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Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said this week that his plan for the preseason opener was to play all four quarterbacks against the New York Jets. He got his wish, but I’m sure he hoped it was going to go a little differently.
In his first game as head coach, the Jets’ Aaron Glenn’s team thoroughly overwhelmed LaFleur’s Packers by a score of 30-10.
Green Bay’s first-team offense went three-and-out to start the game. From there, the first-team defense gave up a touchdown on a 10-play, 79-yard drive. The Packers could never dig themselves out of the hole after that.
Over two drives, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love went one of five passing for seven yards and a sack, in series that were killed by drops from pass-catchers. This was a recurring theme with every unit the Packers fielded. If you’d like video of Love’s dropbacks, you can find them here.
After Love, Malik Willis threw four of nine for 39 yards and three sacks with the second-team unit. Willis was hit in the end zone for a sack-fumble that the Jets recovered for a touchdown. This was only one of the Packers’ fumbles on the night (we’ll touch on the second one later).
Third-string quarterback Sean Clifford, who spent last season on the practice squad, was two of four for 14 yards. Fourth-string rookie Taylor Elgersma, by way of Canada, essentially got a two-minute drill at the end, where he went three of four for 24 yards.
In total, Green Bay’s quarterbacks were 10 of 22 for 64 yards (3.8 yards per attempt), four sacks for negative-20 yards and a combined passer rating of just 55.9.
The leading rusher of the night for the Packers was undrafted rookie Amar Johnson, who ran hard and earned seven carries for 67 yards. Most of that yardage came on a 39-yard touchdown, by far the highlight of the night on offense.
Beyond Willis’ fumble, free-agent receiver Mecole Hardman also muffed a punt, which was recovered by the Jets in scoring territory. Hardman, a former All-Pro returner, fielded two punts for zero yards today. He worked with the first-team unit tonight, but it’s worth noting that receiver Jayden Reed, who has handled those duties for Green Bay since he’s come into the league, was inactive tonight and was seen on the sideline wearing a walking boot for his foot injury.
Speaking of injuries, here are the players who were held out versus New York:
The Packers were outgained 188 yards to 403 by the Jets, 64 to 265 in the air,...
