Wednesday Cheese Curds: OTAs begin and nobody is worried about Aaron Rodgers’ absence

Matt LaFleur least of all. But then again, Tuesday’s school shooting in Texas makes football feel totally irrelevant anyway.

On Tuesday, yet another school shooting rocked the United States, with at least 18 confirmed dead at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. In today’s curds, we will start by acknowledging this terrible act of violence and calling upon legislators in statehouses and in the U.S. Congress to finally take real action to try to address the causes of shootings like this, which have become all too common across the country in recent years.

If you are looking for a way to do something to help your community, please consider donating blood, especially if you are in an area anywhere near the site of the shooting in Texas. If past shooting events like this are any indication, expect a community funding website to host fundraising for the families of those affected (though it is a sad state of affairs that that sentence is even applicable),

You may also consider contacting your state and local representatives and urging them to take action. Click here if you need to verify who your Congressperson is in the House of Representatives and to find their contact information.

In the meantime, there are practices taking place in Green Bay, though it is difficult to focus on such frivolities in light of Tuesday’s events. Still, here are some of the notable items from the Packers’ Tuesday OTA practice, which was open to the media.

QB Aaron Rodgers not at start of Green Bay Packers’ OTAs, but coach Matt LaFleur not concerned | ESPN
No surprise here and we’re moving on. See you at minicamp in a few weeks, Aaron.

Jordan Love relishing another ‘great opportunity’ this offseason | Packers.com
Rodgers’ absence of course means that Love will get all of the first-team reps in OTAs, the second straight season that will be the case. Yes, that includes last year, when Rodgers still went on to win MVP. Did we mention we’re not worried about him missing practices in shorts?

Packers’ reloaded defense arrives at OTAs with lofty expectations – The Athletic ($)
Green Bay’s defense was a top-half unit in points allowed last season (21.8 per game) but that performance was inconsistent and didn’t match many advanced metrics. The challenge now, with a unit that has some truly impressive parts, is to ensure that the group matches or exceeds the value of the sum of those parts.

Packers TE Tyler Davis catches eye of special teams coach Rich Bisaccia | Packers Wire
This is now two prominent Packers officials who have talked up Davis, as GM Brian Gutekunst praised him after the 2022 NFL Draft.

See photos of the Green Bay Packers OTA workout | Packersnews.com
Tuesday’s practice was the first one open to the media after Monday was closed, so we have our first media photos of the spring.

BBC apologises after trainee posts ‘Manchester United are rubbish’ on news ticker – ABC News
Oh the fun things you could get away with as an intern at a major TV network…