Paul Bretl | 8/7/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — From the sounds of it, the plan going into the preseason opener is that most of the Packers’ starters will see some action on Saturday evening against the New York Jets. How much the starters will play still remains to be seen.
“I think it’s a lot, you’ve got to feel where your team is,” LaFleur on playing in the preseason. “My experience, I would say that I think it’s good for all of our guys to kind of go knock the rust off a little bit, understanding there’s a little bit of a risk with that.”
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That “little bit of risk” that LaFleur is referring to is potential injuries, which innately come with playing the game of football.
Ultimately, that possibility wasn’t going to be the determining factor in whether or not LaFleur played the Packers’ starters. What was a key part of that decision-making process was some data that LaFleur–and I imagine other teams–received from the NFL regarding playing in the preseason.
“There’s a lot of injury data that supports playing guys in the preseason in regards to reducing the injury risk early into the season,” LaFleur said.
He then later added, “That’s real data from the NFL. They’ll tell you, according to our medical people and our performance people, if you get X amount of reps, you’re however many times less likely to get injured within the first four to five weeks of the regular season.”
Another factor in this equation, to at least some degree, were the slow starts the Packers’ had during the 2021 and 202 seasons, when most starters didn’t play during the preseason.
On the road in Jacksonville to face the New Orleans Saints in 2021, the Packers lost 38-3 to open the season. In 2022, on the road in Minnesota, Green Bay would lose 23-7.
“We got our a** kicked,” LaFleur said about those season openers. “You try to learn from every situation. And I just think that it’s a different feel when you go out there. I think it’s every opportunity you go out there, and just the process I would say of getting ready to compete and go play a collision sport. You’ve got to get your mind right.
“What’s beautiful about our preseason schedule – you’ve got a night kickoff, you’ve got an early kickoff and then you have that late afternoon kickoff. So it kind of gets the guys a little bit prepped for what they’re going to encounter early on in the season.”
For the starters and key role players, any in-game reps and the preparation beforehand is an opportunity to knock off some rust to get ready for the regular season. But for many on the roster, these games are an opportunity to fight for playing time or a roster spot.
Of course, LaFleur wants to see each unit on offense move the ball up and down the field, while each defensive unit gets stops and takeaways. But when it comes to evaluating the performance of his team, it’ll be the little things that have LaFleur’s attention.
“I just think how guys react to every situation, both positively and negatively,” LaFleur said on what he’s looking for. “If you make a bad play, can you regroup and recover the next play? Just how guys are competing, how they’re running to the football, just all the little things they’re doing away from the ball are equally as important.”
The messaging all week from LaFleur to the players is that everyone should be ready to play on Saturday. The players have been preparing that way and are excited to get on the football field against an actual opponent.
“I think it’s always nice to get a couple preseason snaps just to put yourself back in that game mode mentality,” said Jordan Love.
On the prospect of playing, Kenny Clark would say, ” I’m ready to play. Whatever we doing, I’m ready to play. We got plans on playing, so that’s the mindset.”