Packers: Four players who should be more involved after bye week

Four players who need to be more involved for the Green Bay Packers following their bye.

Week 7 provides the Packers with a much-needed bye week.

After the bye, they face possibly the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL, with back-to-back road games against the undefeated Rams and against Tom Brady and the Patriots.

In addition to those games, Green Bay has road games against their divisional foes of Minnesota and Chicago.

With a tough road ahead of them, Green Bay must get some things corrected if they want to win these difficult games. The main issue plaguing the Packers is that they have been an inconsistent football team.

Such inconsistent play makes me suggest that coach Mike McCarthy make changes to the lineup.

Here’s an in-depth look at four players who should be playing more often than they are following the bye week:

Aaron Jones

Similar to what they did this year at the wide receiver position, in last year’s draft Green Bay selected three running backs in late rounds hoping one would become a reliable starter.

Well, with all due respect to Jamaal Williams, the Packers found their future running back in Aaron Jones.

Jones has simply outperformed all the other running backs thus far. On just 32 attempts, he is averaging 5.9 yards a carry.

As one of the league leaders in sacks allowed, Green Bay needs to find balance on offense. Starting Jones, who is the most talented of the running back group, is the way to achieve that.

Jones’ lack of use in the offense is embarrassing at this point. Even fantasy owners are noticing McCarthy’s odd decision to not let Jones build on hot starts in games.

Josh Jones and Josh Jackson

The Packers defense has been allowing too many big plays.

San Francisco’s Marquise Goodwin exploited that weakness with a 67-yard touchdown reception on Monday Night. On a deep post route, Goodwin ran right past starting safety Kentrell Brice for a touchdown.

This is the second time this season the secondary was torched by an opposing quarterback. The Vikings and their duo of receivers had their way with the Packers secondary. Inserting Josh Jackson as the cornerback opposite of Tramon Williams will help.

Jackson’s playing time should be similar to what his fellow rookie Jaire Alexander has been getting when healthy. With both Alexander and Jackson on the field, they could grow together as a tandem. Also, Jackson brings ballhawk qualities to a defense that has not forced many turnovers.

Along with being effective In the passing game, the 49ers ran the ball with ease on Monday night.

Josh Jones, who is best at stopping the run, needs to start. Especially against the Rams, who has possibly the league’s best running back in Todd Gurley. The best-case scenario for Green Bay is to make the Rams one-dimensional and hope the secondary holds up.

Ty Montgomery

It seems like the role of Ty Montgomery is ever changing. First, he was primarily on special teams. Then he became a wide receiver who would spell for Randall Cobb in the slot. Then in 2016 due to injuries and lack of depth, Montgomery became the Packers’ primary running back.

Now being apart of a running back trio, Montgomery seems to be the odd man out, which shouldn’t be the case. In all reality Montgomery should be the running back most involved because of how often Green Bay throws the ball.

Moving forward, Montgomery should become for Green Bay what James White is for New England. A receiving back who catches passes out the backfield and also splits out wide to create mismatches in the passing game. Additionally, he can be a great change-of-pace runner to Aaron Jones.

The use of Montgomery once again relies on the creativity of McCarthy’s play calling, which showed promise as Montgomery scored his first touchdown of the season Monday night.

Montgomery’s skill set as a runner and receiver will pose problems for any defense. It’s up to McCarthy to scheme plays for Montgomery, and on Aaron Rodgers to notice the mismatch he presents.