GREEN BAY – Jordan Morgan couldn’t help but smile. He was about to exit the locker room after practice, hoodie pulled over his head, but there was no hiding how much he’s enjoying this training camp.
For two years, the Green Bay Packers former first-round pick never changed his mind about what was best for him. He wasn’t built for musical chairs on the offensive line. Morgan believed he belonged at left tackle, and it didn’t so much matter that a veteran was blocking his spot. All the ups and downs, the turbulence of his early NFL career, would smooth out once he found his way back home.
He’s entrenched on quarterback Jordan Love’s blind side now, not even a whiff of him lining up at guard.
“He’s our left tackle,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich declared Aug. 5 in his first remarks in camp. And Morgan, shoulders relaxed after his second practice in pads, is damn happy about it.
“It feels good,” Morgan said, “being able to go out there and know where I’m going to be and what I have to focus on every day. Getting out there and getting better, it’s not going to be perfect every day. It’s training camp. You have to train. But it helps you clear your mind a lot.
“You know what you have to focus on. You’ve just got to focus on that one spot. You’ve got to focus on all the rules and all the techniques and fundamentals of that one spot.”
Morgan has known since spring, when the Packers let Rasheed Walker sign elsewhere in free agency, that the left tackle position was finally his. After splitting time at guard and right tackle the past two seasons, mostly lining up anywhere but the position he exclusively played in college, his mind has been clear for months now.
Early this offseason, Morgan said there was plenty of rust to knock off. He reacquainted himself with proper hand usage against quicker edge rushers, taking plenty of shaky reps without pads, but Morgan retained the footwork that made him ideal for left tackle. The Packers surely expected an athletic upgrade with Morgan at left tackle. For all his positional changes, there never was much disagreement within the organization that Morgan was playing out of position. His snaps at guard and right tackle were more necessity than a predetermined plan.
It’s another adjustment in a career that’s been full of unexpected, and often unwelcomed, twists and turns. Of all the developments in camp, few matter more to this season than whether Morgan works out all the kinks by Week 1.
“When you switch a guy from any position,” Stenavich said, “there’s a lot of little nuances to each position that you’ve got to learn. So for him, moving him from tackle to guard back to tackle, things like that is tough for a young player. Especially for him, his home where he played in college was left tackle. So he’s kind of at his natural spot right now.
“I think that’s one thing as a young guy, you just have to learn the different nuances to the position. But he’s done a nice job just going back over there at left tackle, and now just focusing on that.”
Morgan started showing why the Packers finally decided to hand him the keys to their left tackle position as soon as padded practices began. In their first team period, he pulled a block to the perimeter, leading running back MarShawn Lloyd on a toss to his side. Morgan had to bolt toward the sideline to reach cornerback Brandon Cisse. His landmark was outside, but once he arrived, Cisse stopped.
Morgan adapted on the fly, continuing downfield before engaging the block. The adjustment enabled him to seal Cisse against the sideline, opening a gap for his running back to spark a big play. Once he engaged with the 189-pound corner, overpowering the rookie was easy.
The footwork required to change his blocking angle was much harder, but it showed the athleticism Morgan brings to the most athletically demanding position on the offensive line.
“You’ve got to step on his toes,” Morgan said, “but at the same time you’ve just got to get out there and try to get his outside shoulder. You have to allow the runner to get to the sideline away from all the guys on the side that are trying to chase him. He gave me the shoulder, and I just took it and kept on going.
“I should be on the outside of him, but he stopped. I had to make it right.”
Morgan’s pass protection will ultimately determine whether he makes a successful transition back to the blind side. Last preseason, Morgan showed he has the skill set to hold up against NFL edge rushers, only to lose his spot to Walker once the regular season began. General manager Brian Gutekunst referenced Morgan’s preseason film in his season-ending interview, acknowledging he deserved more snaps at left tackle.
In spring drills, Morgan occasionally struggled against Lukas Van Ness, the Packers’ top edge rusher until Micah Parsons returns. He’s looked much sharper in pads. When the Packers incorporated one-on-one battles in camp Aug. 4, Morgan got three straight reps against Van Ness. He won all three, standing up against a bull rush on the first, ushering an outside speed move upfield on the second, and forcing Van Ness to change direction twice on the third.
“It’s just reactionary,” Morgan said. “With me, I have to focus on getting out there, getting to my spot. Cutting off three-way goes, and eventually if I do it right, he’s going to have to go through me instead of going around me. So you can’t premeditate it if you go out there and think one thing, if he does the other thing, you messed up. You’re done.
“It’s just getting out there, and whatever happens, happens.”
As he trains for his third season, at least Morgan no longer needs to guess what’s coming for him. The job he’s always wanted is his. With less than six weeks until the opener in Minnesota, his importance to the team and its season is unquestioned.
All Morgan needs to do now is make the most of it.
“I’ve still got to really build on what I want to be,” Morgan said, “and just train on who I want to be, really. Just try to get to that spot and get to the man I want to be on the field.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Jordan Morgan showing why Packers handed him keys to left tackle
Reporting by Ryan Wood, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ryan Wood, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
