Packers Training Camp Practice Notebook, 8/1: Crosby Bounces Back

On Thursday, the Green Bay Packers held a full-pads practice for the third straight day (out of five in a row). The offense sounded solid as a whole in team drills today, with Aaron Rodgers throwing a number of touchdowns to several different receivers. Here are the big news stories of the day.

• Safety David Fulton was back at practice today after missing yesterday's session (WH), and Johnny Jolly returned to the field after being banged up midway through on Wednesday (TD). Both Tramon Williams and Casey Hayward remained out, along with the usual suspects.
• NFL referees were in attendance at practice today (JW).
• Getting the first reps with the starters: Marshall Newhouse at right tackle, Eddie Lacy at running back, and Jerron McMillian at strong safety (WH).
• Tim Masthay worked on his coffin corner punts today and apparently looked really good, nailing several punts inside the 10-yard line (TS, WH).
• Johnathan Franklin beautifully picked up a blitz by cornerback Brandon Smith, showing one of the skills he'll need to demonstrate to make an impact on 3rd down (WH). He also scored a touchdown "easily" on a quick shovel pass in a red zone drill (TD).
• One of the themes of practice today was drops. Several receivers were guilty of dropping catchable balls, including Jarrett Boykin and Randall Cobb.
• Mike Daniels is looking like a different player in camp this year, winning two of his three reps in one-on-one battles with offensive linemen (RD) and in general bringing some nastiness to the defensive front.
• Datone Jones had another good practice, looking solid in one-on-one competition and recording what would have been a sack on a rush up the middle (TS).
• Someone who has been forgotten about a bit is tight end Ryan Taylor. The Press-Gazette's Wes Hodkiewicz says that he has been "catching everything thrown to him so far". That certainly bodes well for him, as most of us here at APC had more or less written him off.
• The kickers took field goal practice again today. Both Mason Crosby and Giorgio Tavecchio were good from 33, 37, 43, and 47 yards. However, Crosby hit his first attempt from 51 while Tavecchio hit an upright before making a second attempt from that distance. In all, Crosby was perfect on all five attempts while Tavecchio hit 5 of 6.
• The red zone session ended today's practice, and the offense was on a roll. James Jones hauled in a score from Rodgers (TS) before Eddie Lacy showed off with a couple of goal-line scores (JW).
• As for music selection today, the first water break was "Joker and the Thief" by Wolfmother, followed by Zac Brown Band's "Jump Right In" and "Diamonds" by Rihanna. I have no explanation.

Today's best picture from the media members comes from Hodkiewicz, who gives us this gem of Mike Daniels:

Some ruthless aggression and maturation have Mike Daniels positioned for a greater role on defense early in pic.twitter.com/wPeYaUYimv

— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) August 1, 2013

And there you have it folks - that's practice in a nutshell. Keep it here for discussion of Mike McCarthy's press conference later on.