Packers kickers battle at packed Lambeau

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Mason Crosby chuckled when Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy inadvertently referred to Giorgio Tavecchio, Crosby’s young adversary this summer, as “Sergio” earlier this week.

Crosby will be just fine as long as he sees his name listed in some form on the Packers’ season-opening roster in about a month.

The seventh-year veteran is being challenged for the first time in training camp since his rookie season by Tavecchio, a first-year hopeful.

The two kickers took their showdown under the lights before a packed house at Lambeau Field on Saturday night. A record crowd of 63,047 turned out for Green Bay’s annual Family Night scrimmage.

McCarthy gave Crosby and Tavecchio plenty of opportunities to trade kicks.

And the left-footed Tavecchio, signed off the street in the offseason, might have gotten a leg up on veteran incumbent Crosby, who struggled in an extensive field-goal session to conclude the 90-minute scrimmage.