Gruesome ankle injury couldnt keep Kamal Hadden down

Wes Hodkiewicz

GREEN BAY The Packers wore their spider pads as they returned to Ray Nitschke Field for their fourth practice of training camp on Sunday.

Here are five things we learned:

1.Kamal Haddenis thankful to be back on the field again.

The Packers' second-year cornerback admittedly wasn't sure what his future in football looked like after suffering a gruesome ankle injury last December against Baltimore.

But he was determined to do everything in his power this offseason to find out.

After seven relentless months of rehab, Hadden finally got to the other side of the injury on Sunday when he was cleared off the physically unable to perform list.

It brought every emotion out of Hadden, who repeatedly thanked the Packers' training staff during a 12-minute interview with reporters for all the time they spent with him during the offseason to get back on the field.

"I wanted to get a group picture with me and all of them because we all put in a lot of work to get back," Hadden said.

"It was hours and hours and hours of rehab and ups and downs, emotional times and (the trainers) were there for me. They walked me through every step and every phase. It meant everything for me to get back out there."

Hadden's injury came with brutal timing. After spending his entire rookie season on Green Bay's practice squad in 2024, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound cornerback had just worked his way onto the field with starting defense.

While defending an outside-zone run on his sixth defensive snap against the Ravens, Hadden fractured both his tibia and fibula, and dislocated his ankle in the melee.

The video of the injury is not for the squeamish, but there's rarely a day Hadden has not watched it.

"When it first happened, I watched it like 100,000 times. I keep watching it," Hadden said. "If I could re-do it, man, I would do it again. Go out there. That's the way we were taught. I was taught once I see the tight end crack and it was toss-cracked to me and I'm the open hat, I gotta go down there and set the edge and set the tone of the game and that's what I wanted to do."

Hadden, who spent most of the offseason in Green Bay, was relegated to using a scooter for more than two months after surgery. He received an early assist from his mom, family and close friends but eventually had to learn to do things on his own, including learning how to cook.

Hadden has impressed the Packers' coaching staff and locker room with his resiliency and growth over the past two years. Now, he hopes to factor into a tight cornerback competition.

He didn't have to wait long for a welcome back. Hadden dislocated his finger on an early ball drill in Sunday's practice. Laughing at the sight of his finger jetting out, Hadden went back to the sideline and had a trainer reset it.

They had his back in December. They still got him now.

"I wear my emotions on my sleeve a lot," Hadden said. "Some days, man, it wasn't great. Some days I came in and I wasn't feeling good and some days I wasn't feeling the best.

"I just wanted to thank them, man. Thank them, thank the team for giving me the time, giving me the space, giving me everything that I needed to ultimately get to this point today."

2.Zach Bako-Bewele's name change is meant to honor his Nigerian heritage.

While his No. 50 jersey remains the same, the Packers' starting right tackle will now carry "Bako-Bewele" on the nameplate moving forward after changing his last name this offseason.

The fifth-year veteran explained the name is a combination of his grandparents' last names. Bako (pronounced BOCK-oh) is his dad's mom's last name and Bewele (be-WELL-aye) is my dad's dad's last name.

"Talking to my dad a little bit, I just wanted to have a name that represented where I came from, my ancestry, just get back to my roots," said Bako-Bewele, whose father Michael is full-blooded Nigerian. "When (my grandfather) was coming over because they don't really do names the same way it got changed because Tom is my dad's dad's first name."

Bako-Bewele said he'd been thinking about the change for a few years prior to officially starting the process in March.

"That'sreally the main reasonwhy I did it," Bako-Bewele said. "Especially when I start having kids, I want to have a name that I can pass down where it represents where they came from, where I came from. I just feel like that name people will see that name and have a good understanding of who I am, where I come from."

Bako-Bewele has been to limited to individual periods in practice during the opening week of camp after undergoing knee surgery in the offseason but is hoping to return to team 11-on-11 in "the next week or so."

3. The Packers' offense has some tricks up its sleeve.

Amidst the team's 1-hour, 40-minute practice, Green Bay's second-team offense showed some flair when it busted out a hook-and-ladder that went for a touchdown.

Backup quarterbackTyrod TaylorhitBo Meltonunderneath before the third-year receiver lateralled the ball to running backPierre Strong Jr., who immediately brought the crowd to its feet.

Melton felt like Strong scored on the play, but he was marked down.

"That was a kind of a unique play," Melton said. "We were in a situation at the end of the half a 19-second situation. We had to score and we had no timeouts. Coach (Matt) LaFleur, he's a mastermind, so he drew that up, and I thought we scored. They called him down, but it was a great play."

4. Defensive tackleAnthony Campbellis getting his hands on the football.

After joining the Packers during the final week of the 2025 season, the 6-foot-6, 307-pound defensive tackle has been active at the line of scrimmage during the first week of training camp.

Campbell was only credited with two PBUs during his four-year college career but deflected two passes during Sunday's practice after also batting down a ball on Friday.

"I'm a tall dude. I'm 6-6, 300 pounds, so I gotta do what I gotta do to do my job," Campbell said. "We do a drill for it every day, we hit the pad and then get our hands up once the quarterback gets his hands up."

5.Brandon Cisseworked with first-team defense withCarrington Valentineout.

The Packers' rookie cornerback lined up oppositeKeisean NixonwhileBenjamin St-JusteandJaylin Simpsonworked outside with the twos.

Valentine participated in early individuals but didn't work in team, dropping out of practice with an apparent injury.

Rookie offensive linemanJager Burtonwas back on the field after missing two practices with a hamstring strain.