Dallin Leavitt unexpectedly returned to Packers practice on Sunday
By Paul Bretl
Sunday was the Green Bay Packers first practice since their preseason finale in Kansas City, and it came with a pleasant surprise as safety Dallin Leavitt was a participant in individual drills.
Leavitt would leave the Packers’ preseason opener against San Francisco with a shoulder injury that initially seemed fairly serious, with Matt LaFleur telling reporters at the time that Leavitt could be out for “a while.”
However, with Leavitt back at practice already, he could potentially be available for the Packers’ Week 1 matchup with Minnesota–although that isn’t a given either.
Leavitt’s main role on this 2022 Packers team is going to come as a special teams player, where he not only has a lot of experience, but that experience has come in Las Vegas under Rich Bisaccia.
Over the last three seasons, Leavitt has totaled 809 special teams snaps, including 345 in 2021, and he has routinely played in all phases except for the field goal kicking unit.
In 2019, Leavitt finished third on the Raiders in special teams tackles, while last year, he finished first with 11 solo, and the next closest was Nick Kwiatkoski with four, according to PFF ($$).
Leavitt’s eventual return will be a welcomed sight for a special teams unit that is still very much a work in progress.
Against Kansas City, there were still far too many miscues, with the Packers struggling to block on kick returns and averaging only 14.0 yards per return. Meanwhile, the Chiefs punt return team averaged 19.7 yards per return, and the kick return unit averaged 31.0.
This Green Bay Packers special teams unit would also have its ups and downs in the first two preseason games against San Francisco and New Orleans as well.
Defensively, Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage — who was also back at practice on Sunday — will take the bulk of the snaps at safety. The third safety, which has played a fairly prominent role in past seasons, will also not be featured as heavily with the addition of Quay Walker at linebacker, which will allow Green Bay to play out of their base defense more frequently.
In addition to Leavitt, Amos, and Savage at the position, it looks like Shawn Davis has positioned himself to be on the team. After that, Green Bay has to decide whether to roster only four safeties or if they also want to keep either Tariq Carpenter or Micah Abernathy.
For a Green Bay Packers team that is going to be relying much more heavily on their defense this season, they’ll need the special teams unit to hold their own so that the defense isn’t constantly trying to defend a short field. And Leavitt, who has been a starter on multiple special teams units this summer, will play an important role in providing that stability at a phase of the game that very much needs it.