Aaron Jones rides bike to training camp, keeping with Packers tradition
Some NFL players show up to training camp displaying their new Bentleys, but not the Green Bay Packers.
Vince Lombardi never would have gone for that.
Since the Lombardi days the Packers have been riding into camp on the first day on bicycles.
It’s a tradition now known as the Dream Drive. Nowadays, members of the team ride alongside children as they enter the team’s training facility. Usually, the players are riding on children’s bicycles as well.
It’s the third year in a row the Packers have teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Green Bay to bring players and local children together at the start of training camp.
While day one of training camp is often somewhat relaxed for most teams, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy joked that the bike ride might have been the most strenuous activity on the schedule.
“You know, just to see some of our players on those bikes, I think that might be the hardest thing they do all day. But it’s an incredible atmosphere. I know they feel good. It’s the first couple days of training camp. This will be the best that their bodies feel for the next seven months,” he said.
Former UTEP running back Aaron Jones rode in on his bike to practice. It was a leisurely beginning to what will be a fierce position battle at camp.
Jones will be competing with Ty Montgomery, a relative newcomer to the position, but not to the team.
He’ll also be battling his friend and fellow rookie Jamaal Williams out of BYU, who was selected in the fourth round of the draft – one round ahead of Jones.
The Packers also chose a third back in the draft in Devante Mays from Utah State in round seven.
Plus, the team has brought a couple more undrafted backs to camp in Kalif Phillips and William Stanback.
Coach McCarthy said that in order to emerge as a favorite, backs will have to show they can protect Aaron Rodgers and be productive as a “third-down back.”
“The first job responsibility, if you want to get into the specifics, is you want your running backs to all be three-down players,” McCarthy said. “You want the element of no huddle available to you. You want to be able to turn that on any time you’re in the game. That’s the way you want to play. That’s the way they’re trained.”
