Packers minicamp notes: Lukas Van Ness wrecks shop, injuries mount
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The Green Bay Packers opened mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, practicing in front of the assembled media at Ray Nitschke Field. Here are the key notes and takeaways from the practice.
In terms of attendance, only Micah Parsons and Devonte Wyatt did not practice in any capacity, while there were 14 players in the rehab group, three of whom were new additions: Aaron Banks, Warren Brinson and Javon Hargrave.
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The rehab group in full:
- Aaron Banks
- Warren Brinson
- Drake Dabney
- Kamal Hadden
- Javon Hargrave
- Domani Jackson
- Tucker Kraft
- Isaiah McDuffie
- Jacob Monk
- Skyy Moore
- Collin Oliver
- Jordon Riley
- Benjamin St-Juste
- Zach Tom
Donovan Jennings and Jonathan Ford were both back practicing in full, after previously being with the rehab group.
With Banks rehabbing, fifth-round rookie Jager Burton stepped into the starting lineup at left guard, having got reps with the first-team offense at right guard during OTAs last week.
The starting offensive line from left to right was Jordan Morgan, Jager Burton, Sean Rhyan, Anthony Belton, and Darian Kinnard.
In other injury news, Luke Musgrave appeared to pick something up during the session, as he did not participate in team drills and ended up leaving practice early.
That meant Josh Whyle stepped in as the starting tight end, with Messiah Swinson also seeing first-team reps in two-tight-end sets. Whyle had an impressive catch up the seam in the red zone for a touchdown after a great throw by Jordan Love, with Zaire Franklin in tight coverage.
The starting skill players on offense were Love at quarterback, Josh Jacobs (whose legal situation is still to be resolved) at running back, Whyle and Swinson at tight end, and Christian Watson and Matthew Golden at wide receiver.
Meanwhile, the second-team offensive line from left to right was Brant Banks, Dillon Wade, John Williams, Karsen Barnhart, and Travis Glover.
Green Bay’s offense started slow, but Love hooked up with his receivers effectively during the red zone period, finding Reed in a tight window for a touchdown by using a quick release, before hitting Golden, who beat Valentine on a goal line fade for a two point conversion.
On defense, the starters were Chris McClellan, Nazir Stackhouse and Karl Brooks on the defensive line, as the rookie McClellan, who has worked at nose tackle at times this offseason, moving to a 3-4 end position, with Stackhouse at the nose due to Wyatt, Hargrave and Brinson’s injuries.
At linebacker, Barryn Sorrell and Lukas Van Ness were the starting pass rushers, with Zaire Franklin and Edgerrin Cooper inside. Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine started at cornerback, with Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams back at safety.
The star of the day of practice was undoubtedly Van Ness, who was constantly blowing up plays in the backfield and producing tackles for loss, pressures and sacks. It is a crucial season for LVN, and the Packers will be relying on him to perform, especially as Parsons recovers from injury.
It was not just Van Ness who flashed among the pass rushers though, as Brenton Cox Jr. and Dani Dennis-Sutton combined for a pressure of Love to force incompletion.
Cox also combined with Ford to collapse the pocket on backup QB Tyrod Taylor for a would-be sack, and later beat Darrian Kinnard with a hump move for another one.
Elsewhere, Arron Mosby had a would-be-sack of his own, and Brooks batted down a Love pass looking for Reed on a crosser.
On special teams, rookie kicker Trey Smack bounced back from a difficult session in front of the media last week.
He went seven for eight on Tuesday, including makes from 51 and 58 yards out. The lone miss went wide left from 40 yards out. Brandon Cisse and Bo Melton were the first-team jammers on punt cover.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers minicamp notes: Lukas Van Ness wrecks shop, injuries mount