After a disappointing performance at Friday’s joint practice, the Green Bay Packers rested 31 players before being crushed by the Denver Broncos in Sunday’s preseason clash at EmPower Field at Mile High. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix led a pair of scoring drives as the Broncos took a 17-0 lead into halftime, before a Packers offense slammed the ball 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 position wasn’t clear. Jordan Morgan didn’t play, so the battle for the right guard position didn’t play out in full. Kickers tried and missed. Receivers vying for a spot in the lineup felt the pain of struggling quarterbacks and pass protection. None of the backup offensive linemen stepped up. Neither Eric Stokes nor Carrington Valentine played, so nothing happened there. All told, the Packers started 31 players — the huge majority of whom will be crucial to the team’s season — and the backups were outplayed early by the Broncos’ starters. Mixing in minor moves in the position battles with a few clear backup spots made for a hard night.
Backup point guards undermine confidence
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Matt LaFleur didn’t think Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt got much aid, but neither backup quarterback played well Sunday night, which clouded Jordan Love’s image. Clifford fumbled the ball, completed only six passes and threw a bad interception while failing to score on four possessions for the Packers. Pratt fumbled the ball on a sack, completed only 52 yards on 16 attempts and failed to lead a scoring drive on eight attempts. Clifford has struggled most of the summer, and Pratt is a seventh-round rookie facing his own steep learning curve in Year 1. Can LaFleur trust either of them to be the QB2 entering the regular season?
Zero movement in the digging competition
The Packers needed a kicking opportunity, but ultimately only attempted one field goal or extra point. And the one chance they had ended in disaster: veteran Greg Joseph sent a 47-yard attempt wide of right field. The Packers’ kicking competition has gone from good to downright worrisome over the past week or so. With both Joseph and Anders Carlson hitting 80 percent in training camp and preseason kicks, it looks increasingly likely that the Packers’ Week 1 kicker won’t make the roster.
Reserve offensive playmakers have problems
Add Andre Dillard to the Packers’ 53-man roster. He makes the team because no other offensive quarterback has made a move behind the two starters. In fact, Sunday night’s loss exposed a troubling lack of depth at the offensive quarterback position. Kadeem Telfort, Caleb Jones and Travis Glover all got pressured multiple times and struggled to get any movement in the run game. First-round pick Jordan Morgan, who is focused on right guard, did not play Sunday night. The Packers may need to start giving him practice reps at offensive quarterback to secure the position in 2024.
Newman’s experience 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 downfield has to be galling the coaching staff. Newman was beaten cleanly on one sack in the first half. Then he failed to get a single rush on the fourth play of the run. Time to move on. The Packers are coaching Sean Rhyan and Jacob Monk at multiple interior positions, and Jordan Morgan can and will play linebacker.
The competition for the best recipient ends in failure
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The Packers’ passing game has struggled from start to finish, so clarity on the receiver position may have to wait. Malik Heath caught three passes for 22 yards, and at least two long passes to him downfield nearly went in. Bo Melton caught just two passes for 10 yards. Grant DuBose didn’t catch any of his targets — one was dropped and the other was a fastball thrown deep behind him by Michael Pratt on fourth down. DuBose helped his cause overdue with a solo tackle to cover a punt.
Intriguing Battle in DE
It would be straightforward to write Brenton Cox Jr. as the Packers’ fifth defensive end, but don’t count out Aaron Mosby. While Cox had a sack and at least two other pressures, Mosby also continued his summer of playmaking. He forced a penalty and then applied pressure that helped set up Kristian Welch’s second-half interception. Ideally, the Packers could keep one of Cox or Mosby and the other on the practice squad.
Rough night for Kalen King
The seventh-round pick had a couple of huge negative plays. On the first, he missed an open zone and allowed the Broncos to convert a third-and-17 pass deep in front of the line. Then he was one of the defenders who failed to make a stop on Jarrett Stidham’s thunderous touchdown run and was tackled in the slot on another third-down conversion. Consider King closely on the roster bubble entering the final week of the preseason.
