The Green Bay Packers held a short practice session on Thursday morning in order to prepare for Friday's preseason game against the Oakland Raiders. The practice lasted only about an hour, and the most notable development probably revolves around a player who was not on the field rather than those who were.
Here's our brief notebook from Thursday.
- Casey Hayward did not participate in practice today (WH). Time will tell if the team is just resting him or if there is a more serious issue, even though Mike McCarthy said on Tuesday that they were just "being smart" with him. Reserve guard Jordan McCray was also out, as well as Letroy Guion (TD).
- Mason Crosby had a rough day today, missing from 53 yards in a "situational" practice period (PI) and from 36 yards out, going 2-for-4 on the day (RD).
- Nate Palmer and Andy Mulumba still were working with the top special teams units today, which is a good sign for their hopes of making the team once again (TD). Micah Hyde was also the first-team punt returner today (TD).
- The team ran a 30-minute team period midway through practice, in what appears to be a preview of how they will work on the day before games during the regular season as well (JW).
- In that team portion, Myles White made a nice catch over the middle from Scott Tolzien for a big gain (TD). Tolzien later overthrew White, and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was in the right place to record an interception (WH).
As expected, practice was short today, with little major to report besides Hayward's absence. Since Mike McCarthy is not speaking to the media today, we will be left with further questions about his status until Friday's game kicks off.
Thanks to those covering the practice:
TS: Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
TD: Tyler Dunne, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
RD: Rob Demovsky, ESPN
JW: Jason Wilde, ESPN Wisconsin
WH: Wes Hodkiewicz, Green Bay Press-Gazette
PD: Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette
PI: Paul Imig, FOX Sports Wisconsin