After a disappointing performance in Friday’s joint practice, the Green Bay Packers rested 31 players and were crushed by the Denver Broncos in Sunday’s preseason clash at EmPower Field at Mile High. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix led two scoring drives and the Broncos took a 17-0 halftime lead, and a dismal offensive performance by the Packers resulted in a 27-2 loss.
Here are some things we learned (or didn’t learn) from Sunday’s loss to the Broncos:
We didn’t learn much
Let’s start with what wasn’t learned. The competition for the backup quarterback job wasn’t clarified. Jordan Morgan didn’t play, so the battle for the right guard job wasn’t over. Kickers tried to kick and missed. Receivers battling for roster spots felt the pain of struggling quarterbacks and pass protection. None of the backup offensive tackles stepped forward. Neither Eric Stokes nor Carrington Valentine played, so nothing happened there. Overall, the Packers sat 31 players — the vast majority of whom will determine the team’s season’s success — and the backups were outplayed early by the Broncos’ starters. The combination of little movement in the position battles and little positive from the backups made for a rough night.
Backup QBs shake confidence
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Matt LaFleur doesn’t think Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt had much help around them, but neither backup quarterback played well Sunday night, muddling the waters behind Jordan Love. Clifford fumbled a snap, completed just six passes and threw a bad interception while failing to lead the Packers to a scoring drive in four possessions. Pratt lost a fumble on a sack, produced just 52 yards passing on 16 attempts and failed to lead a scoring drive on eight chances. Clifford struggled for much of the summer, and Pratt is a seventh-round rookie facing his own steep learning curve as a freshman. Can LaFleur trust either of them to be QB2 early in the regular season?
No movement on the kicking competition
The Packers needed kicking opportunities but ultimately attempted only one field goal or extra point. And that one chance ended in disaster: veteran Greg Joseph sent a 47-yard attempt wide right. Over the past week, the Packers’ kicking competition has gone from good to downright worrisome. With Joseph and Anders Carlson shooting around 80 percent in training camp and the preseason, it’s increasingly possible that the Packers’ Week 1 kicker won’t make the roster.
Reserve offensive tackles struggle to recover
Add Andre Dillard to your 53-man Packers roster. He’s on the team because no other offensive tackle behind the two starters made a change. In fact, Sunday night’s loss highlighted the troubling lack of depth at the top offensive line position. Kadeem Telfort, Caleb Jones and Travis Glover all gave up multiple pressures and struggled to get around in the run game. First-round pick Jordan Morgan, who focuses on right guard, didn’t play Sunday night. The Packers may have to start giving him practice reps at offensive tackle in an effort to preserve the job in 2024.
The Newman experiment must end
Enough is enough. Royce Newman, now in his fourth year, can’t make the 53-man roster. The former starter was on the field until the fourth quarter, and his inconsistency from down to down must be driving the coaching staff crazy. On a sack in the first half, Newman got beat cleanly. Later, he couldn’t get any traction on a fourth-down run. Time to move on. The Packers have Sean Rhyan and Jacob Monk at multiple interior line positions, and Jordan Morgan can and will play guard.
Receivers’ competition fizzles out
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Packers’ passing game was sluggish from start to finish, so we may have to wait to get a clearer picture of the receiver battle. Malik Heath caught three passes for 22 yards, and at least two deep balls intended for him down the field nearly missed. Bo Melton caught just two passes for 10 yards. Grant DuBose didn’t catch any of his targets — one was fumbled, and the other was a fastball thrown far behind him by Michael Pratt on fourth down. DuBose helped his cause late in the game with a solo tackle covering a punt.
Intriguing battle at DE
It would be easy to slot Brenton Cox Jr. in as the Packers’ fifth defensive end, but don’t underestimate Arron Mosby. While Cox had a sack and at least two more pressures, Mosby also continued his playmaking summer. He drew a penalty and then provided the pressure that helped set up Kristian Welch’s second-half interception. Ideally, the Packers would be able to keep one of Cox or Mosby and keep the other on the practice squad.
Rough night for Kalen King
The seventh-round pick had a couple of big negative plays. On the first, he missed a tackle in the open field and allowed the Broncos to convert a third-and-17 on a pass that was completed well short of the posts. Later, he was one of the defenders who failed to make a tackle on Jarrett Stidham’s touchdown run, and he was beaten in coverage from the slot on another third-down conversion. Consider King squarely on the roster bubble heading into the final week of the preseason.
