4 Packers players who are on the hot seat entering Week 6

The Green Bay Packers aren't yet in any sort of must-win situation entering Week 6, but they certainly don't want to be losing any ground in the extremely tight race currently happening in the NFC North to start this season.

With the Arizona Cardinals coming to town in Week 6, the Packers need to be on top of their game because the Cardinals proved last week against the San Francisco 49ers that they can hang with anybody. There should be a number of Packers players on the hot seat heading into this game, players who need to figure out ways to step up and show us more than we've seen in recent weeks.

With a 4-2 record within reach, which Packers players are on the hot seat and under the microscope this week?

4 Packers players firmly on the hot seat in Week 6

1. Romeo Doubs, WR

After drawing a bunch of attention to himself and getting suspended for conduct detrimental to the team, it's going to be as important, if not more important, than ever that we see wide receiver Romeo Doubs go out and have a big game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Assuming he's still a factor in the team's wide receiver rotation and not getting phased out...

Doubs was upset at a very odd time, if what he was truly upset about was his involvement in the offense, because he was targeted eight times in the most recent game he played for the Packers in late September. Not only that, but Doubs is averaging more yards per game (42.3) than any other season in his NFL career so far. Hopefully, he can put this incident behind him and get back to making big plays for the offense.

2. Eric Stokes, CB

The good news for Eric Stokes is that he's been available this season. The former first-round pick out of Georgia has played all five games in 2024, and that's a nice change of pace, considering he had only played a combined total of 12 games between the 2022-23 seasons.

The bad news? Well, Stokes is not playing well. At all.

He's allowed a quarterback rating into his coverage of 122.2 and has given up a pair of touchdowns already this season. Compare that to Carrington Valentine last season, who allowed a quarterback rating of just 84.8 into his coverage with only one touchdown allowed all year.

The Packers banked a lot on Stokes bouncing back this season, but if he doesn't get back on track rather soon, he might get replaced in the lineup by Valentine, who proved himself to be a viable option as a rookie in 2023.

3. Keisean Nixon, CB

The Packers obviously love Keisean Nixon and his versatility to play both defensively and on special teams. Nixon played over 1,000 total snaps last year between defense and special teams and is on pace to play as much, or more, this season.

Nixon has allowed four touchdowns and a quarterback rating over 100 the last two years for the Packers, but the alternative is to have Javon Bullard out there playing in the slot with fellow rookie Evan Williams in the lineup at safety. Bullard has emerged as an exciting weapon for Jeff Hafley's defense and Williams was all over the field with 10 total tackles and two passes broken up against the Los Angeles Rams.

Not to mention, he had an interception earlier in the year against the Indianapolis Colts. It might just be the Packers' best option to have both Williams and Bullard out there, so Nixon has to be going into each week on a shorter and shorter leash.

4. Rashan Gary, Edge

Rashan Gary isn't in danger of being benched or anything drastic like that, but he's under a lot of pressure to perform based on his pay grade and the expectations that he can be a consistent rusher off the edge.

As much pressure as Gary is under, you would think we'd be seeing more pressure on the field. Although sacks are not the only metric, he is far too good of a player to have just one sack in his last 12 games dating back to last season. Gary has just two quarterback hits and four QB pressures in five games this season.

Those are unacceptable numbers for a player of his caliber. The Packers need him to pick up the pace and be a more consistently disruptive player off the edge.

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