GREEN BAY — One month away from the beginning of the regular season, the Green Bay Packers are faced with an annual conundrum: playing time for their starters.
Saturday's exhibition opener against the New York Jets will feature most—if not all—of the Packers' starting lineup, head coach Matt LaFleur indicated on Thursday. Earlier in the week, he also stated that every player on the 90-man roster should enter the game with the expectation and mindset that they will play. Of course, that can be chalked up to coachspeak, but all signs are pointing to LaFleur sticking to his word.
He's also following the data.
"Now, according to my sources, there's a lot of injury data that supports playing guys in the preseason," LaFleur said during his pre-practice press conference on Thursday. The expectation is that choosing to do so will help lessen the risk of injury early in the season.
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"That's real data from the NFL," he affirmed. "They will tell you, according to our medical people and sports performance people, that if you get X amount of reps, you are how many times less likely to get injured within the first 4-5 weeks of the regular season."
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn intends to play his starters as well, which will include newly signed quarterback Justin Fields, who spent three seasons playing for the Chicago Bears in the NFC North. Fields played six games against the Packers after being drafted No. 11 overall in the spring of 2021, losing all six games while throwing seven interceptions to just four touchdowns.
Headlining the list of starters to play for the Packers on Saturday will be Jordan Love, entering his third season as the team's starting quarterback. He played just three snaps last preseason—the third resulting in a 65-yard touchdown to Dontayvion Wicks in the opener against the Cleveland Browns. He was essentially shut down for the remainder of the summer until the start of the regular season. With four quarterbacks currently stashed on the active roster, LaFleur said that the Packers' coaching staff will do their best to give all four of them meaningful snaps against the Jets—including Love.
"Certainly, some of those guys are going to play longer than others," he said.
Zachary Jacobson is the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is entering his 11th season covering theGreen Bay Packers. He is a member of thePro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter@zacobson or contact him via email atitszachariahj@gmail.com