The Green Bay Packers finished up their mandatory three-day minicamp last week and the team is now off for more than a month before returning in late July for training camp.
With a theme of "Back to Football," the Packers’ 2018 training camp kicks off with an 11:30 a.m. practice on Thursday, July 26. That’s followed by an 11:30 a.m. practice on Friday, July 27 and an 11:15 a.m. practice on Saturday, July 28. As in the past, open practices are scheduled to take place at Ray Nitschke Field and Packers Family Night will be at Lambeau Field.
The following week, the Packers will hold four practices (July 30-31 and August 2-3), all beginning at 11:15 a.m., before Family Night at Lambeau Field on Saturday, Aug. 4. The week after that, the team will have two open practices, at 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 6 and 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 7, prior to the preseason opener at home against the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 9.
After that game, Green Bay will hold two open practices (12:15 p.m. on Aug. 12 and 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 13), before hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 16. Then, the Packers will have two open practices, 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 20 and 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 21, leading into a preseason road game against the Oakland Raiders on Aug. 24.
The team’s last open practice of training camp will be at 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 27 before the preseason finale against the Chiefs in Kansas City on Aug. 30.
In the event of inclement weather or any other factor that forces the team indoors, practice will be closed to the public due to space limitations inside the Don Hutson Center. Also, the team noted, all practice dates and times are subject to change.
The annual Packers Family Night, presented by Bellin Health, is scheduled for Saturday evening, Aug. 4, at Lambeau Field. The event will benefit the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids foster-care adoption program. The format is a full practice, which will include 11-on-11 sessions that feature full contact. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m., the team will be introduced on the field at 7:30 p.m. and the event will end with the Pick `n Save Fireworks Show.
Important dates on the preseason calendar
Friday, July 20: Packers 1K Kids Run, presented by Edvest, 6 p.m.
Saturday, July 21: Packers 5K Run/Walk, presented by Bellin Health, Lambeau Field, 8 a.m.
Saturday, July 21: Packers Hall of Fame Induction Banquet
Wednesday, July 25: Head Coach Mike McCarthy’s season-opening press conference, 10 a.m.
Wednesday, July 25: Players report
Wednesday, July 25: Packers Annual Meeting of Shareholders, 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 26: First practice, 11:30 a.m., Ray Nitschke Field
Thursday, July 26-Sunday, July 29: Packers Experience, four-day free festival celebrating 100 Seasons, presented by American Family Insurance, Bellin Health, Mills Fleet Farm and Old El Paso.
Saturday, Aug. 4: Family Night, presented by Bellin Health, Lambeau Field
Monday, Aug. 27: Last practice open to public, 11:45 a.m., Ray Nitschke Field
According to the Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau and a 2010 study by AECOM, training camp, along with Packers Family Night, will attract approximately 90,000 visitors from across the nation and as many as 20 foreign countries, with an economic total impact estimated at around $9 million. The beginning of this year’s training camp includes the free Packers Experience fan festival, as part of the 100 Seasons celebration, so the area may actually enjoy an even greater number of visitors and a larger financial boost.
This season is Green Bay's 73rd training camp, a tradition that began in 1946 under Curly Lambeau. One of the most intimate preseason settings in the NFL, Packers training camp is unique in several respects. Players have been riding kids' bicycles to practice since the Vince Lombardi era, and the team has lived in the dorm rooms at nearby St. Norbert College since 1958, the league's longest training-camp relationship between a franchise and school.
For more information on training camp, visit the Packers’ website.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
