The wait is over. It’s finally here. The first Green Bay Packers (preseason) game of the year! Last week, we got ourfirst taste of Packers football on TV with Family Night, but that was just a practice. Now, we get to see the Green and Gold in game action against the New York Jets, Saturday at 7 p.m. on NFL Network.
Who is going to play?
Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers coaching stafftypically lean toward not playing their starters too much in preseason games. When reporters asked LaFleur on Tuesday whether starters would play, hesaid every player should expect to play. However, he didn’t specifically say they would.
On Thursday, LaFleursaid he will try his best to give all four quarterbacks meaningful reps. He also said starters will play, citing that NFL data that supports playing players a certain number of reps in the preseason to help them stay healthy in the early portion of the regular season.
Packers starters will play in the preseason. Matt LaFleur said NFL data suggests playing a certain amount of reps in the preseason helps prevent injury during the first 4-5 weeks of the actual season. Idea is trading a little risk now for potential protection during real games.
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) August 7, 2025
The Jets areexpected to play all of their starters.
Green Bay has two weeks of joint practices against the Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks ahead, and the starters will receive reps against another team all week. Therefore, they may be more inclined to sit guys like Jordan Love and Josh Jacobs in the games after joint practices. So, it makes sense to get the starters live game reps this week.
The starters likely won’t play for more than a quarter at most. That means we will be getting at least three quarters of backups.
Here’s watch for the rest of the game.
The quarterbacks
The signal callers will be easy to monitor. Whatever playing time Jordan Love and the starters on offense get will be the main event. Once he’s done, Malik Willis is one of the better — and more fun — backup QBs in the league; he’ll likely play a good portion of the game.
Neither Love nor Willis really have anything to gain or lose from a good or bad performance. Both are locked into roster spots and their role with the team. The real competition will likely come in the second half when we see Sean Clifford and Taylor Elgersma.
Clifford has been the leader in the clubhouse to earn the QB3 role. He has a far better understanding of the offense and, at 27, is basically a vet in the locker room. However, Clifford being ahead of Elgersma is expected, given that Elgersma is a rookie undrafted free agent.
However, Elgersma is much younger at 23 years old and is a more talented thrower of the football. He’s a really intriguing story.
You may be wondering where he came from. He wasn’t playing college football in the United States last season; he was in Canada, playing for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
Elgersma won Canada’s version of the Heisman trophy (Hec Crighton Trophy) this past season,throwing for 20 touchdowns in eight regular-season games and bringing the Golden Hawks to an 8-0 record. He then had 11 TDs in three postseason games, ultimately coming up short in the Vanier Cup championship game.
Because of Elgersma’s upside, if he can put together a good camp and preseason and pick up the NFL game, he could have a shot to stick around on the practice squad and be a developmental project with a chance to become the backup next season when Willis likely departs in free agency.
The rookies
Seeing new faces for the first time will always be one of the main reasons I watch every Packers preseason game from start to finish. We’ll likely get to see Matthew Golden on offense early, Savion Williams and Anthony Belton when the backups come in on offense, Barryn Sorrell, Nazir Stackhouse, and Micah Robinson when the defensive backups come in. Other late-round picks and UDFAs such as John Williams (OL), Taylor Elgersma (QB), Amar Johnson (RB), Jamon Johnson (LB), and Tyron Herring (DB) should get time late in the game.
Most impressive Packers newcomer?
"Matthew Golden," Jordan Love said without hesitation.
"He's gonna be a stud." 👀
"Very aggressive hands, smooth route runner, he's got speed."
This Is Football from Green Bay. pic.twitter.com/bIOj3SXuOD
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) August 6, 2025
The development of recent high draft picks
Lukas Van Ness, Javon Bullard, and Jordan Morgan have all been topics of conversation in camp for various reasons.
After two quiet seasons to start his career, Van Ness has done everything he can do in practice to show he’s taken a massive step this season. He’s been nearly unblockable. The next thing he has to do is show it off in-game. He likely falls into the “starters” category and won’t play much more than a few drives, but he’s the one guy I’ll be intently watching early on defense to see if he continues to wreak havoc against opponents rather than his own team. Justin Fields and his running ability will be a fun test to start.
Bullard has been atopic of conversation in the Packers world for different reasons. Every day at camp, it seems like Bullard is getting roasted in one-on-ones, and he is, but we all know those drills are very slanted in the offense’s favor.
That also doesn’t seem to be Bullard’s best use of his skillset, and Matt LaFleursaid he’s had an “outstanding camp,” which makes a lot of sense. Bullard is much more suited for a game setting where he can be deployed all over the field due to his versatility, allowing him to use his athleticism to fly around the field and be a playmaker. Covering Jayden Reed with no help is not where he shines.
On today's @LockedOnPackers we talked about the idea of the best 3 CBs and Javon Bullard's role there.
Matt LaFleur dismissed questions about 1v1 drills and insisted Bullard is having a great camp doing what they're asking him to do. pic.twitter.com/ZOlCmTkvKB
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) August 6, 2025
Jordan Morgan likely has the same people coming after him who dislike Javon Bullard: people who take every clip and tweet as a referendum on a young player’s career when they’re still learning how to play in a league with the world’s top talent.
Lukas Van Ness powers through LT Jordan Morgan for a sack of Jordan Love pic.twitter.com/9toqegH9Q3
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 3, 2025
Morgan wasn’t everyone’s favorite use of a first-round pick, and it doesn’t help that last season became a redshirt season. He’s not in line to start again this season, which will annoy many fans even though we saw what happened in the playoffs when Green Bay ran out of useful linemen.
Somehow, people still haven’t learned to trust Green Bay when it comes to allocating resources and developing the offensive line. The team has a plan, and Morgan has been getting reps with both the ones and the twos so far in camp. Not all of it has been pretty, but that shouldn’t be the expectation. The expectation is to see development, beginning with the game on Saturday.
The massive cornerback competition
The competition for the fourth spot and beyond in the defense’s cornerback depth chart was already shaping up to be one of the most heated competitions on the roster. It became more intriguing when Green Bayre-signed Corey Ballentine after the Indianapolis Colts cut him. Ballentine played his last three seasons in Green Bay and provided the defense with some solid snaps when they were dealing with injuries last season.
Ballentine will slot right into the middle of a competition that already featured Bo Melton, Kamal Hadden, Kalen King, and Micah Robinson all battling for likely two spots.
All players have flashed at times for Green Bay so far in camp, and all will get plenty of playing time in each preseason game. Big preseason games would be huge for their standing among the group.
With Nate Hobbs‘ injury, all players will receive significant playing time over the next few weeks of camp and will have the opportunity to solidify their spot.
Other offensive competitions
With injuries to Marshawn Lloyd and Emanuel Wilson, Chris Brooks has stepped up and taken the opportunity andmade the most of it. With Lloyd and Wilson likely not playing, and Jacobs only getting a series or two, Brooks will get a lot of reps to build on his success.
Israel Abanikanda has been next in line after being cut by the San Francisco 49ers. He signed with Green Bay amidst all the running back injuries. He’sflashed in recent practices and will get the chance to get some revenge against his former team.
In the receiver room, Mecole Hardman and Malik Heath have both been making their case to make the roster. If the Packers were to keep six receivers, they’d have a difficult decision on their hands. Both provide different elements to the offense while also being special teams contributors. Good preseason games would be huge for either.