GREEN BAY \u2014 Jordan Morgan did not hold back Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not on how much it means to him to be the Green Bay Packers starting left tackle.<\/p>\n
Not on how difficult it was for him, both physically and mentally, to play out of position the past two years.<\/p>\n
And not in his self-assessment of his individual performance.<\/p>\n
For Morgan, to say his first two NFL seasons didn\u2019t go according to plan would be an understatement. From the moment he set foot in the locker room after the Packers selected him in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, he\u2019d repeatedly said that he wanted to play left tackle \u2014 the position where he\u2019d spent his entire football life.<\/p>\n
Instead, he played just about every offensive line position except left tackle. And by his own admission, he did not do it well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got in here expecting myself to play left tackle. But, like I\u2019ve said a lot of times before, I’m a team player. Wherever they needed me to be and to play, I’m going to try to do my best at it,\u201d Morgan said between organized team activity practices on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying those other positions for the first time in my life \u2014 and I\u2019ve got to play at a professional level \u2014 it’s just \u2026 I mean, when you’re not good at it, it’s hard on you mentally, obviously. And when you want to be good and you want to be a perfectionist, it’s really hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, those first two years, it was a struggle for me \u2014 for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
After playing exclusively at left tackle both at Marana High School in Tucson, Ariz., and at the University of Arizona, the 6-foot-5, 311-pound Morgan played right guard and left guard in his six games of regular-season action as a rookie in 2024 before a shoulder injury that dated back to training camp landed him on season-ending injured reserve.<\/p>\n
Last season, Morgan played in all 17 of the Packers\u2019 regular-season games, starting 12 \u2014 seven at right guard, two at left guard, two at right tackle and one at left tackle. And that one start at left tackle came in the meaningless regular-season finale at Minnesota, where only a few of the Packers\u2019 front-line players saw action.<\/p>\n
As a result, of the 24-year-old Morgan\u2019s 1,035 career regular-season NFL snaps, just 51 have come at the position he\u2019d prefer to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go out there and you just get beat [repeatedly],\u201d Morgan said. \u201cI mean, these guys out here, they’re good. I came in here, I had to play against [three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle] Kenny Clark [in training camp].<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s like, \u2018OK, I’m playing left guard, right guard against Kenny Clark. I’ve never played this position before against a vet that’s going to probably embarrass me every day.\u2019 So, I mean, it’s character development. At the end of the day, you just go out there and just try to do the best you can do, and just grow from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
His efforts did not go unnoticed or unappreciated \u2014 \u201cQuite frankly, his first couple years in the league, we\u2019ve had to move him around and do what\u2019s best for the team [which was] probably not what was best for him,\u201d general manager Brian Gutekunst acknowledged during the offseason \u2014 but now, with 50-game left-tackle starter Rasheed Walker leaving in free agency, Morgan is finally feeling like he\u2019s where he belongs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m excited about him being over there,\u201d said Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, a former offensive line coach. \u201cI thought last year he showed flashes of being able to be a good left tackle in this league when we had him out there, so I’m excited to get him out there [and] just get him comfortable playing on the edge, protecting the blindside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stenavich isn\u2019t the only one who likes Morgan\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n
Last month, Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle (and University of Wisconsin legend) Joe Thomas visited Lambeau Field during Phase II of the Packers\u2019 offseason program and spent time with Morgan, critiquing his film and watching him practice.<\/p>\n