This year will see the Packers hold their fewest number of open practices in recent memory, excluding 2020’s COVID-affected camp.
July 27th was already known to Green Bay Packers fans as an important date on the calendar for this summer. Now, fans can begin planning trips to Lambeau Field for training camp following the Packers’ official announcement of their practice schedule.
The team released the schedule on Wednesday, revealing the dates of the 12 practices that will be open to the public. All but one of these practices will take place outdoors at Ray Nitschke Field, with the lone exception being the annual Family Night practice at Lambeau Field. Additionally, two joint practices with the New Orleans Saints will be open to the public, and they will be the final open practices of camp.
Head coach Matt LaFleur also revealed last week that rookies will be expected to report a few days before veterans this season, setting July 22 as the report date for first-year pros. The veterans will likely be required to report around July 25 to give them a full day of buffer time and to go through initial medical examinations before the first practice on the 27th.
Here are the dates of the open practices. Note that only Family Night has a confirmed start time as of the initial schedule release:
- Wednesday, July 27
- Thursday, July 28
- Saturday, July 30
- Monday, August 1
- Tuesday, August 2
- Thursday, August 4
- Friday, August 5 — Family Night, 7:30 PM CT
- Sunday, August 7
- Monday, August 8
- Wednesday, August 10
- Tuesday, August 16 — Joint practice with New Orleans Saints
- Wednesday, August 17 — Joint practice with New Orleans Saints
As has been the team’s general practice in past years, they will close practices down after the penultimate preseason game, holding closed practices in the week before the exhibition finale. However, the move from four to three preseason games results in fewer practices being open to the public than there were prior to 2021, since that final game arrives a week earlier than it did in 2020 and earlier.
Indeed, 12 open practices is the fewest in recent memory for the Packers, one notch down from the 13 that they held in 2021. This of course does not count the 2020 preseason, when no practices were held publicly during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019 the team had 16 open practices following back-to-back years with 14 open days in 2017 and 2018.
As a reminder, here are the dates for the Packers’ preseason games in 2022:
- Friday, August 12: Packers @ 49ers, 7:30 PM CT
- Friday, August 19: Saints @ Packers, 7:00 PM CT
- Thursday, August 25: Packers @ Chiefs, 7:00 PM CT