The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Packers’ Third Training Camp Practice

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Tucker Kraft returned.

A long snapper was finally added to the roster.

And the Green Bay Packers are down to one kicker.

The Packers held their third training camp practice on Friday, another non-padded workout that lasted 1 hour, 50 minutes. Green Bay also made a handful of transactions and will now take Saturday off before returning to the practice field Sunday.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from practice No. 3.

THE GOOD

LOOK WHO’S BACK: The Packers activated tight end Tucker Kraft off the Physically Unable to Perform list, just 271 days after he tore his right ACL.

Kraft will only do individual drills for the time being, but his return was a huge boost. Kraft took a lap around the Nitschke practice field before practice and received a loud ovation from the crowd.

“Yeah, had to get the crowd juiced up for sure,” Kraft said. “Most importantly, like I don't want anyone to get their expectations too high.

“I'm not going to be doing anything too crazy here for a while, but as long as our GM and our training staff, the coaches, everyone's on the same page, I'll just get phased in period by period until you guys see me out there taking team reps. So that's the goal. We're on that ramp-up phase right now to get ready for Week 1.”

Kraft was in the middle of an All-Pro season in 2025 before he tore his ACL against Carolina. Kraft started all eight games he played last year and posted 32 receptions, 489 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Kraft was the only tight end in the league with 30-plus receptions, 475-plus receiving yards, six-plus receiving touchdowns and an average of 15-plus yards per catch through Week 9. He also became just the fifth tight end since the 1970 merger to hit those marks in the first eight games of a season, joining Kellen Winslow (1980), Antonio Gates (2010), Jimmy Graham (2013) and Rob Gronkowski (2015).

Kraft led all NFL tight ends in yards per reception, yards after the catch (344), yards after the catch per game (43.0), yards after the catch per reception (10.8 avg.), was tied for No. 1 in explosive receptions (12) and ranked No. 2 in explosive-reception percentage (37.5) through Week 9.

“I'm just worried about getting back to who I was pre-injury,” Kraft said. “I had a great meeting this morning with the guys from the Badger Lab … who told me my knee looks spectacular, almost like he had never seen rehabilitation like mine. So the fact that we're getting those results, the data will speak for itself and my comeback is ever-ascending day by day.”

MAKING HIS MOVE: Free agent cornerback Benjamin St-Juste has worked with the No. 2 defense behind starters Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine. It will be interesting to see if that changes after St. Juste made a sensational interception Friday.

St-Juste jumped a quick, out route for Savion Williams and intercepted an ill-advised Tyrod Taylor. If it was a live game, St-Juste would have returned the interception for a touchdown.

“I would say the last two days (the offense) has been hitting us on a lot of like quick routes, quick games,” St-Juste said. "So that was like an emphasis that we had in the meeting room today, to read the quarterback’s drop step first, you know, to indicate if it's quick game or if it's a deeper developing routes, and I got the quick game.

“I kept my eyes on the quarterback the whole time. I saw him break, so that’s how I was able to break a little bit earlier on the route.”

CATCH OF THE DAY: Wideout Christian Watson, who’s off to a strong start, had the play of the day when he beat Carrington Valentine, stretched out and hauled in a 6-yard TD pass from Jordan Love late in practice.

Love seemed to lead Watson too far, but the fifth-year wideout made a sensational grab for six during a red zone drill.

“I find myself looking forward to what’s going to happen this year, to be honest,” Watson said. “I’m trying to put myself in the best position to get 17-plus games this season. I’m just excited to see where it goes this year.

“I think I have the opportunity to take a step forward, even (more) than I did last year. If I can take that step forward and play obviously more games, then I feel like I’ll be in a really good spot.”

GOLDEN TICKET: Second year wideout Matthew Golden continued his fast start, as well, making a spectacular catch deep downfield on a ball from Jordan Love that was off target. But Golden adjusted and beat Keisean Nixon for a big gain.

While that was the highlight of Golden’s day, he had a busy practice making plays all over the field throughout.

“I just feel like whenever that number presents itself or your number’s called, as long as you go out there and do what you can do and show everybody who you are as a person, that’s what matters the most,” Golden said. “For me, that’s all I could do, and that’s all I am going to do.”

IT’S A SNAP: The Packers signed long snapper Cal Adomitis as incumbent Matt Orzech battles a calf injury.

Adomitis (6-2, 235) played 49 regular-season games and three postseason contests for Cincinnati between 2022-24. He was released near the end of training camp in 2025, then played nine games for Philadelphia last season before ending the year on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad.

Green Bay signed Orzech to a three-year contract extension in Aug., 2025. But Adomitis believes he can give general manager Brian Gutekunst and Green Bay’s coaches something to think about before cutdown day.

“I certainly believe there's a chance,” Adomitis said of making the team. “I certainly believe if I play the way I'm capable of playing, then I give them a tough decision, which is my goal.

“Obviously, I love Matt, and every time I've interacted with him through the years and played him — and we had joint practices a couple years ago when I was in Cincy — and I have nothing but great things to say about him, and I appreciate how welcoming he's been already to me, and just helping me keep things rolling smoothly while he's not playing. But I certainly do believe in my ability to come in and compete, and in a week or two, maybe make the special teams staff have to make a difficult decision.”

MAKING MOVES: In addition to adding Adomitis, the Packers signed wideout Kaden Prather, released kicker Lenny Krieg and waived/injured wide receiver Brenden Rice.

Rice is the son of Hall of Fame wideout Jerry Rice. And by releasing Krieg, rookie sixth round draft choice Trey Smack is now the lone kicker on the roster.

STARTING POINTS: Green Bay’s No. 1 offense Friday was quarterback Jordan Love, running back Josh Jacobs, wideouts Christian Watson and Matthew Golden, tight ends Josh Whyle and Drake Dabney, and offensive linemen (from left) Jordan Morgan, Jacob Monk, Sean Rhyan, Anthony Belton and Darian Kinnard.

Defensively, the starting front four consisted of Barryn Sorrell, Nazir Stackhouse, Karl Brooks and Lukas Van Ness; linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin; cornerbacks Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine, and safeties Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard and Evan Williams.

THIS AND THAT: Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper practiced after dropping out of practice early Thursday. … Defensive lineman Jonathan Ford got some work with the No. 1 defense for the first time in camp. … Cornerback Kesiean Nixon broke up a pair of passes, one for Christian Watson and another for Skyy Moore. … Safety Javon Bullard broke up a pass for Jayden Reed. … Defensive lineman Karl Brooks knocked down a Love pass at the line of scrimmage.

THE BAD

NOTHING SPECIAL: Green Bay was spoiled the last two seasons with backup quarterback Malik Willis, who was arguably the NFL’s best No. 2.

The Packers signed veteran Tyrod Taylor — who turns 37 on Monday — to replace Willis. So far, Taylor has been up and down, at best.

On Friday, Taylor threw a terrible interception into double coverage that cornerback Benjamin St Juste returned for a touchdown. Taylor also floated a terrific deep ball to Isaiah Neyor for a big gain.

Taylor has started 62 games — going 30-31-1 — and appeared in 100 games during his 15 seasons. Green Bay is Taylor’s eighth team and he’s battled a bevy of injuries in recent years, including knee and groin injuries last season.

The Packers undoubtedly knew they’d be worse off at No. 2 quarterback after Willis left. What they’ll have to determine in the next month is if Taylor can get them through a game or two if Jordan Love is sidelined.

INCONSISTENT HANDS: For the second straight day, rookie wideout J. Michael Sturdivant dropped a pass when he was wide open. Sturdivant has had his share of impressive moments, but the drops could hurt him in a bid to make the roster.

“You’ve got to have a short-term memory when it comes to the drops,” Sturdivant said. “Everybody's going to drop a ball. Obviously, you don't want to drop one, but it happens and you have to be able to move on to the next play as fast as possible.”

FINDING HIS RHYTHM: It was good news for oft-injured running back Marshawn Lloyd that he got through the first three practices unscathed.

“I feel great,” he said after Friday’s practice.

Lloyd has yet to get going, though, on the ground. While Lloyd insists he hasn’t missed a beat after playing just one game in the last two seasons, he’s appeared to do too much dancing and isn’t hitting the holes as quickly as he needs to.

“There's a lot that goes into that,” Lloyd said. “That's what a lot of people don't realize. A lot of people that watch from the outside, there's more that goes into it.

“You have to read and see where you go, and then hit the hole. So it's kind of that you have to just see exactly what's open and then hit it. But it's a lot of reads that go into a lot of different motions and blocking schemes, so there’s a lot that goes into it.”

FROM THE INFIRMARY: Eight Packers remained on reserve lists: edge Micah Parsons (knee), tight end Luke Musgrave (neck), defensive tackles Javon Hargrave (knee) and Jordan Reilly (Achilles), long snapper Matt Orzech (calf), tackle Brant Banks (hamstring), running back Chris Brooks (hamstring) and cornerback Kamal Hadden (ankle).

Offensive lineman Jager Burton (hamstring) also missed practice, while Kraft (knee) and guard Aaron Banks (nee/management) both practiced.

THIS AND THAT: … Rookie third round defensive lineman Chris McClellan worked with the No. 1 defense most of the first two practices. On Friday, McClellan worked mostly with the No. 2s. … Right tackle Darian Kinnard had a blatant holding penalty against edge rusher Brenton Cox when Love hit Golden for a deep gain.

THE UGLY

WHERE YOU GOING?: It’s not unusual for fans to arrive 90 minutes, even two hours, before practice. They snag good seats and get fired up during the early portions of practice.

It doesn’t take many of them long, though, to find something else to do.

On Friday, roughly half the crowd was gone after about an hour. By the end of practice, approximately 75% had left.

We understand practice can get a bit mundane. But if you’re arriving two hours early, wouldn't you want to stay until the end?