GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – The Green Bay Packers are off for a long weekend ahead of Week 1 of the NFL season, lending their stadium to Notre Dame and Wisconsin for a game Sunday.
For most of the roster, the break provides time to rest after a long training camp. For three new additions — running back Kaleb Johnson, tight end Mark Redman and tight end Jonnu Smith — the focus is on learning the playbook as quickly as possible.
Head coach Matt LaFleur said the amount of new information for the additions is significant.
“It’s like drinking water out of a fire hose. There’s a lot of information that they’ve got to be able to digest and then go out there and we’ll see where they’re at,” LaFleur said.
Smith brings prior experience with LaFleur’s system
Smith has previous experience in LaFleur’s system, having played for him when LaFleur served as offensive coordinator in Tennessee.
“You know, I only had him that one year, and obviously he was able to know my talents and my capabilities and my abilities, and I was kind of in this system that he’s established offensively for a while now in my career, so that also played into account,” Smith said.
Smith has started building a relationship with quarterback Jordan Love, sitting next to him during the first team meeting.
“You know, trying to build that relationship as quickly as possible, trying to get to know these guys, and also just talking about, you know, if you’ve got questions, come ask me. Let’s get up to speed and get on the same page with everything. Us being on the same page is just a feel. That takes time. That’s something that’ll, you know, throughout practice, throughout the course of the season, we’ll continue to build that stuff,” Love said.
Bullard trending toward return
Safety Javon Bullard is trending in the right direction as he deals with a foot injury. Bullard was on the field for practice Wednesday.
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