LATROBE, Pa. — Coach Mike McCarthy's process is to meet the media before the day's training camp practice, and during Thursday's session he talked separately about quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Drew Allar.
In response to a question about players who have impressed him more once he saw them live vs. what he had seen on video, McCarthy said, "Mason Rudolph, I can't tell you how pleased I am with him. I just think that quarterbacks play a while in this league, so the experience that he's gained is incredibly valuable to us. But the footwork is different. Any time you ask an experienced player to change footwork or things like that and his fundamentals, and he's doing a really nice job. The throws are better than I knew. Just like anything in the quarterback room, you really don't know until you stand next to them or you're out there on the field, really how each guy throws the ball. There's always examples. Mason was kind of the first one for me, having a chance to work with those guys in the quarterback school."
Later, McCarthy said this when asked to assess Allar's development to this point in his rookie training camp:
"He's doing what you want from your young players, especially your rookies. These are tough practices because you're not just repeating concepts. I mean, there's common things that they're doing, but you're not locked in where he can get rep after rep and see the same thing over and over again. So, I think there has not been a day where he hasn't made a throw that you say 'OK, that's a young man taking a step."
Like so many other practices during this camp, Thursday's session concluded with a repetition of 2-minute, but what was different this time was that it pitted the No. 4 offense vs. the No. 4 defense, which means Allar was at quarterback.
The situation had the ball at midfield, with 1:30 on the clock and 1 timeout. And because NFL officials were working the practice as part of their league-wide training camp tour, the action was being called as will be in games.
First down was a handoff to Travis Homer, who was ruled down after a 2-yard gain. On second-and-8, Allar's pass for WR Levi Wentz was incomplete. On third-and-8, Allar completed a pass to WR Joaquin Davis for a first down, but the play was nullified when the offense was penalized for having a guy line up offsides.
On third-and-13, Allar's throw for WR Kaden Wetjen was high, and then when his fourth-down attempt for Wetjen was off target for two straight incompletions, the drill ended with a stop by the defense.
"This next three-day segment is huge for us," said McCarthy. "I've always looked at it as kind of the hump week, the hump part of the training camp. A chance to get up to two and a half hours of practice. So, we'll do that today, use the whole time and we'll do install five today, do install six tomorrow, and review in Latrobe Stadium on Saturday night. So this is a big three-day segment for them and this is hard on the young guys, because they're getting a new game plan every day that they (have) to be ready for, study, and then go exercise it in a competitive environment. So we're making progress."
The other 2 days in this "hump week" period call for a 2 hour, 20 minute practice on Friday that's scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., and then the night practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium that's scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
OBSERVATIONS
• As previously mentioned, NFL officials worked Thursday's practice, and they will remain in Latrobe and work the Friday and Saturday practices as well. Early in Thursday's session, a deep completion from Aaron Rodgers to DK Metcalf was wiped out by an offensive holding penalty. Rodgers came right back on the next play to complete a deep crossing route to Metcalf over the middle.
• During a special teams period, it was rookie PK Laith Marjan handling the field goal attempts and kickoff duties. The guys deployed deep for the first kickoff were Wetjen and CB D'Shawn Jamison.
• The following players were wearing their practice jerseys but not helmets or pads as they watched practice: RB Eli Heidenreich, CB Donte Kent, G Steven Jones, and DT Logan Lee. Cam Heyward also did not practice for the first time, and in the recent past that would have been characterized as a veteran's day off.
• Not long after practice began, RT Max Iheanachor was seen leaving the field and walking to the locker room with a trainer. Iheanachor did not return. After that, Broderick Jones took the second-team reps at RT behind starter Dylan Cook.
• McCarthy continued the practice of temporarily removing players from a drill if they were flagged for a pre-snap penalty. That happened to LT Troy Fautanu after a false start, and then later to Cook for the same infraction.
