The Green Bay Packers had two practices on Sunday. Some players started in the first one that didn't start in the other; some sat out one practice if they had surgery during the offseason. Reading through the recaps from the Journal-Sentinel and the Press Gazette, a few players stood out:
LB A.J. Hawk. Jobe read that Greg Bedard noticed it, and so did Tom Pelissero; Hawk looked good on the pass rush and in pass coverage. Although the defense had a big advantage, at least on Saturday, because gusting wind was altering passes.
LB Clay Matthews. The rookie is still not on the 1st team defense, but when LB Jeremy Thompson sat out with cramping, he got more opportunities and made at least one big play.
DE Justin Harrell. He was pulled early with cramping, but got a lot of playing time with the first team at right end when DE Cullen Jenkins sat out the morning practice as a precaution. Jenkins is clearly the starter, but Harrell could see a lot of time as his backup. Whatever the personnel package is, the three-man defensive line will always be huge with five defensive tackles manning the three spots. Jenkins and Harrell at right end; DT Johnny Jolly, DT B.J. Raji, and DT Ryan Pickett rotating at left end and nose tackle.
Speaking of injuries, in addition to the Thompson and Harrell's cramps, Jolly and CB/S Jarrett Bush suffered minor ones.
LB Aaron Kampman. He might struggle a lot in pass coverage.
C Scott Wells. He sat out all previous practices as he recovered from shoulder surgery, but he started at center when training camp opened. Him, C/G Jason Spitz and RG Josh Sitton, appear to be competing to start at center and right guard. Spitz will certainly start at one of the two positions. There's been a lot of speculation that Spitz would move to center, since he worked at center throughout the offseason practices. I'm a big fan of Wells because he rarely seems to get beat and the line seems better when he's starting. I expect he'll be hard to unseat, if he's healthy, but he got burned on at least one play.
RT Allen Barbre and LG Daryn Colledge. Both struggled on Sunday. Barbre hasn't ever been given any extended playing time, so it's hard to know whether he'll be good. Colledge was benched down the stretch in 2007, so I don't trust he should be the left guard long-term. Add in the open competition at C and RG I mentioned above, plus LT Chad Clifton is still recovering from four surgeries performed during the offseason, and you can see how the offensive line is a work in progress.