Let’s get back at it!

Blake Martinez and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix share a joke after an OTA session last year.

Early-season dates announced

Kelly O’Day

Editor, Packerland Titletown USA

The NFL alerted teams when they would be allowed to start their offseason workouts leading into organized team activities (OTAs) on Monday, April 3, and designated the Packers for an April 18 beginning.

Green Bay will hold OTAs from May 22-24, May 31-June 2, and June 5-8. They will saddle up for mandatory minicamp June 13-15.

Teams break their off-season into three distinct phases under NFL guidance and the terms settled in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Phase One lasts two weeks and is constrained to strength and conditioning, along with rehabbing of injuries.

Player instruction and drills on an individual basis is featured in Phase Two, which takes up the next three weeks. Offensive and defensive groups can practice, but not against each other. Live contact is prohibited.

Live contact is still out for Phase Three, 10 days of practices over a four-week period. But teams may use 7-on-7, 9-on-9 and 11-on-11 drilling.

The Seahawks have violated the non-contact clause of the rules two times over the past three years. They were fined $400,000, lose the first week of OTAs (three sessions) in 2017 and were forced to forfeit their fifth-round draft pick in 2017 for the most-recent violation.