The Green Bay Packers made their preseason debut on Friday evening against the Cincinnati Bengals, giving us our first look at first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love, who put together a very sound performance that included a scoring drive.
The Packers got a pair of second-half touchdowns from Emanuel Wilson and beat the Bengals, 36-19.
As I will be doing following each Packers game this season, here are my instant takeaways from what took place on the field.
— Several players were inactive for the Packers, including Eric Stokes, who is still on the PUP list. Rashan Gary and Grant DuBose, which is not surprising, given that both were activated earlier this week. Starters Jaire Alexander (groin), Kenny Clark, and David Bakhtiari were sitting out—we likely won’t see them at all this preseason. Also out were Innis Gaines (quad) and Lew Nichols (shoulder). Both have not practiced this week and, unfortunately, missed valuable playing time as both battle for a roster spot. Jake Hanson was out as well, which has been the case for much of training camp.
— Unlike in previous years, there were a lot of starters on the field for the Packers. As I’m sure you recall, this team has struggled in Week 1 under LaFleur.
— Similarly to a few of Love’s recent performances in practice, we saw him miss some early throws, but he settled in well, completing 7-of-10 passes for 46 yards and a touchdown. We saw Love do a little bit of everything—attempt a deep pass, throw on the run, a touch pass, and utilize the quick passing game.
— Matt LaFleur has talked about how it’s process over results right now for Love, with the thought being that if the process is consistent, the results will follow. It really felt like we saw Love executing the process part of the equation in Cincinnati. He was poised in and out of the huddle. Had command of the line of scrimmage. His footwork on the initial viewing was sound, he went through his progressions, and made good decisions.
— Luke Musgrave was a big part of the early passing game, with three of Love’s 10 targets coming his direction.
— There still may be ups and downs, but the Packers young receivers are exciting. As he did last season, we saw Christian Watson’s gravity with the attention that he draws. Even without the ball he was impacting the game. Romeo Doubs is really good at creating separation as a route runner. Jayden Reed brings more speed and we saw his ability to make contested catches, while Samori Toure looks much improved over last year.
— The starting offensive line consisted of Yosh Nijman at left tackle, followed by Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Jon Runyan and Zach Tom. Overall, this starting unit held up quite well.
— Some other notes along the offensive line: we saw both Tom and Runyan at center with the second-team offense. In regards to Runyan at center, as LaFleur says, they are always looking for the best five. Sean Rhyan has looked very good in training camp, but had a rough performance against Cincinnati. Also, Royce Newman was still on the field in the fourth quarter, perhaps a telling sign that he is very much competing for a roster spot. On a positive note, Rasheed Walker looked very good at tackle.
— If you’ve read any of my ‘Takeaways’ articles from training camp, you won’t be surprised to read this, but the Packers were using a lot of two tight end sets.
— The fullback has returned to Green Bay. Josiah Deguara was listed on the depth chart in that role, while Henry Pearson saw some snaps with the starters out of the backfield. Pearson made a nice block on Emanuel Wilson’s third quarter touchdown run.
— The starting safeties were again Darnell Savage and Jonathan Owens—which has been the case the last week. We then saw Tarvarius Moore next to Owens, followed by the combination of Moore and Rudy Ford. Ford then started the third quarter at safety with Dallin Leavitt. LaFleur said we would see a lot of rotating at this position, but after starting for much offseason programs and the start of training camp, Ford was the fourth option at safety tonight.
— There were a number of blitzes from the Packers tonight, whether it be Keisean Nixon from the slot, or Green Bay sending their inside linebackers. We also saw Lukas Van Ness and Brenton Cox at edge rusher run several stunts. Including practice, this was Cox’s best performance this summer. Hopefully we see a more aggressive Packers defense this season.
— An under the radar name to watch moving forward is edge rusher Keshawn Banks. He was playing on the starting kick return unit, and a nice run stop, and made a downfield tackle. The edge rusher room is crowded, so he is likely to be on the practice squad, but keep your eyes on him, nonetheless.
— Speaking of edge rusher, Justin Hollins was starting next to Preston Smith. All signs point to him being on the team and having a key role.
— LaFleur said two weeks ago that Jonathan Ford has “upped his game,” and we saw him in the backfield on a few occasions. Can he make the team as the sixth interior defensive lineman?
— Sean Clifford had a pair of interceptions, but he made some really impressive throws as well, hanging in the pocket with pressure around him, throwing into tight windows, as well as downfield. He also made some plays with his legs As we watched him play, I kept thinking about this quote this past week from LaFleur:
“I think he’s got some gamer to him. Even when he hasn’t made the best of decisions, he is a pretty resilient guy and able to bounce back, and that’s something you can’t coach.”
— Patrick Taylor appeared to be the featured back once AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones were done playing. LaFleur said each of the three running backs competing for that third spot would be featured in each preseason game. Taylor didn’t get a lot going on the ground, but upon the initial viewing, he picked up some blitzes, which, along special teams play, are going to be key factors in who the third running back is.
— I don’t want to be a prisoner of the moment, but should we be talking more about Emanuel Wilson after tonight’s performance. As I just mentioned, how he competes on special teams and as a blocker will be very important, but he’s got our attention heading into the second preseason game.
— Without Jaire Alexander, Carrington Valentine got the start, and after a strong start to training camp, he was really able to build upon it with his performance against the Bengals. Valentine came away with an interception, two pass breakups, and made a tackle in the run game.
— Daniel Whelan and Pat O’Donnel were both holding on Anders Carlson’s extra point and field goal attempts. He was, again, inconsistent, going 3-for-5 on extra points. For what it’s worth, both misses came while O’Donnell was holding. And he was good from 45 yards. O’Donnell handled the one punt the Packers had, while we saw Whelan taking kickoffs in the second half. Brian Gutekunst was mentioning patience last week, but it might be time to bring in some competition at kicker.
— As LaFleur said last week about Malik Heath, he is “very physical,” and we saw that with his downfield blocking. Heath also had a few receptions. The sixth receiver spot is available (if the Packers keep that many), and Heath, as well as Bo Melton have separated themselves in that competition. Things like blocking and special teams play will be key factors.
— We saw a few nice pass rush reps from Devonte Wyatt and run defense snaps from TJ Slaton. Both have had strong starts to training camp.
— Here are a few special teams notes, specifically, some back-end of the roster players I saw with the starting units: Bo Melton, Patrick Taylor, Tyler Goodson, Keshawn Banks, Shemar Jean-Charles. The kick return men were Goodson and Samori Toure, with Jayden Reed on punt returns.
— The Packers rookie class had some either strong performances or serious flashes, including from Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave, Colby Wooden, Lukas Van Ness, Sean Clifford, and Carrington Valentine.
— Unfortunately, there were a few injuries that took place: Tyler Goodson (shoulder), Caleb Jones (ankle), Luke Tenuta (ankle), Tyler Davis (knee), and Corey Ballentine (stinger).
