GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers held a joint practice with the New Orleans Saints in Green Bay on Tuesday.
Aaron Rodgers hasn’t always been a fan of joint practices. Matt LaFleur likes them. Rodgers said he is trying to see the positives.
“I’m glad they played a lot of different defenses and played some man at some point,” said Rodgers. “It was good work for us.”
Yet Rodgers’ frustration with some of his young receivers bubbled over.
“A lot of mental errors, a lot of pre-snap penalties,” he said. “Kind of been the theme of camp. Simple, simple plays we’re messing up. So it’s good to do it against another team. I like the energy from the first unit, but a lot of mental mistakes.”
For the head coaches, the joint practices make perfect sense.
“Getting a different look is important,” said Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur. “It’s not like there’s a lot of game planning that’s going on, prior to these practices. So it really forces you to hone in on your rules and follow your rules as a player.”
“It’s just a good challenge,” said Saints Head Coach Dennis Allen. “You see some different looks, and so our guys, particularly the young guys, get a chance to see some different things.”
For Saints state natives and former Badger Ryan Ramczyk from Stevens Point and Zack Baun from Brown Deer, this is a welcome homecoming.
“A few ‘welcome homes’, some signatures,” said Baun. “It’s always nice to see some Wisconsin football helmets instead of some LSU stuff sometimes.”
“My dad was a huge Packer fan,” added Ramczyk. “I was a big Packer fan, so he would load up the car, come over, hang out, try to get some autographs, watch practice. And, I just remember thinking, man, what would it be like to be on that field and be a player? And it was always kind of a inspiration and goal of mine to get to the NFL.”
Baun still calls Wisconsin home.
“In the offseason, I live in Milwaukee,” said Baun. “I train in Waukesha, family all around and West Bend, Madison, Pewaukee, all those areas. And it’s nice to be back in Wisconsin in the offseason.”
For the Packers, having the Saints in for practice adds some variety to training camp.
“Every time you go out there and practice is another learning experience,” LaFleur said. “Just to compete against different people, experience a different scheme, I mean, certainly in all three phases.”
“It’s a (Saints) defense that’s very confident,” said Rodgers. “We’re an offense that is trying to improve and doesn’t want to get bullied by anybody. But everybody kept their cool.”
Ramczyk admits that memories of Green Bay are still vivid.
“Growing up here, obviously, I watched a lot of the Packers,” Ramczyk said. “Been to practices and games as a kid, so it’s kind of cool reminiscing and then being on the field.”
Ramczyk had to enlighten his head coach about a part of Wisconsin culture.
“I’m not even sure I know what a cheese curd is,” admitted Allen. “I pretty much eat anything. So if you put it in front of me, I’ll probably eat it. But I don’t know what a cheese curd is.”
“Yeah, that’s sad,” Ramczyk said. “That makes me sad. Hopefully, he’ll get out and try some here. I’m sure there’s tons of good spots to get them. I’ve had a lot of those in my lifetime. Love ‘em. I mean, there’s nothing better than fresh, deep fried cheese curds.”
The two teams will practice together again on Wednesday and play a preseason game against each other Friday night at Lambeau Field.