Coming into training camp the Green Bay Packers knew that their defense would be ahead of the offense. Green Bay has one of the youngest supporting casts offensively in NFL history, having zero wide receivers with more than one season of NFL experience on the roster. The tight end spot isn’t much more experienced, as two rookies, Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, could top the depth chart in Week 1.
On the other side of the ball, the Packers are loaded with experience and talent. Eight first-round picks could be on the field come Week 1 if things go correctly and multiple Pro Bowls and All-Pro caliber players are featured on the defense.
So, it should come as no surprise that the Packers’ defense has been bullying the offense in the early going of training camp. As shared by Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, there were five full-speed practices held going into Tuesday, August 1st at camp. All five were won by the defense, with the offense having to do up-downs or push-ups as punishment for losing.
It is something that quarterback Jordan Love hasn’t been shy about sharing his feelings on. He and the entire offense is frustrated by how things have gone thus far, as success has been few and far between.
“It was very frustrating,” Love said after another day of post-practice punishment. “I think we’re all pretty tired of it. Kudos to the defense, but obviously, it’s disappointing as an offense collectively as a whole. It’s definitely an area that we need to step up and figure out how we can turn that thing around.”
There have been a few highlights, as Love played very well on Sunday. But, his unit came up short of scoring a touchdown, which led to another losing day. On Tuesday, the struggles persisted again, as Love and the offense were shut down, going four-and-out.
Danny Etling found more success with the second-team offense but came up short on points as well. That is because rookie kicker Anders Carlson had another miss. Packers faithful is starting to get antsy about his struggles.
“Two-minute drill, we’re practicing the situations to go win a game, whether it’s end of game, end of half,” Love said. “We’re practicing a situation for a reason. That’s when we need to drive down and win that game, so it’s frustrating that we haven’t been able to even get a drive started, let alone move the ball downfield to score. It’s something we’re going to go back to film, figure it out, watch it, see what areas we need to improve on and come back to it next week.”
While it is frustrating for the offense to find limited success during training camp, better now than in the regular season. The Packers have the makings of what should be one of the best defenses in the NFL, so taking their lumps in practice will make them better when going against opponents in the future.
