The Packers Hold Their First Practice, A First Look At The Training Camp Battles

Saturday night was the first practice for the Green Bay Packers and there were some things to watch. With the free agent departures of DE Cullen Jenkins and LG Daryn Colledge, it's the first look at who is set to replace them. But there could be a couple more positions in play.

The most interesting battle might be whether RB James Starks can move ahead of RB Ryan Grant, but this might become no battle at all. The fact that Grant avoided being released, as the Packers released almost every highly paid player who spent time on I.R. last season, is a major point in his favor. Also, Kareem Copeland tweeted that his ankle looked just fine. 

The Packers official twitter account tweeted that Derek Sherrod was with the first team at left guard, C.J. Wilson was at first team defensive end, and LB Frank Zombo was with the first team at outside linebacker.

Sherrod at left guard. I'm not surprised they gave their top pick the first chance to earn the starting job, despite playing at left tackle in college. RT Bryan Bulaga played some at left guard last preseason, and exclusively on the left side during training camp, before becoming the right tackle of the near future, so this is far from a done deal. Rob Demovsky tweeted that T.J. Lang was the playing left guard with the second team.

Wilson at defensive end. Someone has to replace Jenkins, and I'm not surprised to see Wilson with the first opportunity. He's the obvious choice at this point while DE Mike Neal is less than 100% percent. 

Zombo at outside linebacker. I was expecting he'd have the first opportunity, and they appear to be moving LB Brad Jones over to the left side to backup Matthews. I'm sure LB Erik Walden will be in the mix, and will have a shot to move ahead of Zombo during the preseason.