Packers Family Night Takeaways: Davante Adams looks ready to dominate

The Green Bay Packers annual Family Night is no longer the near-full-contact scrimmage that it was for many years. Instead, the team puts on a version of its normal training camp practice, only with the added element of approximately 67,000 cheering fans. Still, Family Night marks over a week of practices for the team, providing the first televised glimpse into how the 2015 Packers are taking shape.

Davante Adams provides the catch of the night

After the considerable praise that Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers and others heaped onto Davante Adams, the second-year wideout made limited noise during practice. Those in attendance noticed that Adams saw surprisingly few passes thrown his way. That changed Saturday, as Adams provided the highlight of Family Night.

That's rookie cornerback Damarious Randall blanketing Adams with perfect coverage, and Adams finding a way to haul in Rodgers' pass anyway. The receiver also caught a touchdown off a corner route later one.

Adams had highlight moments like this as a rookie, but the Packers expect him to play up to that level on a more regular basis in 2015. Though much time remains before the regular season, Adams did nothing Saturday to curb expectations.

Mediocre night for several backup players

While Adams lived up to the hype, two of the Packers key backup offensive linemen had forgettable nights. Don Barclay, the team's top reserve at multiple spots along the line, had trouble during positional work. During a one-on-one drill, defensive lineman Bruce Gaston blew past Barclay with little effort. During the same drill, backup center JC Tretter lost out to rookie Lavon Hooks.

At the skill positions, Jeff Janis, Justin Perillio, Jimmie Hunt, Javess Blue and Larry Pinkard each dropped a catchable ball at some point during the practice. Unlike the established veterans, the young pass catchers can't afford to let opportunities literally slip through their fingers. Hunt's drop might have been the worst, as it ricocheted into the hands of cornerback Tay Glover-Wright for an interception. With four receivers locks for the 53 -- Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Adams and Ty Montgomery -- the Packers have only one or two spots on the roster (and may have an additional spot on the practice squad) to divvy up among the rest.

Tim Masthay holds firm to punting job

When one of their specialist falters throughout a season, the Packers respond by bringing in competition. In 2012, Mason Crosby bottomed out, converting just 63.6 percent of his field goals. The team reacted by signing Giorgio Tavecchio to push him during the following training camp and preseason. The move seemed to work, as Crosby posted a career-best 89.2 percent on field goals the following year.

The team believes that strategy will work again, this time with punter Tim Masthay.

It's too early to say for certain, but as of now it appears Masthay has answered the call. He has outperformed Mandell during most of the practices to date, including Family Night. Masthay averaged 41.3 yards with 4.58 seconds of hang time, according to ESPN's Rob Demovsky. Mandell managed 4.67 seconds of hang time on his punts, though he averaged just 35.3 yards.

As with Crosby in 2013, Masthay must continue punting well in order to hold onto the job. However, barring a significant improvement by Mandell, it seems the Packers will stick with their longtime punter.