Paul Bretl | 8/24/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers wrapped up their preseason with a win over the Baltimore Ravens. Next up for the team are some difficult roster decisions with cuts looming and needing to be completed by 3:00 PM CT on Tuesday, August 27th.
But before we dive into that conversation, with the game having finished up not too long ago, here are my instant takeaways.
The starters did not play. Matt LaFleur was non-committal all week in regards to whether the starters were going to play in this one. From the sounds of it, he wanted to evaluate how the week went. Then after an impressive all-around performance in Thursday’s joint practice, it’s not a surprise that the starters did not play.
“I thought it was a pretty productive week for us,” said LaFleur post-game. “Gotta give hats off to the Baltimore Ravens, first class operation. I gotta lotta respect for Harbaugh and his crew, and just the way those guys conducted themselves in practice. It was a great opportunity for us to play and practice against a premier team in this league, and I thought there was a lot of value into that, and I was pleased with our performance today.”
After sitting 31 players against Denver, 38 players did not suit up against Baltimore. Of note, not playing included Carrington Valentine, Edgerrin Cooper, and Jordan Morgan. All three have missed time with various injuries and recently returned to the individual portions of practice. It’ll be interesting to see what the extent of the roles are Week 1 for Morgan and Cooper–neither of whom played in the preseason. Also not practicing were Andre Dillard (shoulder), Tyler Davis (shoulder), and AJ Dillon (stinger), all of whom did not practice this week. A new addition to the injury report was Robert Rochell with a hip injury.
The starting offensive line consisted of Kadeem Telfort at left tackle, followed by Royce Newman, Jacob Monk, Lecitus Smith, and Travis Glover. Newman and Smith would both rotate reps at left and right guard. Telfort and Glover played the first few series, then we saw Caleb Jones (left tackle) and Luke Tenuta (right tackle) begin seeing snaps later in the game. Emanuel Wilson, Ben Sims, Bo Melton, Grant DuBose, and Malik Heath were the skill position starters.
Both Telfort and Glover appeared to perform better than in Denver. The more I think about it, my guess is that both of them make the 53-man, along with Dillard, with the Packers going heavy with 10 offensive linemen. Telfort and Glover are both young developmental tackles, and I just don’t see the Packers parting with either for that reason. Overall, the Packers offensive line played well, particularly in the run game, with Green Bay rushing for nearly 200 yards.
“I feel like I did everything I could,” said Telfort. “I made a huge, huge leap from last year to this year, and I just focused on the small things. Talking to some of the older guys like Elgton and Zach Tom, anytime I have any questions I just ask them to clear my mind and help me play faster, give me a little edge. I feel like I did everything I was supposed to this go ‘round.”
The Packers starting nickel defense included Cox, Wooden, Brooks, and Mosby on the defensive line. At linebacker were Kristian Welch and Ty’Ron Hopper. The cornerbacks were Kalen King (slot), Corey Ballentine, and Germon Green. At safety was Zayne Anderson and Anthony Johnson. Of note, on obvious passing downs, Christian Young–a former college safety–came in for Welch. I also wouldn’t read much into Anderson being on the field over Kitan Oladapo. Anderson was the free safety and Oladapo is more a strong safety, a role that Johnson–who has been ahead of Oladapo all of camp–was filling.
Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden were going up against backups and looked the part doing so. A nice finish to the preseason for the second year defensive tackles.
Kalen King made another splash play with the forced fumble. By my count, he’s also had a “sack” and two interceptions in practice this summer. He spent most of his career on the boundary at Penn State, but acclimated well to the nickel, where his physical play-style is showcased.
“I think it went great,” said King of his performance. “I felt like I was flying around, racing to the ball, just making plays and trusting myself.”
Overall, a really good performance by the Packers second and third defensive units. All three levels were flying around the field and swarming to the ball, which helped create three turnovers. As an offense, the Ravens would average under 4.0 yards per play and finished with under 200 total yards.
Speaking of turnovers, Arron Mosby was responsible for two of them. He sacked the Ravens quarterback creating a fumble that Anthony Johnson was able to scoop and score on. Then dropping back into coverage, he had an interception. This past week, LaFleur spoke highly of Mosby’s performance this summer. LaFleur would also mention Cox, who I still think makes the team over Mosby. I think this is one of those instances where you have to ask: who is more likely to get to the practice squad? And I believe that player is Mosby.
“Really just read my keys,” said Mosby of the sack. “The tackle went down and just kept going vertical and finished with a run-run-reach and try to get the strip-sack. The ball came out and tried to go get the scoop and score but my teammate got it and he finished it off.”
The backup quarterback battle. Both Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt had their moments. The back-shoulder touchdown throw from Pratt to Bo Melton was a beautifully placed ball. Clifford’s touchdown pass to Heath was impressive as well, avoiding the linebacker and putting right on Heath.
“It was a great offensive call,” said Pratt of his touchdown pass. “Got the one-on-one coverage we were looking for. It was a slot fade and he ran a great route. The offensive line did a great job protecting, giving me some time and he made a play. It was awesome.”
However, as we’ve seen all summer, there were lows for each as well. The interception thrown by Pratt looked like just a bad decision. Clifford, meanwhile, struggled to find a rhythm early on. Pratt was by far the more efficient of the two, both by completion percentage and yards per attempt.
“I thought we did some good things today,” said Clifford. “A little bit slower start in the passing game. Getting heated up a little bit, I thought we rebounded pretty well. Made some adjustments at halftime and it definitely showed. It was a good day. When you win by that margin in the NFL, whether it’s preseason or not, you gotta be happy with it. Got a touchdown at Lambeau, so happy about that.”
My gut still says the Packers keep both quarterbacks because in wanting to get back to “drafting and developing” quarterbacks as Brian Gutekunst has said, time is needed for that to take place. As far as who the backup is–well, that’s anyone’s guess right now. Particularly as of late, Pratt seems to be the more in control of the two.
Emanuel Wilson again looked quite good with the ball in his hands. He has been really difficult to bring down, coming into the game with seven missed tackles forced and averaging 3.69 yards after contact. Another sneak peak at my roster prediction, I’m going to have him on it. The area of continued emphasis for Wilson will be in pass protection.
“I felt like I put in good work. It starts in practice,” said Wilson. “The coaches always get on me about my pad level and hitting the holes when I see them. I’ve been trying to do that every time I get the ball.”
Malik Heath has had a really good week. It was a very good day for Heath, who is coming off two good days of practice. Even in the Denver game where the stat sheet didn’t reflect a whole lot, there were two deep balls where he had his defender beat, but the Packers quarterbacks were unable to connect with him. Deciding who will be the sixth receiver–Heath or Grant DuBose–won’t be an easy one, and it’ll come down to a litany of factors.
“You’re looking at everything,” said LaFleur about the receiver battle on Wednesday. “I think any time you’re talking about that spot in particular, whether it’s the fifth receiver or the third runner, some of your backup linebackers, your fourth safety, your fifth corner, those guys have to be able to contribute on special teams. Absolutely. And I think that’s pretty standard around the league, but also, I mean you certainly want someone that can come in and help you on the offensive side of the ball and right now we’ve got a great competition. I think all those guys are doing a really good job.”
In previous years, it felt like Zayne Anderson and Kristian Welch would have been good bets to make the roster because of their contributions on special teams. And we again saw today the impact that both players have in that phase of the game. However, with so many draft picks the last two years in particular, I doubt there is room for both and there may not be room for either. If on the roster, Welch’s impact will come on teams, but credit to him for his play the last two games as the middle linebacker, which included coming away with two interceptions and almost another.
“Honestly, it was similar to the one I tipped,” said Welch of his interception. “I should’ve had another interception. It was kind of similar. That defense allows us to keep our eyes and it’s just zone coverage, so keep our eyes on the quarterback. Kind of had a good bead on it. Knew the down and distance on that play that he was probably – they were running a lot of in-breakers, so I knew that was something they were going to continue to do; it’s their offense. So, had a good bead on that one, specifically.”
Keeping Anderson as the sixth safety or Welch as the sixth linebacker means going light elsewhere–potentially releasing a more long-term higher-upside player. It’ll be really interesting to see how this plays out. With that said, I’ll reshare this quote from Brian Gutekunst at the NFL Combine about the linebacker position. Take it as you will–perhaps it’s nothing–but it’s stuck with me.
“There’s not a lot of personnel changes we’re going to have to make with the scheme change,” said Gutekunst at the NFL Combine, “but we’ll probably have to carry a couple more linebackers into training camp and maybe one or two more through the 53- and 69-man roster as we go through.”
Anders Carlson just couldn’t put this competition away. While Greg Joseph was 2-for-2 on field goals, which included making a 55 yarder. Anders Carlson was 1-for-2, making a 54 yarder, but missing a 32 yarder. Joseph has bounced back the last two days after a rough stretch, however, my question–even with Carlson’s miss–I don’t know that there is a long enough runway for Joseph to rebound after what had been a rough showing the previous week. Over the last 2-3 weeks, Carlson has been the more steady of the two. Carlson has made 81.6% of his kicks this summer and Joseph 78.9%, but we will see, and perhaps the Packers kicker isn’t on the roster yet.
“I feel like I was just going a little fast, trying to force the ball where I wanted to instead of just being smooth,” said Joseph of his rough stretch. “Today smooth was fast and it felt good. It felt good to get back to that.”