CINCINNATI — Packers left guard Elgton Jenkins was removed from joint practice with the Bengals early on Wednesday after being involved in two separate fights.
On the first, he blocked linebacker Germaine Pratt to the ground on a running play and Pratt retaliated. Chaos ensued, with Jenkins in the middle of the melee. Hands were thrown and the fight took a while to simmer down. Right guard Jon Runyan Jr. and wide receiver Romeo Doubs also ended up on the ground.
Pratt instigated the first scuffle, but Jenkins started the second.
After a tussle on the ground with defensive lineman D.J. Reader while the play was on the other side of the field, both players rose to their feet and Jenkins swung. His right hand connected with Reader’s helmet and offensive line coach Luke Butkus escorted Jenkins off the field. Packers director of player engagement Grey Ruegamer then walked Jenkins far away from the action before the one-time Pro Bowler removed his pads and returned to the stadium across the street from practice.
“Elgton totally was in the right the first time,” Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari said. “I’m not going to say otherwise. You’ve got to protect yourself. Emotions get high. I know he’ll never do it in the game. He’s never done that in the game, so at practice, I mean, it’s a little bit different. You know you shouldn’t, but you also know there’s no consequences … I think he gave (Pratt) the wrong pie recipe or something like that and he was pissed off.”
“He’s a J.A.G. (just another guy), man,” Reader, who was on the receiving end of Jenkins’ swing in the second fight, said in the Bengals locker room after practice. “I don’t know that guy. No idea who he is. I mean, I see he made (the Pro Bowl), so good for him, but he blocked for Aaron Rodgers. That don’t make you nobody.”
Jenkins was not available to reporters after Wednesday’s practice, but he offered a brief response on Twitter.
That get back a mf 🤣
— Elgton Jenkins (@Big_E_14) August 9, 2023
And that film don’t lie #backpockets
— Elgton Jenkins (@Big_E_14) August 9, 2023
This isn’t the first time Jenkins has been involved in a fracas. His most memorable one came during the 2020 Divisional Round, when he irritated Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald enough to draw a 15-yard penalty when Donald grabbed Jenkins’ facemask after a play in the second quarter.
No such consequences came this time around, with the only fallout being Jenkins hitting the showers early.
“I was buried in the middle,” Bakhtiari said of the first fight. “It’s my boy, seven-four. I told those guys I’m going to be standing in the background. But Elgton’s my guy. I’ve got to go protect him on that. I just remember getting up and (Trey) Hendrickson and we were like, Rochambeau, loser has to own up to this fight. I won. I threw scissors. He threw paper. He had to admit in front of his defense that they started the fight and it was their fault. And then the second one I was like, I’m not even going to Rochambeau. That’s on us.”
Other notable observations
Here are the other most notable observations from joint practice, during which I watched the Packers offense vs. Bengals defense while Green Bay’s defense and Cincinnati’s offense worked on the far field.
• Quarterback Jordan Love completed 17-of-29 passes across all 11-on-11 drills. He had another up-and-down day, which has been a theme throughout camp. Some notable throws included the following:
⇒ Back-to-back nice gains at the beginning of the first team period, one on a quick slant to WR Samori Toure on the left side and one on a wheel route to FB Henry Pearson on the right side.
⇒ Crosser to WR Christian Watson for a nice gain with CB Sidney Jones IV in coverage before an underthrown bomb down the middle to Doubs that fell incomplete around Doubs and two defensive backs.
Love then completed 4-of-8 passes in a red-zone period, with one touchdown to Watson on a crosser ahead of CB Cam Taylor-Britt, one dropped touchdown by WR Jayden Reed on a perfectly thrown ball with two defenders converging on Reed after a stop route and one would-be pick-six when CB Mike Hilton jumped a bubble screen to Doubs on the left side.
“They had a wide trips bunch. (Love) liked the numbers. It was 3-on-1 pretty much and I just saw the check and let my instincts take over and I made a play,” Hilton said.
• The offense’s highlight of the day came when Love threw a dime to Doubs down the right sideline over CB DJ Turner II for a touchdown of about 50 yards that likely would’ve been a touchdown in a game, too.
• Love put another perfect deep ball on Doubs down the right sideline during the two-minute drill, but the ball went right through Doubs’ hands. Love threw a go ball for tight end Luke Musgrave, who had room on Turner down the right sideline, that floated just a smidge too far.
“I mean it’s just something we gotta keep working at,” Love said of his deep ball on Wednesday. “It’s obviously different looks. Receivers might be getting held up a little bit, so the timing is off, so we just gotta keep working at it, but I think we had some really good plays. Rome had a really nice one down the sideline that he probably scores on and then obviously we had one down here in two minute and then I had one to Luke on the sideline that I just overthrew a little bit.”
• The Packers’ starting offense ran six plays in 7-on-7 work, which we were allowed to film. Here they all are:
Luke Musgrave drops one over the middle pic.twitter.com/dCqlVTvtHs
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 9, 2023
Love incomplete to Musgrave but a flag on the Bengals pic.twitter.com/n7HndeBVKb
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 9, 2023
Love to Christian Watson on a crosser pic.twitter.com/fbT1qSbpH8
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 9, 2023
• Cincinnati’s defense is the real deal. The Bengals ranked tied for fifth in the NFL last season in points allowed per game (20.1) and it was evident at times on Wednesday. Hendrickson had multiple “sacks.” Pratt, Reader, edge rusher Sam Hubbard and Hilton all earned some ink in my practice notebook. This was one of the best tests possible for a Packers offensive line that should be a top-five unit in the NFL this season.
“I think there’s always things you can clean up on,” Bakhtiari said. “Pass pro’s an art. It’s a feel and I think it’s probably one of the last things to come on for an offensive line, so we’re trending in the right direction. I don’t think it’s where we need to be, but I think that we’re going in the right direction and that’s been positive.”
• It’s early, but the Packers need to fix their drop issues. Watson has had a couple in camp. So too has Musgrave, including one in 7-on-7s against the Bengals with two defenders converging over the middle. Reed had two bad ones on Wednesday, one on the stop route that would’ve been a touchdown and one on a slant with a defender barreling down on his face.
• Anders Carlson made 7-of-9 field-goal attempts Wednesday, bringing his total to 35-of-50 on field goals for camp. He’s 19 of his last 23 over his last three kicking days. Carlson missed a PAT wide right on his first kick of the day before making seven consecutive field goals from 37, 39, 40, 44, 46, 48 and 51 yards. He then missed from 56 wide left and just short from 60 at the end of the starting offense’s two-minute drill.
• Keep an eye on Pearson, the undrafted rookie fullback from Appalachian State. He’s been running with the starters as Josiah Deguara deals with a calf issue. Deguara returned to practice on Wednesday — probably in a limited fashion — and Pearson still repped with the first team and earned some congratulations after his acrobatic catch during the first 11-on-11 period.
• Love said the plan is for him to play a couple series in Friday night’s preseason opener here in Cincinnati, but added that his gameday workload would be determined based on how Wednesday’s joint practice went. Head coach Matt LaFleur said Monday that the team has talked about not only Love, but “quite frankly playing everybody in this game,” save for a “select few.”
• I wasn’t able to watch the Packers’ defense against the Bengals’ offense on the other field, but The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. swiftly summed up how those battles went with Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow sidelined with a calf injury (wide receiver Tee Higgins didn’t participate in team drills, but neither did Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander, who was replaced by rookie Carrington Valentine). And according to good friend Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com, rookie first-round pick Lukas Van Ness probably had his best day of camp on the defensive side and Jonathan Owens is still starting at safety alongside Darnell Savage Jr. instead of Rudy Ford.
More of the same as Bengals offense moves into 11 on 11 red zone.
Tyler Boyd with a nice TD catch but otherwise Green Bay defense throttling the Bengals offense, both first and second team.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) August 9, 2023
• And lastly, on a non-football note, LaFleur said Tuesday night was the first time the Packers have done a team dinner on the road since he was hired in 2019. They went to Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse — “unbelievable steakhouse,” LaFleur said, while adding, “It was a really good experience, I think, for our guys to be on the road. This is the first time that we’ve done anything together like that, so it was a pretty cool deal.”
(Top photo of Elgton Jenkins: Tork Mason / USA Today Sports)
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