With a brief appearance in Cleveland in the books and a joint practice awaiting in Denver, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he isn’t planning to play quarterback Jordan Love and other veteran starters during next Sunday’s preseason contest against the Broncos.
“Right now, I don’t anticipate those guys playing versus Denver, the majority of the starters. There may be a select few,” LaFleur said following the Packers’ 23-10 win over the Browns in the preseason opener. “We have the competitive practice versus the Broncos, (we’ll) use that as their game reps and let the other guys play for the most part in that second preseason game, and then we’ll re-evaluate for the third one.”
The Packers will hold a joint practice with the Broncos on Friday before playing in Denver on Sunday night. One day of reps in the controlled environment of a joint practice will have to suffice for Love and the other important starters next week.
While Love only played three snaps against the Browns, and most veterans only played one or two series, LaFleur said it was good for players to “get their feet wet” and “knock some rust off” in a game setting while also going through the steps for getting mentally ready to play.
“The preparation it takes mentally to go play a game, work on their pre-game routine so it’s not the first time their doing in against Philly in Brazil,” LaFleur said.
If the veterans and key starters handle most of the reps in the joint practice, next Sunday night’s preseason game in Denver should provide an ideal setting for other roster bubble competitions to play out down the depth chart.
In the opener in Cleveland, the Packers second- and third-team offense moved the ball consistently, while the Browns only managed two total scoring drives.
After a road trip to Denver, the Packers will finish the preseason at home against the Baltimore Ravens. They’ll also have a joint practice with the Ravens before the preseason finale.