide the Packers with a deep threat, potential gadget player, a threat in the quick passing game, and possibly a kick return option.
The makeup of this Packers offense looks a lot different with these three in the mix. The trio will be at Sunday’s practice.