During Saturday’s preseason opener in Cleveland, Green Bay Packers running back A.J. Dillon failed to get a yard on three consecutive carries and receiver Bo Melton had two or three drops — creating two of the more disappointing individual performances of the 23-10 win over the Browns.
Coach Matt LaFleur said the run blocking “wasn’t good enough” on any of the three carries for Dillon, who ended his day with four carries for two yards. After the Packers got to 2nd-and-1, Dillon received three straight carries but was stopped short on all three, including on fourth down.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of daylight to run the ball,” LaFleur said Monday. “Certainly, when you have three cracks at it to get a yard and you don’t get it done, that’s a problem. We have to play with a little better leverage. Get our pad level down…The opportunity wasn’t great in any of the (three) situations.”
The telling stat: Dillon finished with only two rushing yards, but he gained seven yards after first contact, per Pro Football Focus.
At receiver, Melton had a couple of potential catches bounce off his normally reliable hands. LaFleur said the fix is being more aggressive, but he also said the quarterbacks could deliver a better ball.
“You have to look both sides of it. A couple of those were definitely catchable balls, and any time it hits you in the hands you gotta make the play,” LaFleur said. “I think there were a couple of times where he had to be a little more aggressive and not allow it to get into his body. At the same time, the quarterback has to get it out in front of him. Certainly, plays we know he’s capable of making, and we’ve seen him make, but it all starts with aggressive hands mindset.”
On his first drop, the ball from Sean Clifford was slightly behind Melton. A later drop came in the red zone on a better throw from Michael Pratt.
Melton also mishandled a jet sweep handoff but was able to recover on the bounce and gain positive yards.
Dillon, now in his fifth season, is competing for snaps as the backup behind starter Josh Jacobs. Melton, who came on strong to end last season, is likely the fifth receiver on the depth chart behind Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks.
