Packers: Five players to watch in preseason vs. Raiders
By Jesse Fry
The Green Bay Packers travel north of the boarder for a showdown with the Oakland Raiders. Which players will stand out and earn their roster spot?
Week 3 of the preseason used to be known as the dress rehearsal for teams. Starters usually played into the third quarter as the final tuneup before the regular season. Those times have changed. Now the third game is treated as every other preseason game and the starters barely play, if they play at all.
The status of starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers is still undetermined after his back tightening up after practice last week. If Rodgers doesn’t play this week, we will likely not see him till the 2019 season opener.
On the positive side, Aaron Jones will make his debut. While it’s not likely he will play as long as the other starters (Matt LaFleur said the entire first quarter), he will get his first taste of game action since the December loss to the Chicago Bears.
The defense will look to rebound after the disappointing showing in Baltimore. I felt last week would be a good test to see how the “D” could handle a dominant running team and the Ravens obliged. The Ravens offensive line looked downright unstoppable at times. They blew the starting line off the ball and paved the way to chunk yardage on the ground.
This week, while not as committed to the run as the Ravens, the Raiders have a good offensive line and are looking to the run in the way the Packers are, as a way to ease the burden on their quarterback.
Should the starters play the entire first quarter, the rest of the players fighting for roster spots will only have three quarters of a game to make their mark.
Here are five players to keep an eye on.