Packers: Unclear whether Aaron Rodgers will play in preseason opener

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur hasn’t made it clear whether Aaron Rodgers will take part in the preseason opener on Thursday.

The Packers begin their preseason on Thursday evening, but after hosting the Texans already this week for two joint practices, it’s no guarantee that Aaron Rodgers will play in the game.

“We’ll take a look at the tape this afternoon and see where we’re at,” Matt LaFleur said about Rodgers following Tuesday’s practice.

But perhaps one thing that could lead to Rodgers playing Thursday night is the performance of the offense during Tuesday’s offense which, according to various reports, was not good. Many tweets were posted like this one by Cheesehead TV’s Aaron Nagler:

And also this one by Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Whether the disappointing performance from the offense on Tuesday will lead to Rodgers getting a few snaps at Lambeau Field on Thursday night remains to be seen. But it might not be a bad idea. The offense needs time to adjust and get reps in LaFleur’s system.

Understandably, LaFleur also needs to be careful with how many snaps each player has in preseason, especially this week following two joint practices.

But for the offense to be ready to go in the regular season opener against an elite Chicago Bears defense, playing the starters for longer in the preseason than usual might make sense. Far from ideal situation, but perhaps a necessary one as the offense aims to get on the same page.

The other option is to give Rodgers the game off due to this week’s joint practices, and instead focus on getting on the field in next Thursday’s game on the road against the Baltimore Ravens.

Determining how much playing time the starters — especially Rodgers — should get, isn’t easy for the head coach.

Do you think Rodgers should play on Thursday evening?