When it comes to his team’s training-camp schedule, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy has experimented with just about everything except having his guys practice in the middle of the night.
This summer, he’s trying yet another approach as he embarks on his 13th season in charge, which kicks off with the team’s first practice at 11:30 a.m. on July 26.
To be clear, there’s actual science behind McCarthy’s scheduling decisions; he uses metrics and data — about everything from his players’ exertion levels and heart rates (when at rest and when active) to global positioning systems that monitor how much distance his guys cover during each practice — to determine what approach he wants to take.
“It’s like anything, we have comparables — data, analytics to compare,” McCarthy said as minicamp wrapped up this week. “Trust me, I know exactly how many reps Aaron Rodgers has taken in practice and in games over his tenure. It’s all calculated. That’s very important in this conversation. At the end of the day, you’re going to get your team ready to play.”
Early in his tenure, McCarthy’s camps alternated between day-night doubleheader practices (one early morning session, one evening/nighttime session) and mid-afternoon single practices. Then, when the NFL did away with two-a-days, McCarthy went to a mix of those various practices. And in recent years, McCarthy dumped most of the nighttime practices and went with morning practices to start camp before shifting to what he called his “in-season schedule.”
Now this summer, he’s trying something else: A camp with almost exclusively midday sessions. After players report to St. Norbert College in nearby De Pere on July 25 for physical examinations, fitness testing and the first team meeting of camp that evening, they’ll have 14 regular, open-to-the-public practices — and all 14 will begin between 11:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
The anomaly is the team’s annual Family Night practice inside Lambeau Field on Aug. 4, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m.
It marks the second straight year the Packers have had just 15 open-to-the-public practices in camp. Since NFL owners agreed to the current collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association in 2011, practices for all 32 teams have been curtailed. In the Packers’ case, the team held 21 open practices in 2011 and 2012; 20 open practices in 2013; 17 open practices in 2014 and 2015; and 16 open practices in 2016.
The July 26 and 27 practices will be at 11:30 a.m. and in helmets and shorts, in accordance with NFL rules. The first in-pads practice is set for Saturday, July 28 at 11:15 a.m., and the players will have July 29 off, as the NFL requires.
The team also won’t practice on Wednesdays throughout the month of August, as part of McCarthy’s STAA Program (Soft Tissue Activation and Application), in which players do yoga, have massages and do other preventative/maintenance activities aimed at reducing injuries.
After the week of July 30, the team won’t have more than two practices per week. The Packers open preseason play Aug. 9 against the Tennessee Titans at Lambeau Field.
Training-camp festivities kick off on July 21, when former right tackle Mark Tauscher and former kicker Ryan Longwell will be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame.
The annual shareholders meeting is set for its first prime-time gathering on July 25 at 7 p.m., and the “Packers Experience,” a festival celebrating the team’s 100th season, begins on July 26.
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