On Friday morning, Ray Nitschke Field in Green Bay played host to the second practice of the 2017 Training Camp for the Green Bay Packers, a session which saw the team working in helmets and shorts for the second time before the team switches over into pads on Saturday. Friday’s practice was an eventful one, however, featuring some lineup changes and one big injury scare that turned out to be a non-issue.
Prior to practice, defensive lineman Mike Daniels and left tackle David Bakhtiari got a little friendly teasing in on Twitter:
Make sure to get your rest..you're gonna need it https://t.co/gwB6hoP6Mm
— David Bakhtiari (@DBak69) July 28, 2017
Once the practice got underway, Packers fans got a brief but significant scare. The team’s top free agent acquisition, tight end Martellus Bennett, appeared to suffer an injury early on during individual drills.
NBC26’s Chris Barriere was the first to notice:
#Packers Martellus Bennett needed help getting up and appears to be limping grabbing his left leg during non contact drill.
— Chris Barriere (@chrisbarriereTV) July 28, 2017
Bennett reportedly left the field for a few minutes with the trainers as fans looked on with bated breath to see if he would return.
Thankfully, he did just that after a few minutes inside the Don Hutson Center, coming back onto the field and getting back into drills almost immediately:
Bennett jogged over to sideline after catching a few passes. Got his ankles re-taped, and now back on practice field. pic.twitter.com/Eq27J64zi0
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 28, 2017
A few minutes after that, Bennett was out on the field with the starting offense when the team began their 2-minute period. He even capped off the drill with a 13-yard touchdown reception from Aaron Rodgers. It’s safe to say for now that Bennett appears to be fine, which should come as a major relief to Packers fans.
Switching gears to more positive news, we move to the defense. A day after he started his first training camp practice at scout-team wide receiver, cornerback and 33rd overall draft pick Kevin King got a big bump up on Friday. King was one of the corners on the field with the first-team defense when the team lined up for its first competitive drill of the day, a two-minute simulation. He played opposite Davon House, with Quinten Rollins getting the first snaps in the slot.
Here are a few other notes from today:
- Brett Hundley got intercepted twice today by the second-team defense, first by slot corner Damarious Randall and then later by LaDarius Gunter.
- Trevor Davis was the first man back taking kickoff returns, a day after he was the first option on punt returns.
- Aaron Rodgers threw his first interception of camp as well, getting picked off by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.