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Melton has played 22 games at receiver for Green Bay, but also lined up at cornerback on Tuesday
The Green Bay Packers are hosting a three-day minicamp this week, which is mandatory for all players on their offseason roster. On Tuesday, the media was allowed their one and only look at the team in minicamp, likely the last time the team will be all together until the squad’s next mandatory set of practices: training camp.
So, who showed up, avoiding fines, and what did we learn? Let’s dive into today’s news and notes.
Every player under contract for the Packers, following the release of cornerback Jaire Alexander yesterday, was in Green Bay for training camp. The only player who did not participate, outside of injury, was center Elgton Jenkins, who continues to look for a contract extension from the Packers. At the moment, Jenkins has two years left in his four-year extension, but his dead cap in 2026 drops to $4.8 million, meaning that Green Bay has a lot of flexibility over whether or not they want to keep him at his $20 million cost next year.
While Jenkins did report, he was dressed down for practice and did not participate in drills. Had he sat out all three days of minicamp, he would have accrued $104,768 in fines that teams are not allowed to waive under the NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement.
According to Packers.com’s Wes Hodkiewicz, players who were missing from today’s practice due to injury were receiver Christian Watson, receiver Julian Hicks, guard Aaron Banks, offensive lineman John Williams, defensive end Collin Oliver, linebacker Quay Walker, cornerback Micah Robinson, cornerback Kalen King and safety Zayne Anderson. As Hodkiewicz noted, King sported a cast on his arm on Tuesday, so there’s the potential that he suffered a serious injury.
Players who returned to practice from injury this week were tight end John FitzPatrick, defensive tackle Warren Brinson and defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera. All three of these players were missing from action in both of the media-open organized team activities over the last two weeks. Third-round receiver Savion Williams continues to wear a red non-contact jersey in practice for a mystery injury.
Without Jenkins or Banks on the interior offensive line, the “starters” with the first-team unit at guard were Sean Rhyan and Donovan Jennings, while Jacob Monk got the nod at center. Rhyan and Monk have been competing at both center and right guard this offseason, with the assumption being that Jenkins will overtake the center position eventually, but Jennings getting the replacement reps for Banks’ absence is interesting.
During the playoffs, both Travis Glover and Kadeem Telfort were the next man up on the offensive line. At the time, Monk was a reserve offensive lineman, and Jennings spent his rookie season on the Packers’ practice squad. Now, both have seemingly jumped the duo who were sent in off the bench for Green Bay’s playoff loss against the Philadelphia Eagles.
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