There is something drastically different about the Green Bay Packers this year during training camp than there has been in seasons past. Indeed, it has been a long time since reports out of these early Packers practices contained any mention of players being overly physical. Team Hall of Famer Gilbert Brown often tells of how he hated teammate Frank Winters, the team’s center at the time, for years because of how hard they would go against each other in practice.
But that was 30 years ago, and the NFL was very different back then. Now, teams do more to protect their players during training camp and try to limit how hard they hit each other.
This year, though, there have been multiple reports of players drawing the ire of head coach Matt LaFleur because of how hard they are hitting each other during team drills.
Green Bay Packers Players Nate Hobbs and Rasheed Walker Have Each Been Kicked Out of Drills for Physical Play
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Two players that have, in particular, been making headlines due to their physical play are cornerback Nate Hobbs and left tackle Rasheed Walker. Each of them has received consequences from LaFleur for not protecting their own teammates well enough in practice, and each has been forced to sit out drills as a result.
Even before the Packers started practicing with pads on this week, Hobbs had been called out by LaFleur for being too physical. When the pads came on, he laid a hit on running back Marshawn Lloyd that his coach deemed too dangerous for practice and was forced to sit out.
Lloyd injured his groin on the play, but it is not believed that the hit caused the ailment.
Walker, on Tuesday, took pass rusher Kingsley Enagbare to the ground during a drill, something that LaFleur wants his players to avoid doing as it increases the risk of injury. Walker was ordered to take a lap and sit out the rest of practice.
Several other offensive players, including Tucker Kraft and Josh Jacobs, ran the lap with Walker, even though no one asked or told them to.
Green Bay Packers Left Tackle Rasheed Walker Tells His Side of the Story
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
After practice was over, Walker was asked by reporters what, exactly, happened between him and Enagbare, and what he thought about LaFleur’s punishment.
Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, Walker said, “We were both just straining. That’s really what it was.”
“I was like, ‘Alright,’ and then he said, ‘Take a lap,’ and I was like, ‘What?’ Because I personally don’t like taking laps, so I was trying to gather my breath and then I saw my teammates running and so I was like, I’ll run with my teammates. I took another one just to get my thoughts together and walked another lap and it was all good.”
As one can see, Walker actually took three laps, one for his consequence and the other two to allow himself time to cool off.
While some fans may be concerned with how physical camp has been, general manager Brian Gutekunst is not. “I’d rather tell a player to tone it down than to play harder,” he recently said.
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