Rookie receiver Grant DuBose has been on the practice field as a member of the Green Bay Packers for just over a week. He’s been competing in 11-on-11 drills for even less time than that, but over the last two practices, he has quickly made an impact.
During Sunday’s practice, primarily working with the third-team offense, DuBose had a pair of receptions on passes from Alex McGough, including one for a touchdown.
Then on Monday, during one-on-ones, DuBose was matched up with Carrington Valentine, who has been lights out as of late and playing with the starting defense in Jaire Alexander’s absence. Valentine would get the best of DuBose on the first two reps, but on the third time through, DuBose got a step on Valentine going down the left sideline and made the catch.
In the team portion, after spending most of Sunday with the threes, DuBose was working with the second unit often and made a few more catches in practice, frequently attacking the middle portion of the field.
“I feel like they went well,” said DuBose on Monday when asked about his performance in practice. “Had a couple mistakes, but overall felt like I competed at a high level for both practices that I had. That’s all you can control right now. I just wanted to come out here and play fast, and play confident. But overall, I’ve had a solid two days of practices.”
Last week, after being activated off the non-football injury list, was DuBose’s first time on the practice field as a member of the Packers, including rookie minicamp and offseason programs, as he dealt with a back injury. During OTAs, Matt LaFleur did say that, especially for a young player, it is natural to fall behind without those valuable practice reps, and to a degree, DuBose may have to play catchup when he returned.
“It’s just a little bit faster,” said DuBose about being on the practice field. “You’re getting the play call, breaking the huddle, getting out there, getting lined up, and once you get aligned, it’s about locking in on your assignment. I wouldn’t say a learning curve, but it’s happening a lot more faster.”
To help mitigate the impact of all that missed time, it involved a lot of mental reps by DuBose while he was sidelined and constantly staying engaged with what his teammates were doing on the practice field in order to best learn through them.
“Just a lot of mental reps,” said DuBose. “Just trying to stay locked in while I’m on the sideline with play calls, and watching my position group, and just learning from them. I wasn’t out there doing it physically, but I was learning from other guys’ mistakes.”
Assuming the Packers keep a sixth receiver, DuBose is competing with Malik Heath and Bo Melton for that role, both of whom bring very different skill sets to the position. Heath has consistently stood out as a pass catcher and further caught the attention of the coaching staff with his downfield block against Cincinnati. Melton, meanwhile, has had some moments of his own in the passing game, but most notably, he played the fifth-most special teams snaps verse the Bengals and threw a key block on Emanuel Wilson’s first touchdown run.
Of course, there is a certain prerequisite that each receiver will have to meet as a pass catcher, but like many back end of the roster battles, other factors, such as special teams contributions and blocking ability, are likely to be key aspects of the decision-making process when it comes to who the sixth receiver is.
Given the time missed with an injury, DuBose will have to make a quick impact on the practice field, something he has been able to do over the last two practices. Although he wasn’t able to play against Cincinnati, the next few days will provide him with an important opportunity to make up ground in the wide receiver six battle, with the Packers competing against New England in a pair of joint practices and a preseason game on Saturday.
“It feels good,” said DuBose about being back at practice. “Long overdue. It just feels good just competing with the guys. I’m enjoying it.”