Springtime. The harsh elements of winter have melted away. The sun’s warmth brings flowers, baseball and fishing without ice. What’s not to love?
No Packer games.
This week I was sitting at a high school graduation, watching a family member I love walk down the aisle, while I was trying to calculate using basic math, how many days were there until training camp and the first preseason game. I was never a fan of math, maybe that’s why I can never truly feel happy during spring. The countdown. The relentlessly slow tick tock of the slow-moving clock.
August 10th, the first preseason game, as of Friday, May 31st, 2024, is 10 weeks or 70 days away. While most Packer articles this time of year are welcome, this is a no news is good news period of the year. Unfortunately, we have already learned some potentially bad news. Last year it was multiple players going down with hamstring injuries.
This year the story repeats but the key injury is now pectoral muscles. Since the draft Green Bay fans have learned why the Packer brain trust prioritized offensive lineman in the first round and beyond in the 2024 draft. Their most consistent linemen from last year, Zach Tom, was already injured when the Packers first round selection was sent to the Detroit podium. Don’t kid yourself that a torn pectoral surgery is a bounce back injury. Tom and Tucker Kraft will miss months of strength training and conditioning.
Next to Tom’s position, right guard, will have a new full-time starter. Last season it took nearly half the season for the offensive line to solidify into a playoff level performer. Fan expectations are high, but questions and concerns on the offensive line remain and not just about the offense. The defense will be asked to execute a new system with new starters down the middle at safety and linebacker. The cornerbacks will need to stay healthy and be consistent playmakers. Whoever the Packers trot out as kicker needs to consistently drive it down the middle of the fairway.
And of course, fans worry about how injuries will affect the team. The loss of David Bakhtiari is still on the Packer payroll and fans frontal lobes. Seeing the off-season training start with multiple pectoral injuries flashes fans back to last years rash of hamstring injuries and then the devastating loss of Bakhtiari for a second consecutive season.
If you include coach LaFleur’s pec injury it has to raise the question, are these injuries related to a poor training procedure or weightlifting sequence? Because the details of the injuries and how they occurred will not be disclosed publicly, only speculation can be debated. Last year’s strength and conditioning coach was released after the rash of 2023’s hamstring injuries. Will this year’s S&C coach survive the current pectoral pandemic? Odds are he’s already on a hot seat and the humidity is just kicking in for 2024.
Ultimately, the Packers season will depend not just on the continued development of Jordan Love. The rookie class will be required to perform as well as last years class. Third year player Sean Rhyan needs to fill the shoes of departed Jon Runyon Jr. and hopefully outperform him.
I found it interesting that when I went to the Packers official website, no one is listed as starting at right guard. They have left that box open with Rhyan listed as second string. A not-so-subtle message perhaps? No one should be surprised if more than one undrafted free agent is relied on to be the next offensive lineman up in crucial games in 2024.
This group has so many draft picks and UFDA’s competing for seven or eight spots, even the coaches don’t know what type of potential is in that position room yet. But if we have learned anything from last year and beyond, offensive coaches Adam Stenavich and Luke Butkus will find and develop talent if it’s there. Every NFL team carries 90 players plus practice squaders for every game. The 2024 season is just over 2 months away. Sixty days plus three preseason games to be ready for Philadelphia in Brazil.
Soon training camp will open and we will see which players are rising to the opportunity in front of them. That is when the preseason becomes truly interesting. Right now, that can seem like a very small light at the end of a Lambeau Field tunnel. Tom Petty was right about the waiting. I just want spring to be over. This is the hardest part.