Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay Packers are doing mandatory minicamp a bit differently than the rest of the teams around the NFL.
On Tuesday, McCarthy announced that he excused 16 tenured veterans from this mandatory set of practices so that the Packers can focus on giving valuable reps to younger players who need to develop.
McCarthy: We have 16 veterans that have been excused from minicamp. They deserve it based on where they are in their careers. There are only so many reps in the offseason. It's a great opportunity for our younger players.
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) June 12, 2018
Not surprisingly, the team’s two young quarterbacks, DeShone Kizer and Brett Hundley are two of the players who will benefit from this decision.
McCarthy on Kizer and Hundley: Now it's time for those guys to get those reps. Important time, particularly for quarterbacks. We're throwing more than we have before.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) June 12, 2018
Really, this is a very strong move by McCarthy that at least in some small way helps his team overcome the significant limitations the current CBA imposes on getting young players the practice time they desperately need.
It will be interesting to see if other teams employ this strategy in the years to come.