The Green Bay Packers annual Family Night looked, well, familiar in so many ways. There were the Pop Warner kids playing the first football of the year on the stadium turf before warmups, the young lady cheer and dance squads, the military parachutes touching down with flair and of course, fireworks to cap the night.
But this was the first Family Night for new Head Coach Matt LaFleur and with nearly ideal weather, there was a lot to watch.
In one on one passing drills early, Aaron Rodgers on back to back plays, hit Jake Kumerow on a deep sideline route with good coverage from Jaire Alexander for about 37 yards and then found Davante Adams on a deep post against Kevin King for 40.
Fourth string quarterback Manny Wilkins got his shot later and hit Trevor Davis in stride down the right sideline behind Nadair Rouse for what would have been a 70 yard score.
LaFleur promised 11 on 11 move the ball periods and there were several. Rodgers and the starting offense drove 75 yards in 11 plays on the opening series, looking pretty sharp. He hit five different receivers on the drive that was capped by rookie Dexter Wiliams five yard touchdown run off left tackle.
There was a touchdown with the second teamers too, but it was a defensive score as Tony Brown jumped a third and long out route to Equamineous St. Brown. DeShone Kizer's pass was a bit too far inside and Brown cut in front of EQ for the pick and raced about 30 yards for the score.
Kizer, Boyle and Wilkins couldn't get the offense back in the end zone which kept Sam Ficken very busy. The only kicker available on the night wound up making 9 of 12 field goals from a variety of distances including ever longer bombs to end the night before the bombs went off above the stadium. After the practice, Ficken said it was up and down night that ended up when he convinced LaFleur to let him try one more toward the south end zone upper deck, from 63 yards and he made it.
(Audio: Sam Ficken)
Ficken handled all of the place kicking because Mason Crosby was among 8 players who did not dress for the night. Crosby has been battling a calf injury since the start of camp.
The others not going were Jamaal Williams, Aaron Jones, Josh Jackson, Kendall Donnerson Greg Roberts, Jason Spriggs and Fadol Brown.
Veteran right tackle Bryan Bulaga dressed and took part in early drills but didn't get any team work. That created a big opportunity for second year tackle Alex Light who worked with the number one offense on the right side all night.
Some other notable items about lineups and made plays:
Darius Shepherd was the only rookie lining up with the first team kickoff cover unit.
Jake Kumerow loves Lambeau in August. The pre-season star last year made a couple of terrific catches again, even dislocating a finger during individual drills but coming back in a team period to make a tough, rolling catch later.
Ka'Dar Hollman, the sixth round pick from Toledo, had the only other takeaway, sprinting and lunging for a tipped interception.
The second and third offensive lines had trouble creating any space for the running game against the back up front sevens.
Top draft pick Rashan Gary made an alert play to help thwart the starting O's two minute drill, recognizing a screen and deflecting the Rodgers pass.
Players were introduced to the fans by position and the veteran QB's pulled a fast one on Manny Wilkins. All four emerged from the tunnel but Rodgers, Kizer and Boyle stopped at the entrance to allow Wilkins to jog out on his own.
An official attendance wasn't announced but the crowd, while still very enthusiastic, looked down from recent years.
When it was all said and done, LaFleur held a brief session with reporters before joining his wife and two boys for the fireworks show.
He said he won't soon forget his first Family Night.
(Audio: Matt LaFleur)
The squad gets a day off Sunday before the Houston Texans come in for joint practices Monday and Tuesday ahead of next Thursday night's Pre-Season opener.