{"id":880693,"date":"2026-09-02T12:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/880693\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T12:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:08:10","slug":"what-will-packers-get-from-kaleb-johnson-jonnu-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/880693\/","title":{"rendered":"What will Packers get from Kaleb Johnson, Jonnu Smith?"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREEN BAY, Wis. — They insist it wasn\u2019t planned, but the three newest members of the Green Bay Packers<\/a> — tight ends Jonnu Smith<\/a> and Mark Redman<\/a> plus running back Kaleb Johnson<\/a> — were lined up side by side by side in warmups before the first practice with their new team Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the new guys are trying to figure it out,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Perhaps more importantly, it\u2019s coach Matt LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich who need to figure out how quickly — and how much — the trio can contribute when the season opens on Sept. 13 at the Minnesota Vikings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

None of the three will have to be the primary player at his position, but the Packers could use at least some help from all of them.<\/p>\n

Johnson, who was acquired Sunday in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> for a sixth-round pick in 2028, joins a backfield that is filled with uncertainty. The Packers won\u2019t have their top running back, Josh Jacobs<\/a>, who is on the commissioner exempt list while his legal situation plays out.<\/p>\n

The rest of the running back group includes MarShawn Lloyd<\/a>, the former third-round pick who has played in one game in two NFL seasons, third-down\/pass protector Chris Brooks<\/a> and practice squad member Pierre Strong Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

While the Packers may have stopped holding their breath about whether Lloyd can stay healthy — by making it through training camp unscathed, he\u2019s put together the longest stretch of good health since he came into the league in 2024 —\u00a0 it\u2019s not like they\u2019re going to suddenly give a guy who has six career NFL carries a Jacobs-like workload.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s to be determined,\u201d LaFleur said of Lloyd on Tuesday. \u201cWho knows? I couldn\u2019t tell you right now, so we\u2019ll see how he\u2019s feeling. He\u2019s had a really steady camp. I think he did an outstanding job. Obviously his availability has been critical and we\u2019ll just see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson had 28 carries as a rookie last season for the Steelers. The third-rounder\u2019s most notable play was a botched kickoff return in Week 2, when he let a live ball bounce past him and into the end zone, where the Seahawks recovered it for a touchdown.<\/p>\n

LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst both mentioned how well Johnson performed in college at Iowa and noted that it\u2019s a similar scheme to what the Packers run. Iowa\u2019s offensive coordinator Tim Lester spent a season on LaFleur\u2019s staff in Green Bay before going to the Hawkeyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaleb\u2019s a guy that we really liked coming out of Iowa,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cI\u2019ve talked to Tim Lester about him a little bit. Certainly I think he\u2019s really good at the outside zone stuff. … He\u2019s a young, talented player.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited to get him in here and certainly he\u2019s got a lot to learn in terms of how we go about everything and from a schematic standpoint, making sure he\u2019s dialed in, not only in our run game but obviously in the passing game, as well, whether it\u2019s protections or his route assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n

At tight end, half the position group is new in the last few days.<\/p>\n

The Packers agreed to terms with Smith on Thursday. To start the first team meeting with Smith in Green Bay, LaFleur introduced him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like trying to look where he\u2019s sitting; he\u2019s sitting right next to [quarterback]\u00a0Jordan Love<\/a>,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cI\u2019m like, that\u2019s a vet move, so he knows how to work it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran spent last season with the Steelers but also spent one year with LaFleur in Tennessee when LaFleur was the offensive coordinator in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only had him that one year and, obviously, he was able to know my talents and my capabilities and my abilities,\u201d Smith said of LaFleur. \u201cI was kind of in this system that he\u2019s established offensively for a while now in my career. So that also played into account of my decision of coming here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redman, who was acquired in a trade Sunday from the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> for a seventh-round pick in 2028, also has some indirect connection to the Packers\u2019 offense. He played last season for the Rams. LaFleur and Rams coach Sean McVay are not only close friends but also run a similar offense.<\/p>\n

\u201c[LaFleur\u2019s] brother was there last year, Mike, now I\u2019m here with him and I know they\u2019ve been together for quite a handful of years on and off,\u201d Redman said. \u201cGot here and [tight ends coach John Dunn] started talking about the offense and I was like, \u2018wait, I know that play [and] I know that play.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously there\u2019s going to be some new stuff, but whatever package they\u2019re going to use me in and getting my hand in the dirt, a lot of its carry over, so it\u2019s pretty nice to be able to go out there and play Day 1. Super helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least the Packers still have starting tight end Tucker Kraft<\/a>, even if it\u2019s on a snap limit since he hasn\u2019t played in a game since his tearing his ACL on Nov. 2. Both he and the Packers have tried to get a contract extension done before Week 1 but have yet to come to terms. Kraft, however, said that won\u2019t keep him from playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be on the field to play for the Green Bay Packers<\/a>, regardless of any contract situation, because I love this team,\u201d Kraft said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREEN BAY, Wis. — They insist it wasn\u2019t planned, but the three newest members of the Green Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,74825,514,82],"class_list":["post-880693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-green-bay-packers-sports-football-team-team-statscom-335","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}