Packers Camp Insider: Depth at tackle a growing concern
Thursday's takeaways
» The Packers have to be concerned about their depth at tackle. With left tackle David Bakhtiari (ankle) sidelined and right tackle Bryan Bulaga (knee) not yet ready to play after recently coming off PUP, former second-round pick Jason Spriggs didn’t start at either tackle, and both Kyle Murphy at left tackle and Byron Bell at right tackle struggled against Tennessee’s first- and second-stringers. Murphy gave up a strip sack turnover when second-round pick Harold Landry beat him cleanly off the edge and knocked the ball out of Brett Hundley’s hands. Murphy also gave up a couple of pressures. Bell had an even rougher night. He gave up a hit to outside rusher Gimel President as Hundley threw that caused an interception, had a holding penalty, a false start, and was beaten off the snap by Aaron Wallace that forced DeShone Kizer to bolt the pocket. Spriggs has been working a lot with the No. 1 offense in practice with Bulaga out, but he didn’t practice well enough to get the start at either side. He played the second half at right tackle with no obvious incidents. Bakhtiari’s ankle injury isn’t believed to be serious, and Bulaga appears to be on a trajectory to start the regular-season opener. The Packers have to hope both will be ready and stay healthy.
GAME STORY: Hundley impressive in exhibition win
RELATED:Valdes-Scantling has breakout night
BOX SCORE:Packers 31, Titans 17
REPLAY:Review Tom Silverstein's live game blog
» Marquez Valdes-Scantling had five catches for 105 yards, including showing his deep speed when he got behind the secondary on a 51-yard bomb from Kizer, and a 15-yard touchdown on a closely defended fade from rookie Tim Boyle. Valdes-Scanting also had a drop on a low pass at the goal line from Boyle.
QB watch
Looks like the Packers have something to work with in Boyle, the undrafted rookie from Eastern Kentucky. Boyle doesn’t know the NFL game like Hundley and Kizer, but he showed Thursday night the same thing he has flashed in practice: a strong arm, pretty good accuracy and the ability and nerve to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball with rushers flying at him. Not counting when he killed the clock by taking a knee three times, Boyle had four possessions and put up 17 points and a 116.7 rating. That included an on-the-money bomb to receiver Jake Kumerow for a 52-yard touchdown. “He’s definitely got the talent, there’s no denying that,” coach Mike McCarthy said of Boyle. “You could see that right away when he got here.” Boyle was only 7-for-15 passing, but was the victim of three or possibly four drops, including one by J’Mon Moore on a bomb that probably would have gone for a 65-yard touchdown. On that play, Boyle took a hit by a blitzing defensive back just after he got the ball out. Boyle’s night wasn’t an unmitigated success, though. He sailed a couple of throws and underthrew what should have been a 23-yard touchdown to Kumerow on a third down.
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Bits and pieces
» With Clay Matthews (precautionary) and Nick Perry (PUP, ankle ) not suited up, Reggie Gilbert started at outside linebacker and had a good game. He lost contain on an eight-yard gain early, but thereafter was stout against the run and had at least two pressures, including forcing an incompletion when he chased Blaine Gabbert out of the pocket in the second quarter.
» Officials called the new penalty for leading with the helmet three times, all on Tennessee in the second half. Two were on tackles, and the third was on running back Dalyn Dawkins for lowering his head before he took a hit on a run.
» Trevor Davis (hamstring) didn’t do anything to hurt his chances, at least as a return man, by missing Thursday night’s game. Quinten Rollins returned punts and fumbled his first chance after being hit just after the catch, though he recovered the ball. That was Rollins’ only return on the night — he had two fair catches, and another that he let go and watched it bounce out of bounds inside the 10. Valdes-Scantling returned three kickoffs, with a long of only 24 yards.
Injury report
» The following players didn’t suit up, some with injuries (listed in parentheses), some given the night off: juries: WR Davis (hamstring), QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Adonis Jennings (unknown), WR Randall Cobb (ankle), CB Kevin King (shoulder), RB Devante Mays (hamstring), RB Aaron Jones (hamstring), CB Tramon Williams, FB Joe Kerridge (shoulder), OLB Matthews, OLB Perry (ankle), G Lane Taylor, Bakhtiari (ankle), T Bulaga (knee), DL Mike Daniels (thigh), TE Jimmy Graham (knee), Muhammad Wilkerson (groin).
» S Jerome Whitehead left the game with a back injury in the second quarter and S Josh Jones didn’t return after going to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion in the third quarter.
Quote of the day
“The tape’s going to be really good to learn from. There’s going to be a lot of good things on the tape, but there’s going to be a lot of things where we didn’t quite finish. I’d call it a stepping-stone game where we had production, we had positive things, (and) we had things where clearly we needed to do better.” — McCarthy after the Packers’ 31-17 win in their preseason opener.
Practice schedule
There’s no practice Friday or Saturday. Practice Sunday is at 12:15 p.m. and open to the public.