The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Joint Practice With The Colts

Just minutes before the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts held a joint practice Thursday, Packers coach Matt LaFleur was asked what he was looking for.

His request was simple.

“I expect our guys to compete to the best of their ability and keep it clean,” LaFleur said. “I think that’s reasonable to expect. We haven’t had any of those in practice. I don’t see why it has to happen now.

“The beauty is they’re an AFC team, we’re an NFC team. We don’t play each other in the regular season. If we play each other at the end of this thing, that’s a win for everybody. So, the goal is just to get better today.

For the most part, LaFleur got what he wanted.

The two teams had a spirited practice that was dominated by both defenses. Now, Green Bay and Indianapolis will meet in the second preseason game of the year Saturday at noon.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the joint practice compiled from multiple reports.

THE GOOD

LOVE STORY: Two days after undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in non-throwing (left) thumb, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love was in Indianapolis with his team.

“He’s in great spirits. He’s here with us,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “So, yeah, now it’s about just about putting in the work to get the thumb rehabbed.”

Love was injured after taking a sack on his final snap of the preseason opener on Aug. 9 against the New York Jets.

Love won’t take the field for joint practices and exhibition games against both Indianapolis and Seattle over the next nine days. He could practice as early as next week, though, and expects to be fully healthy for Week 1.

“I think with the timeframe that we have right now, finishing up training camp and preseason and heading into the season with the choice to be going into the season 100% healthy was definitely the call I wanted to make,” Love said. “Dealing with injuries last year, I wanted to go into this thing feeling good.”

UNDER PRESSURE: Green Bay finished ninth in the league with 45 sacks last season. The Packers’ pressure was inconsistent, though, and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley had to get creative with his blitz packages.

That wasn’t the case Thursday, as the Packers got after Indianapolis quarterbacks throughout.

Early in practice, end Rashan Gary beat right tackle Braden Smith for a sack. Moments later, end Lukas Van Ness beat left tackle Bernhard Raimann for sack of his own.

Later, linebackers Quay Walker and Ty’Ron Hopper got home on blitzes, and defensive tackle Colby Wooden had a sack after a dominant inside rush.

Van Ness added a second sack before the practice was over, and rookie Barryn Sorrell had a sack of his own.

“We came together collectively after the Jets game and knew we had to come out with a little more passion, a little more fight,” Van Ness said. “I think we did today.”

GETTING DEFENSIVE: The Colts were a middle-of-the-pack 13^th in total offense and 17^th in scoring offense last season. The Packers made them look like a bottom feeder throughout the day, though.

In addition to Green Bay’s consistent pressure, cornerbacks Keisean Nixon and Johnathan Baldwin had interceptions. Linebacker Isaiah Simmons had an interception in the 2-minute drill and safety Evan Williams recovered a fumble that was forced by fellow safety Javon Bullard.

“We’ve just got to keep stacking,” Van Ness said. “As good as it was, I look at the bad things. I think we gotta close out practice better. That’s something to look forward to and improve and be better for moving forward.”

AUTOMATIC: Kicker Brandon McManus was 5-for-5 on field goals and is now 61 of 65 on all of his kicks this summer (93.8%). McManus made field goals from 38, 41, 44, 47 and 56 yards.

Rookie Mark McNamee also made all three of his kicks, connecting from 45 yards twice and also drilling a 47-yarder.

THIS AND THAT: Left tackle Rasheed Walker (groin) returned to practice. Walker, who’s made 35 starts at left tackle the last two seasons, is battling second-year man Jordan Morgan for that job. … Running back Israel Abandikanda (hamstring) also returned to practice. … Green Bay No. 4 quarterback Taylor Elgersma completed four straight passes in a 2-minute drill late in practice, but that drive eventually died.

THE BAD

HEAD ‘HUNTER’: Colts rookie safety Hunter Wohler, a former standout at the University of Wisconsin and Muskego High School, sent Packers rookie wideout Matthew Golden to the ground with a shoulder shot.

Golden was running a crossing route, quarterback Malik Willis overthrew him, then Wohler sent him to the ground. Packers tight end Tucker Kraft got in Wohler’s face, but things didn’t escalate.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: Wide receiver Romeo Doubs suffered a back injury in Tuesday’s practice and missed the joint practice. Wideouts Jayden Reed (foot), Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and Savion Williams (hamstring) also didn’t practice.

That meant of the Packers’ top five receivers, only rookie Matthew Golden was available.

FROM THE INFIRMARY: In addition to the Packers’ dearth of wideouts, the following players didn’t practice: quarterback Jordan Love, safeties Xavier McKinney and Zayne Anderson, and cornerback Nate Hobbs.

THE UGLY

OFFENSIVE: The Packers were without quarterback Jordan Love and four of their top five receivers. So it was really no surprise that the offense had a tough day.

In a two-minute drill at the end of practice, quarterback Malik Willis went 0-for-4.

Willis also had a rough start playing with several receivers that are extreme long shots to make the final roster. Willis did complete a 35-yard pass to Mecole Hardman and a 20-yarder to Julian Hicks midway through the practice, but overall the offense struggled.

“Our youth showed a little bit in some instances with the injuries that we have on our depth chart,” tight end Tucker Kraft said. “So we had guys coming up and playing. We’re out here, full pads, expecting big things from some of the guys that we’re elevating and just, we left some meat on the bone.

“We were doing a good job competing, but we know the level that we expect to play at and I personally just didn’t — I didn’t think that we had all — we didn’t empty the tank.”