The Green Bay Packers will begin their regular-season campaign at U.S. Bank Stadium in fewer than four weeks.
They must answer a number of questions between now and then. Who makes the initial 53-man roster? Who do they want to bring back to the practice squad? And, just as importantly, which players in camp battles will win starting jobs?
Three Packers who were projected starters at the beginning of training camp may surprisingly find their way to the bench by Week 1. There's a lot for head coach Matt LaFleur to figure out, especially with these three players whose stock is plummeting ahead of the second week of preseason.
These three Packers are under pressure entering the second week of preseason
Anthony Belton, OL
Anthony Belton began training camp as the clear frontrunner for the starting right guard job. That's where he played most of his snaps last season, making seven starts.
Now, though, it looks increasingly likely he'll begin the 2026 season as a backup, and it isn't even clear what his best position is. Matt LaFleur believes tackle comes more naturally to Belton, which could suggest he's in the mix to be the swing tackle this season.
What's even worse for Belton is that he's potentially facing competition from two players.
Jacob Monk has taken first-team snaps at right guard ahead of him, and rookie Jager Burton is also in the mix, depending on what happens at left guard (more on that in a moment).
Belton was at one stage the favorite to win the right guard job despite ranking 72nd among 81 qualifying guards by Pro Football Focus grade last season. But Monk has already seemingly overtaken the 2025 second-round pick on the depth chart, potentially leaving Belton without a spot in the Packers' starting five.
Keisean Nixon, CB
Keisean Nixon's starting job isn't in as much jeopardy, but it's a bigger conversation than many expected.
Rookie second-rounder Brandon Cisse appears to be the only true lock in the starting lineup at cornerback, which goes to show how impressive he has been throughout training camp. The same can't be said for Nixon, though.
If Nixon had hoped to get Packers fans back on his side after some disastrous moments in the playoff loss to the Chicago Bears, he didn't do himself any favors in the preseason opener. Many questioned his effort on a missed tackle that went for a 25-yard gain.
LaFleur said on Sunday that the Packers "need corners that are willing and capable tacklers." He didn't specifically mention Nixon, but come on. "Willing" is an important word there.
It could give us a clue as to why Nixon has spent some time with the second-team defense in recent practices. To be clear, most of his work has still come with the starters, but the fact that Green Bay is even experimenting with Cisse and Benjamin St-Juste in the first team says it all.
Nixon didn't exactly provide the best response when asked about it on Sunday:
"I guess I'm being punished right now, I guess, I don't know. I don't really worry about what I'm running in camp, the ones and twos, I just keep my process and compete," Nixon said, via ESPN's Rob Demovsky.
Aaron Banks, OL
Sigh.
The Packers handing Aaron Banks a $77 million deal in free agency last year was bad enough, but restructuring his deal instead of releasing him this offseason may immediately come back to haunt them.
LaFleur admitted last week that Jager Burton is "going to make it extremely difficult" for Banks to get back into the starting lineup once fully healthy.
Wait, what? The same Aaron Banks whom the Packers can't realistically cut or trade until 2028? The same Aaron Banks with a combined $61.4 million in cap hits to come over the next three seasons? Potentially on the bench?
That question will wait until Banks gets fully healthy, though. The problem is we don't know when that will be.
According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Banks is dealing with knee tendinitis "that flared up anytime he does strenuous football movements."
It doesn't sound great. The first question is how long it will take for Banks to get back to 100 percent. The next question is if he'll even resume his starting role whenever that day comes.
Few expected his starting job to come into question, especially given his massive contract, but that has now become a painful possibility.
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