3 Big Takeaways From 1st Week of Packers Training Camp
Having Jordan Love back with the Green Bay Packers at training camp is good. The budding star sat out the first several days as he worked with the team to agree to a new contract extension.
He got what he wanted: a record-setting four-year, $220 million extension. Although the Packers were probably hoping for a little bit longer of a deal, it worked out for both sides, as they can now move forward with Love on the practice field.
As Green Bay heads into its first full week of camp with Love participating, here are some of the biggest takeaways from the inaugural practices:
Offensive Line Has Work to Do
Part of the quarterback's struggles through the first week of training camp are directly tied to the offensive line's poor performance. However, before we dive into that, let's take a moment to appreciate how disruptive the defensive front has been.
When defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was hired, he preached aggression from his guys up front. We've certainly seen that to start camp, as Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton, Preston Smith and more have been all over the quarterbacks. They've made the offensive line look silly at times and hope to carry that dominance into the regular season.
Still, the O-line has work to do. They've been without Zach Tom, and Josh Myers has missed a couple of practices for personal reasons. That's no excuse. They have enough talent up front to give their quarterbacks more time to find open receivers downfield.
Andre Dillard has been particularly bad. With Tom out, he got the first chance at first-team reps at right tackle but quickly proved that was too much for him to handle. As a result, Green Bay has rotated different guys at that position, and Dillard appears to have fallen further down the depth chart.
The Eli Manning-led New York Giants won a couple of Super Bowls thanks to the constant pressure their defensive front could generate. This pressure throws a quarterback off rhythm and keeps them uncomfortable. Although the Packers love to see it on that side of the ball, they'd prefer their offensive line begin to have more success and play their role better.