Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love feels the Packers are ready for the season.
The Packers had a good showing in their joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, performing well on both offense and defense. This came just two days before they play each other again in their preseason finale.
“I like where we’re at offensively,” Love said. “I think we’re ready to go, get the season started.”
Packers coach Matt LaFleur didn’t say if he planned to play his starters on Saturday. The Ravens usually don’t play their starters in preseason games.
So, this might have been the last chance for key players on both teams to compete before the season starts. This made for a focused practice without the usual fighting that sometimes happens in these joint sessions.
“That’s just being a pro,” Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely said about the lack of pushing or shoving.
The Ravens open their season on Sept. 5 against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, while the Packers face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
For the Packers, this was a chance for the offense to improve after a disappointing performance in Denver last week. Green Bay’s starters admitted they didn’t perform well in a joint practice with the Broncos. They then rested during the exhibition game, and Green Bay’s backups lost 27-2.
Green Bay performed much better on Thursday.
Love threw an early interception to Roquan Smith but bounced back by throwing four touchdown passes — two to Romeo Doubs and one each to Christian Watson and Tucker Kraft — in red zone drills.
Backup quarterback Sean Clifford, who had a tough game against Denver with 6 completions out of 10 attempts for 43 yards and an interception, managed a good long pass to Malik Heath.
“I think we were a little sloppy in Denver, just a lot of small details that can make a play good or bad,” Love said. “Being focused on those little details really helped us today. We did a great job with that and were able to make some plays and get the ball to the playmakers. We aimed to have a better start today.”
For the Ravens, this practice was an opportunity for their new offensive line to test how well it could protect reigning MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The Ravens lost guards Kevin Zeitler to the Detroit Lions and John Simpson to the New York Jets in free agency, and they also traded tackle Morgan Moses to the Jets.
While the Packers managed to put a lot of pressure on the Ravens, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he was pleased with how his linemen performed.
“I can’t wait to see the tape, but I was happy with how firm the pocket was 90% of the time,” Harbaugh said.
An encouraging sign for Green Bay’s defense came from rookie safety Evan Williams. The fourth-round pick from Oregon continued his strong training camp performance by intercepting a pass from Ravens backup quarterback Josh Johnson.
“I definitely feel pretty good, pretty confident about my play,” Williams said. “I try to block out all the noise. You’ll hear good and bad feedback, and while it feels great to be praised, it doesn’t matter if you can’t keep it up and perform the next day.”
