Back in November, Jordan Love’s three-touchdown masterclass in Detroit finally erased doubts about whether the Packers had found their next guy. But behind every rising quarterback is a line he trusts, and for Love, that meant Rasheed Walker. The 2023 seventh-rounder turned surprise starter had become the team’s top blindside protector, locking down elite edge rushers during Green Bay’s playoff run. That trust came under fire this week, not due to performance, but due to something much less rehearsed: short tempers.
At Sunday’s padded practice, Walker allegedly had a fight with edge pass rusher Kingsley Enagbare. It went quickly and visibly south. Head coach Matt LaFleur didn’t hesitate to yell at Walker. The exchange was bracing, disciplinary, and public. But what happened next turned heads even further. Six players: Tucker Kraft, Sean Rhyan, Josh Jacobs, Zach Tom, Caleb Jones, and Elgton Jenkins piled onto the lap with Walker. In the middle of a make-or-break camp week, that wasn’t friendship; it was a message.
Matt LaFleur is furious at Rasheed Walker. Ordered him to take a lap and threw an expletive in there. Walker did something to Enagbare and got booted. Didn’t see what exactly.
Kraft, Rhyan, Tom, Jacobs, Morgan and Jenkins ran the lap with Walker in support.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 29, 2025
Walker’s ejection wasn’t the first heated moment of training camp, but it might be the most telling. This wasn’t just a shoving match—it revealed something deeper: how leadership is evolving inside the Packers’ locker room.
Walker had been penciled in as Jordan Love’s left tackle. His strong finish in 2023—allowing just one sack over the final six games, per PFF—earned the staff’s trust. But head coach Matt LaFleur’s profanity-filled outburst and decision to bench him signal a shift heading into 2025: competition and accountability now outweigh past performance.
What complicates matters further is that six teammates jogged in solidarity with Walker. That moment suggests a deeper fracture—or at least, a culture check. Was LaFleur too harsh? Are veteran players starting to push back? These are real questions when your quarterback is still developing.
For Jordan Love, the worst-case scenario isn’t losing a tackle—it’s losing cohesion on a line meant to protect him. His 2024 breakout happened largely because of stability up front. If that starts to unravel now, just as the team eyes a playoff push, it could throw everything out of rhythm.
The O-line shuffle for the Packers
With Rasheed Walker out of the first-string rotation, the Packers were quick to adjust. Reserve tackles Jordan Morgan (a 2024 first-round pick), Kadeem Telfort, and Travis Glover have been rotating at left tackle during recent walkthroughs and team drills. Morgan is the most experienced of the group, but none have shown the same level of consistency as Walker in protecting Jordan Love during live reps.
At one point, Elgton Jenkins was temporarily shifted to left tackle, but the coaching staff quickly moved him back. Pulling Green Bay’s All-Pro guard out of the interior could significantly weaken the offensive line’s core. Meanwhile, Zach Tom continues to split time between center and right tackle, offering valuable versatility—but also limiting how many full-speed, pass-heavy reps the line can get with a stable unit.
NFL, American Football Herren, USA NFC Wild Card Round-Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles Jan 12, 2025 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love 10 against the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC wild card game at Lincoln Financial Field. Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field Pennsylvania USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xEricxHartlinex 20250112_eh_se7_01769
Following the release of David Bakhtiari and the decision not to re-sign Yosh Nijman, Green Bay doubled down on homegrown development—betting that veteran seasoning from within would stabilize Jordan Love’s blind side. But Rasheed Walker’s sudden benching has exposed the fragility of that plan.
As a former NFC executive told Heavy Sports: “You can’t put a line around a guy and bench him for losing his temper once. But if your culture’s delicate, sometimes you have to do that.” That quote perfectly captures the tension now hanging over Packers camp: the fine line between discipline and necessity.
Inside the building, not everyone sees the solidarity gesture—teammates jogging with Walker—the same way. As Packers Wire wrote, “Support is great — until it blurs the line between accountability and insubordination.” That underscores the challenge facing head coach Matt LaFleur: how to enforce leadership without alienating players who backed Walker.
If Green Bay doesn’t find stability at left tackle soon, they may be forced to look outside—via trade or free agency. But the bigger concern is what that instability could do to Jordan Love. Facing early-season pressure against defenses like the Eagles and Ravens could derail his momentum.
Continuity up front was a major reason for Love’s breakout in 2024. Now, with limited depth and a chaotic camp, his leap to true stardom could be at risk—unless the offensive line solidifies before Week 1.
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