With Green Bay Packers training camp officially starting on Wednesday, the team is preparing for the 2025 season with urgency and accountability at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
On the heels of a disappointing postseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, general manager Brian Gutekunst made it clear back in January that urgency must be a greater part of the culture moving forward.
“I think, for me, the thing that’s been on my mind as we’ve concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency,” Gutekunst said. “These opportunities don’t come (very often). The life of a player in the National Football League is not very long. We’ve got a bunch of good guys in that locker room, got a bunch of talented guys in that locker room, and yeah, I think it’s time that we start competing for championships, right?”
When you’re affectionately referred to as Titletown, championships are the standard, and expectations are high for this version of the Packers. The roster is loaded with young talent on both sides of the ball, with several veterans ready to take charge.
There’s only been one practice, but one of those veterans is already noticing a difference.
“The intensity is definitely here, it’s definitely up,” said running back Josh Jacobs. “We didn’t like what we did last year, so we all feel that in this building. You can feel it—the guys on defense flying around from the d-line to the safeties, everybody. Guys on offense, we’re pushing each other to finish.”
Jacobs certainly lived up to the standard with his play last season. In his first year in Green Bay, he rushed for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns, both top-five marks in franchise history and top-six in the league.
But even when Jacobs is shouldering the load on offense, he embraces leadership just as seriously, even if it means being unapologetically direct.
“One thing about being a leader, it’s not always easy, and it’s not always doing what’s comfortable,” he said. “Sometimes you got to ruffle feathers, sometimes you got to hold people accountable. That’s something I try to do, I try to say the things that people are afraid to say.”
The Packers were too afraid to admit it, but last season clearly wasn’t their year. They dropped two games to divisional opponents to close out the regular season before getting outmatched by the eventual Super Bowl champions. Falling short of expectations again didn’t sit well with tight end Tucker Kraft, who spoke candidly on locker cleanout day.
“As a team, we need to wake up,” Kraft said. “Everyone talks about how we’re not ok with just making the playoffs, but we have yet to walk the walk. Going forward, I’m going to embrace everything that I’ve put into this game and take on a little bit more of a leadership role—try to get people on the same wavelength that I’m on. I feel like I have a lot to offer in that aspect.”
If Kraft can take that next step in Year 3, it would be a welcome development. This team needs leaders who set the tone and speak the hard truths.
Jacobs agrees that the Packers walking the walk and not just talking the talk will allow them to go from a good team to a great team.
“I feel like the greatest teams are the most closest, but also the teams that hold each other the most accountable, so that’s what we try to do,” said Jacobs. “We’re trying to set the standard high and I feel like to be able to do what we want to do, what we say we want to do, we’ve got to live what we sell.”
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers open training camp with a new mindset: Urgency and accountability
Reporting by Brandon Carwile, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
