Packers preseason: Jordan Love practices with left thumb wrapped and 7 more observations

New York Times

a day ago

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers quarterback Jordan Love spoke at length after Monday's closed practice with head coach Matt LaFleur and trainers Bryan Engel and Nate Weir. He was flexing his left, non-throwing thumb, which was taped for the entirety of practice.
Love's participation on Monday wasn't limited, but he used his right hand for handoffs to his right side instead of his left. LaFleur speaks with reporters before each training camp practice, so he was unavailable to comment on Love's thumb after practice. The head coach will next take the podium on Tuesday morning around 9:50 CT. General manager Brian Gutekunst will hold his weekly preseason news conference beforehand. Love is next slated to talk after Thursday's joint practice at the Colts.
It's unclear when Love's injury occurred or how much it's actually inhibiting him, but he hasn't yet missed a practice this preseason and looked normal executing everything besides handoffs on Monday.
Jordan Love having a lengthy post-practice chat with Matt LaFleur and trainers Bryan Engel and Nate Weir. Seems to have his left thumb wrapped and was flexing it for them. Love wasn't limited in practice today, for what it's worth. He did hand off one ball that I saw with his… pic.twitter.com/ECtPOEpPVX
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 11, 2025
1. With safeties Xavier McKinney (calf) and Zayne Anderson (knee) nursing injuries and slated to miss more practice time, 2024 fifth-round pick Kitan Oladapo lined up alongside Evan Williams with the starting defense in nickel on the first rep of 11-on-11 Monday. In the Packers' 4-3 base defense, Javon Bullard moved from nickel to safety, and Oladapo hit the sideline, but Oladapo should see ample reps with the starters until one of McKinney or Anderson returns.
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If anything, Oladapo's inclusion in the starting 11 indicates he's ahead of Omar Brown on the safety depth chart. Take that into account for all your 53-man roster projections, even after Brown's hot start to camp included five interceptions (LaFleur has emphasized player evaluation is about more than just splash plays).
What will help Oladapo in his turn with the starters is that he's finally 100 percent healthy, something he couldn't say during his brief NFL career until after OTAs this spring. The former Oregon State safety broke his toe at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine and didn't participate in any of his rookie year offseason program before coming off the non-football injury list early last camp. Oladapo played 68 defensive snaps over nine games last season, and 50 of those came in the regular-season finale against the Bears. He also played 65 special teams snaps as a rookie.
'Honestly, I don't think I got to 100 percent last season, but I was still going out there, trying my best every time,' Oladapo said Monday. 'My body feels a lot better. I feel like they still haven't seen me 100 percent, so just getting those snaps under my belt, feeling more comfortable. Playbook's good. I think it's, I've got to go out there and play faster.'
Oladapo made a splash play of his own late in Monday's practice to win the two-minute drill for the No. 2 defense. On the first play of the drive, quarterback Malik Willis missed his target over the middle and the ball sailed into Oladapo's hands before he slid down.
'Just off the QB eyes. He was staring it down the whole time,' Oladapo said, before acknowledging with a laugh that it might've been the easiest interception of his life.
2. When asked ahead of the preseason opener how he evaluates players beyond splash plays, LaFleur said he values how players respond to adversity.
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On Monday, wide receiver Malik Heath dropped a pass over the middle from Love during the starters' two-minute drill that would've gone for a chunk gain and advanced the offense into the red zone. There were 24 seconds remaining at the time of the drop with the offense trailing 34-28, and Love went right back to Heath on the next play for a completion over the middle to get inside the 20-yard line (Williams may have broken it up in a real game, but Heath held on in traffic, nonetheless).
To close practice in a two-point-conversion period, Heath beat cornerback Corey Ballentine for the score while touching both toes deftly in bounds before teammates celebrated. Heath's drops in Saturday's preseason opener and in Monday's practice aren't great for his campaign to make the 53-man roster, but LaFleur will be pleased with how he responded to those mistakes.
'I know I got great hands and I just try to (have a) next-play mentality because like I said, I try to live like a DB,' Heath said Monday. 'DBs, they get beat, short-term memory. That's how I live life, too. When you drop a pass, short-term memory. So I'm trying to go out there and make another play, make up for that play, you know what I'm saying? So that's how I think about it.'
MarShawn Lloyd in action pic.twitter.com/8CVRYxmtLJ
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 11, 2025
3. Third-year defensive end and 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness continues making noise in camp. Whether that translates to the regular season as he enters a pivotal prove-it year remains to be seen, but Green Bay's offensive line might be eager to face other pass rushers as Van Ness makes their life difficult.
On Monday, Van Ness would've had two sacks of Love. On his first, it wasn't clear whether running back Josh Jacobs intentionally gave up on blocking Van Ness for practice reasons, but he breezed by Jacobs' block to reach the quarterback. On his second, Van Ness appeared to run a stunt to beat left guard Aaron Banks for another sack. Later in practice, he pressured Love out of the pocket. Van Ness' continued emergence in games that count would do wonders for what was an inconsistent pass rush last season.
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'I think Lukas can do whatever he wants to do. He can be as good as he wants to be. He's strong, he's physical, he can set the edge, he can rush the passer,' defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington said. 'I think he's done a hell of a job … in his approach to practice and really just trying to create good habits during practice, which is going to carry over for games.'
4. In his first live kicking practice, Irish kicker Mark McNamee went 4-for-6 with makes from 33, 37, 41 and 43 yards and misses wide right from 39 and wide left from 45. The Packers signed McNamee on the eve of training camp, but he only arrived in Green Bay late Friday night because of visa complications. He kicked off three times in Saturday night's preseason opener, his first-ever American football game after playing Gaelic football back in Ireland, and will now allow the Packers to kick live every practice since starter Brandon McManus only kicks every other session.
5. Monday's DNP list included wide receiver Christian Watson (knee), wide receiver Jayden Reed (foot, still in a boot), wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (calf), cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee), McKinney, Anderson, running back Jalen White, defensive end Collin Oliver (hamstring) and offensive lineman John Williams (back). Cornerback Isaiah Dunn (knee) also dropped out of practice.
Left tackle Rasheed Walker (groin) practiced more than he did last week, but he still didn't participate in team drills. Running backs MarShawn Lloyd (groin) and Emanuel Wilson (knee) also participated in what looked like a limited capacity. Cornerback Kamal Hadden (hip) also returned.
6. There were a couple of funny scenes at Monday's practice. First up was an exchange between center Elgton Jenkins and defensive end Rashan Gary. During 11-on-11s, it sounded like Jenkins was chirping the defense at the line of scrimmage for someone having their hands on their hips. Jenkins immediately committed a false start by moving the ball, and Gary absolutely let him have it after his trash talk backfired.
Later in practice, Love threw the ball away out of bounds during the two-minute drill and it was headed right for Ryan Wing, the sports director at Green Bay's local Fox TV affiliate. Wing stuck both his hands out to try and catch the ball, but he came up with air. There was some commotion around Wing after his clear drop, so Reed came over in his walking boot, told Wing it's about how he responds to mistakes (sounds like he's been listening to his head coach) and lobbed an easily catchable pass to him for redemption.
7. Rookie first-round wide receiver Matthew Golden said Monday that he spoke postgame Saturday night with Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, the 2022 Defensive and Offensive Rookies of the Year, whom Golden said he had never met.
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'They gave me some feedback and just told me to keep going,' Golden said. 'Rookie year, just stay confident, keep playing hard … We just crossed paths, went and dapped them up, and I guess they realized (it was) me and just told me what they had to say, and we just went on from there.'
Golden only saw two targets in the game, but he made them count. On the first, he caught a third-and-7 slant on cornerback Brandon Stephens for a first down. On the second, he drew a defensive pass interference call on Gardner on third-and-6 to earn another first down. Golden made yet another impressive hands catch Monday during what has been a camp full of them for the promising 22-year-old.
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