There are two major objectives for the Green Bay Packers coaches and front office this time of year. The first is to select the best possible roster for this team. The second is to get as many of them as possible to opening day healthy. As the Packers get ready for Family Night tonight, you can bet there are major discussions within the offices at 1265 Lombardi Avenue as to who will play, and who will watch. “We’ll have some of those conversations as far as snap counts and things like that as we go. Again, it’s really early right now, so how Matt (LaFleur) structures the practice, that’s kind of all Matt you know, what we’re trying to see”, said General Manager Brian Gutekunst on Wednesday.
At least on Family Night the coaches will have some control over the hitting and tackling. That ceases to be the case beginning with preseason games next week. Opponents will be playing their young hopefuls who will be looking to make an impression on their coaches by being as aggressive and physical as possible. That brings you to the annual question the brain trust must sort out each summer: Do you play your starters and key players in these practice games? Or do you hold them out, thus risking they will not be sharp enough to open the season on week one? It’s an especially prickly question this camp, because the opening opponent is NFC North rival Minnesota in a critical division game. Green Bay can’t afford to come out under prepared, as they did in week one last year, a 35-3 blowout at the hands of underdog New Orleans.
Gutekunst gave a hint as to which way the coaches are leaning, when he told the beat writers “I’ve got a lot of (former GM) Ted Thompson in me and I’ve seen some guys out there that are really eager and playing really well right now, and you just kind of want to bubble wrap them and save them until September and kind of stock them away, and we’ll let some of these other guys get some more opportunities and see what some of these guys can do.” That comment leads me to believe the coaches will follow their same strategy of recent years and keep most, if not all, the starters on the bench for all three preseason contests.
But, in the same breath, Gutey then says “At the same time I think you really need this time to come together as a team, as a unit, the timing on the offense and defense, and all the different things, you know, for us to come out of the gates with a good start is important.”
Some individual player decisions are easier than others. Aaron Rodgers? Aaron Jones? Jaire Alexander? De’Vondre Campbell? Rashan Gary? Kenny Clark? Bench them. Bubble wrap them, as Gutey says. They are simply too critical to the team’s success to risk injury. Other decisions are not as straight forward. What about offensive line players like Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Josh Myers, Royce Newman? Yes, they likely need the work, but with David Bakhtiari looking more questionable for game one every day, and Elgton Jenkins certainly not being ready, those four are being counted upon as starters. An injury to any one of them really puts the unit in a bind. Worth the risk?
Then there is another factor to consider. Special teams. The coaches and players have taken to calling it “wefense”. With new coordinator Rich Bisaccia charged with improving this woeful unit, one of his trademarks is to use offensive and defensive starters on his teams. With the Raiders, Bisaccia had the highest percentage of starters playing on special teams in the entire NFL. There is every indication he intends to continue that trend in Green Bay. Matt LaFleur seems to have no problem with that, having said this week “Unfortunately, it (special teams) hasn’t been good enough here, at least in my time, so it’s been a big emphasis. I will say that the buy-in from our veteran players has been unbelievable, when you see some of the guys that are out there and that are contributing on wefense, guys like AJ Dillon or Darnell Savage or Adrian Amos or Aaron Jones whose been out there, ‘Dre, (De’Vondre Campbell), so there’s been a great buy-in from a lot of our veteran players. Basically, most of the guys are out there right? And they kind of set the tone for that, and they all understand how important it truly is.”
But execution on special teams takes practice and repetition. If starters are going to play on special teams, one would think they need some reps in the preseason games. Can you take the gamble that guys like Dillon, Savage, Jones, Amos and Campbell won’t get hurt trying to take out some opposing kickoff returner who won’t even play in the league? Remember, it was Dillon who got hurt on special teams in the playoffs against the 49ers, missing the entire second half. There are many who regard that as a huge factor in the Packers inability to hold on in that game. On the other hand, do you open against the Vikings with starters playing their first game on special teams? Will they be able to execute, having had no game-type action?
Those are tough decisions. LaFleur gets paid to make them. Here’s hoping he makes the right calls.
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Ken Lass is a former Green Bay television sports anchor and 43 year media veteran, a lifelong Packers fan, and a shareholder.