The Packers got what should have been a clean closing statement to training camp, and instead Wednesday’s joint practice with the Cardinals turned into a mess of flashes, hiccups and a few very clear answers.
Green Bay came out sharp at Ray Nitschke Field. Jordan Love was dealing, the defense was getting stops, and Matthew Golden was looking like a problem Arizona couldn’t solve. Then the whole thing slipped away late, with the Cardinals taking over the back end of practice and exposing the same old issue: the Packers still have to learn how to finish.
That left a practice full of winners and losers, with roster battles and big-picture concerns both on display.
Matthew Golden was one of the biggest bright spots. Yes, he dropped a would-be touchdown late in the day, but that was only a small part of his performance.
Before that, he was torching the Cardinals’ secondary. Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com wrote, "Matthew Golden is not human," and added, "Beautiful pass from Love from Golden who beats two Cardinals defenders for a 45 yard touchdown."
Those defenders were Denzel Burke and Budda Baker. The drop didn’t erase the rest of what Golden put on tape.
Brandon Cisse kept building his case as well. The rookie cornerback did allow a touchdown to Marvin Harrison Jr., but it was a spectacular catch, and Cisse didn’t really have much chance on the play.
He also came up with an interception earlier in the day, picking off Jacoby Brissett. There will be rough snaps along the way, but Wednesday was another strong sign for the Packers’ CB1.
Bo Melton also had himself a day, and he got the extra satisfaction of beating his brother Max in one-on-ones. Andy Herman of the Pack-A-Day Podcast reported, "One on ones start and Bo Melton smokes his brother on a slant," and noted the play sparked a "huge celebration" from the Packers’ receiver room.
Melton added more catches on offense and handled kick return reps with Savion Williams out. At this point, there shouldn’t be much mystery about where he stands.
Donovan Jennings may have helped settle a line battle too. Andy Herman reported that Jennings may have "moved ahead" of rookie Jager Burton, and that Jennings had "way more reps" at left guard with the first-team group.
Aaron Banks is still the starter when healthy, but Jennings appears to have grabbed the top backup role. At the very least, it looks like he’s locked in on the roster.
Burton’s day went the other way. The fifth-round rookie has had a strong camp overall, and the Packers still like his future, but Wednesday suggested he’s more likely to open his career as a backup than anything else.
Adam Stenavich had said the plan was to give Burton some work at center this week, and that did happen, but the day also included a fumbled snap with Tyrod Taylor. No need to overreact, but it wasn’t a clean session for him.
Matt LaFleur ended up on the wrong side of the afternoon, because the same problem that has haunted his teams in big moments showed up again: they didn’t finish. The Packers reportedly controlled the early portions of practice, only to fade late. Matt Schneidman of The Athletic wrote that Green Bay "lost all four two-minute periods" at the back end of practice, with the first- and second-team offenses failing to score and both defensive units giving up touchdowns.
Andy Herman summed up the frustration this way: "A huge emphasis all offseason has been on finishing," Andy Herman wrote from practice. "Packers had a chance to show that off against the Cardinals.
Failed on both offense and defense. Golden drops the touchdown down 7.
Defense gets dog walked down the field and gives up the touchdown and the 2 for the loss. Now the Cardinals 2nd defense picks off Taylor to win that drive."
And then there was Trey Smack, who remains a study in extremes. In preseason games, he has been perfect on all seven of his field-goal attempts, plus an eighth that was wiped out by a defensive penalty.
Adam Fromal of FanSided reported that Smack has averaged 46.1 yards on those makes and owns a KVA of 4.61, which ranks No. 2 in the NFL. But Wednesday was another rough practice showing.
Rob Demovsky of ESPN reported that Smack made only two of five tries, missing from 33, 45 and 58 yards.
That’s the Smack experience right now: strong when it counts in games, shaky in practice. And after Wednesday, the Packers had one more reminder that the margin for error gets smaller when the games and the roster decisions get real.
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