GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers’ annual “Family Night” event at Lambeau Field has always been part practice, part pep rally. When the weather has cooperated, it’s also been a fireworks-and-laser show, and essentially a celebration of Packers fandom.

But for the rookies who’ve never played in the stadium before, and for the fringe-of-the-roster guys trying to keep their NFL dreams alive, it is something far more important: A vital step in their quest for a job.

Which is why, despite all the fun and games, and pomp and circumstance, general manager Brian Gutekunst looks forward to it every year as an opportunity for evaluation.

“Family Night is so unique and we have such an advantage because most teams just can’t put 70,000 in the stands for a practice,” Gutekunst said earlier this week, in advance of Saturday night’s practice — although the even still wasn’t sold out as of Friday evening, meaning there will be fewer than 70,000 people in attendance. “It doesn’t matter what we’re doing on that field; the intensity within our players immediately ratchets up.

“For me, to watch guys make decisions with that intensity and the crowd and everything that’s going on, I think is really important.”

Unlike in training-camp practices, when the coaches are communicating nonstop with their players, this practice has more of a game-like feel and allows players to figure things out on their own as they go — like they would in a game. And that’s where Gutekunst believes the greatest value resides.

“Most of the time those coaches are right in their ear nonstop. When we get into Family Night and obviously the preseason games, those guys have got to go out there and make those decisions without those guys in their ear,” Gutekunst said. “And I think it’s extremely important for me as an evaluator to see that and to see how they respond to that.

“And it’s not just one time. They may go out there on Family Night and maybe they struggle through it, and they come back for the [first] preseason game and now they’re calm and they’ve been in there.

“We have to evaluate all that because, at the end of the day, those moments are more important than anything — what they do when they’re out with just the 11 guys on the field.”

Who Dunn it? | Cornerback Isaiah Dunn has been around for a bit, having entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State back in 2021 with the New York Jets. He played 12 games as a rookie that year, and while he’s bounced around to the Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers and now the Packers.

But at a cornerback position where the Packers are thin in their depth, a play like the one Dunn made on Friday — a leaping, one-handed end-zone interception during a red-zone period — can be an attention-grabber that leads to more opportunities.

“It was just one play. It’s big in terms of the evaluation process, but you just go on to the next opportunity whenever your number is called,” said Dunn, who signed with the team in January. “Hopefully that’s what happens. But it doesn’t always work out that way. So you just keep your head down and keep on grinding and whatever happens, happens.”

Walker dealing with groin injury | Turns out, the competition for the starting left tackle job didn’t take quite as big of turn as first thought on Thursday.

When 2024 first-round draft pick Jordan Morgan got more snaps than incumbent starter Rasheed Walker, it seemed as if Morgan had pulled even with Walker. But while Morgan still may win the job, his extra snaps were because Walker was dealing with a groin injury that forced him to drop out of Thursday’s practice.

Walker was sidelined again on Friday and is not expected to take part in Family Night. But he downplayed any concerns about being sidelined for an extended period of time.

“It’s always hard for me missing time because I do take pride in practicing and getting better. But at the professional level, certain things, I just know it’s best to be smart and take it easy,” Walker said Friday.

“You know, younger me probably wouldn’t have reported it [to the athletic training staff]. But I felt it getting worse as practice went on. I want to take precautions, follow the protocol the trainers are giving me and just keep on making sure I’m getting stronger, getting my body right, watching film, control what I can control.”

Meanwhile, wide receiver Jayden Reed, who wasn’t expected to practice Friday because of a toe issue, worked extensively and had the catch of the day while playing with the No. 3 offense to get extra snaps.

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