Chase Claypool's tryout, Josh Jacobs' brother and more Packers rookie camp takeaways

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Claypool, a 2020 second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the only player among 38 on the field Friday in Green Bay with more than one year of NFL experience. There were six draft picks, 10 undrafted rookie signings, 13 players already on the roster before the draft, eight tryout players and Claypool, who arrived in Green Bay with 175 catches, 2,261 yards and 13 touchdowns in 58 career games. However, the 27-year-old hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2023. “You guys saw him, right? Certainly, he had great film out there. He’s been productive and he looks like he’s in great shape. He’s big,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said after practice. “We’ll see how it goes.” Claypool, who’s listed at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds on Pro Football Reference, played two and a half seasons for the Steelers before they dealt him to the Chicago Bears for a second-round pick at the trade deadline in 2022. The Packers were also interested in Claypool at the time, and they’re probably glad it didn’t work out. Claypool flamed out in Chicago after catching just 18 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown over 10 games. The Bears traded him and a seventh-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for a sixth-round pick at the deadline in 2023, and Claypool caught just four passes for 26 yards in nine games. The Buffalo Bills cut Claypool during training camp in 2024 after he suffered a significant foot injury, and he’s been unsigned since. Claypool shared a lengthy Instagram post last July detailing what he went through in the summer of 2024, writing, “Signing with Buffalo was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me. I was the strongest, fastest, and most prepared I had ever been. I was playing my best football — working my way up from LAST (14th) string to taking first-team reps by camp … I tore a ligament and a tendon in my second toe and have been rehabbing, working out, and recovering every day for the past year. I am back to being the strongest and fastest I’ve ever been and couldn’t be more excited to step back out on the field and let my actions speak for themselves. I deeply and truly believe that the pieces will align, and I will work my way into the position to show off what’s been suppressed these last two years.” After not signing with a team last season, Claypool recently posted a hype video of himself on Instagram with the caption, “Back soon.” Among those who liked both posts by Claypool? Packers quarterback Jordan Love, a fellow 2020 draftee. Chase Claypool a tryout player at Packers rookie camp pic.twitter.com/CHcJdWLtnx — Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) May 1, 2026 The Packers’ wide receiver room is headlined by Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and 2025 first-round pick Matthew Golden, with Savion Williams, Skyy Moore and Bo Melton behind them. Claypool faces long odds to make the team, but he must first earn a contract from this weekend’s tryout. Then comes competition against those names and bottom-of-the-roster receivers like Isaiah Neyor, Will Sheppard and Jakobie Keeney-James. Other than Claypool’s surprise participation, here are five other things we learned Friday at Lambeau Field after speaking with the draft picks and other players in person for the first time. 1. Second-round cornerback Brandon Cisse said he talks to former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore every day. Both played cornerback at South Carolina and struck up a friendship before Cisse’s lone season with the Gamecocks last year (he transferred after two seasons at North Carolina State). Gilmore was the No. 10 pick in 2012, played 13 seasons in the NFL, won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, and earned various honors such as DPOY in 2019, first-team All-Pro in 2018 and 2019, and Pro Bowl selections in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. “Got his card at an event and just sent it to him,” Cisse said. “Just a huge fan of him, and when I was able to get his number, kind of hit it off because he’s a football guy. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor than somebody who’s going to be wearing a gold jacket.” 2. Speaking of mentors, third-round defensive tackle Chris McClellan said the first Packers player to reach out to him was running back Josh Jacobs. Their connection? Both grew up in Tulsa, Okla. “I’m so blessed to have somebody from my same hometown in Josh Jacobs to kind of look up to … he’s been in the league and been a successful player and been able to kinda do the right things so far, so I’ll be definitely learning from him and just everybody here,” McClellan said. “He was the first player to reach out and text me and just congratulate me and just remind me, the process is over now. It’s time to get to work and come in and use this blessing to my advantage, right, because not a lot of people are fortunate enough to make it out of the area that we come from. So he’s just saying, ‘don’t take it for granted and come out here and work like every day your last.’” 3. The Packers’ best player was quick to sign off on the team’s selection of Penn State edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton in the fourth round last week. Micah Parsons, a fellow former Nittany Lions edge rusher, offered his approval on Instagram and gave Dennis-Sutton his cell phone number in short order. The two have since been in touch. “Right after everything happened, he hit me. Obviously, he’s come back to Penn State a couple times, but I’ve talked to him, just trying to get some advice already. But he’ll be here soon, and I’m sure we’ll get a lot closer then,” Dennis-Sutton said. “’Just be ready to work,’ it’s the biggest thing he said. ‘Don’t worry about anything outside of working, man.’ So I’m here for the team, whatever the team needs me to do, and I’m ready to work.” 4. Quarterback Kyle McCord was one of 13 players already on the roster participating in rookie minicamp practice. McCord was a sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles last year and spent the entire season on their practice squad. In 2024, he eclipsed Deshaun Watson’s single-season ACC passing yards record while at Syracuse and will now compete for the Packers’ vacant backup quarterback job after Malik Willis signed with the Miami Dolphins. McCord was a reserve/future signing in January and spent the first part of the offseason watching Love’s tape from last season to learn what the Packers asked him to do and how to best emulate it. “I think Malik definitely set the blueprint of what to do and how to make the most out of that opportunity,” McCord said. “When I had the chance to sign here, it was really a no-brainer in my mind.” McCord also called LaFleur a “QB guru” and said the head coach’s track record played a significant role in his decision to sign with the Packers. 5. One of the most intriguing names on the rookie minicamp roster is Isaiah Jacobs, an undrafted rookie running back from UAB who arrived on a tryout. If you watched Friday’s practice, you might’ve thought the vets were on the field because he bears a striking resemblance to his older brother, Josh. Josh is listed at 5-10, 223 pounds, while his younger brother measured 5-11, 228, before the draft. “You almost have to do a double-take if you just quickly glance, that it wasn’t Josh out there,” LaFleur said. “Yeah, they look very, very similar.” Josh Jacobs’ younger brother, UAB running back Isaiah Jacobs, here for a tryout pic.twitter.com/pM4K9wIFxT — Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) May 1, 2026 While Josh was a 2019 first-round pick who has become one of the NFL’s best running backs, Isaiah is just hoping for a 90-man roster spot after running for 342 yards at 4.3 yards per carry and four touchdowns in 12 games last season. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms