GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers are unsure how their starting offensive line will crystalize by the time the season gets here.
But there is no rush.
“I wouldn’t say any of these guys have anything locked up right now,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “I think that’s one thing that is good about where we’re at, because the competitiveness is going to bring out the best in everybody every day.”
Stenavich is using the competition to fuel the group. He referenced the playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles as an example of the offense needing to play a more physical style.
The Packers have training camp and three preseason games starting Aug. 9 with the New York Jets to have a better idea of the starting five linemen that will take the field for the Sept. 7 home opener against the Detroit Lions. But Stenavich hasn’t put a deadline on when he’d like to have his starters.
“The way we’ve been, this thing might go into the season,” Stenavich said about naming starters. “We’ve rotated guys. We played Sean (Rhyan) and Jon Runyan, they split reps, things like that. If we think these guys are good enough to be starters and we just rotate guys, I’m comfortable with that. I really don’t care. We might have six or seven guys playing in a game consistently.”
Here are some other takeaways from Stenavich’s July 30 media availability.
Jordan Morgan adding competition to the line
Among the players vying for playing time is Jordan Morgan.
The Packers have high hopes for the 25th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He missed most of last season battling a shoulder injury and was placed on injured reserve.
Now that Morgan is healthy, he’s finding his place on the line. He’s spent time at both guard spots and Stenavich said he also wants him to practice at left tackle “as much as possible” to compete with Rasheed Walker.
“I like what I’m seeing from Jordan and he’s competing at the tackle spot and at the guard spot and he’s looking pretty solid,” Stenavich said. “We’re going to have a lot of interesting choices up front, not only with him but a bunch of guys. They’re all competing really hard and doing a good job. That’s going to be pretty interesting to see how this all shakes out, for sure.”
Malik Willis showing a lot of growth during camp
Malik Willis joined the Packers on Aug. 26 of last year.
Exactly 20 days later, the backup quarterback was asked to go win a football game after Jordan Love suffered an injury in the season opener against the Eagles in Brazil.
He responded by going 12-for-14 passing for 122 yards, including his first career touchdown pass, to secure a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
He followed up his debut by throwing for 202 yards, a passing touchdown and led the team in rushing with 73 yards and a rushing touchdown to beat his former team, the Tennessee Titans, 30–14 in his return to Nashville.
Quite a welcome to Green Bay.
Willis has had a full offseason to get a grasp of the offense and the coaches are giving him the full playbook to see what makes him comfortable.
“Giving him an opportunity to learn the offense, learn the concepts from the ground up, I think that’s super valuable for him,” Stenavich said. “Big thing, just working on his reads with his feet, just making sure he’s on time with everything.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers OC Adam Stenavich sees a lot of ‘interesting choices’ on the offensive line
Reporting by Dominique Yates, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
