Jacob Monk in better times at Duke (Photo: Wayne Bumpass, 247Sports)
By Mark Eckel
There was a whole lot of bad and not a lot of good in the Green Bay Packers 30-10 opening preseason loss to the New York Jets at Lambeau Field Saturday night.
It was an embarrassing effort, even for preseason, from start to finish as the Jets scored on their opening drive and their final drive and the Packers did very little in between.
"Well that was a humbling experience,'' head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. "Definitely not what we wanted to put out there. I don't care preseason, regular season, it doesn't matter to me. It was sloppy football. Too many penalties, drops, missed tackles, bad decision making. It showed up in every phase. If you do that you're going to get your ass kicked. And that's exactly what happened.''
Let's look at the most important take-aways from the Saturday's debacle.
Trade or Free Agent: The team needs to find a backup center before the season starts. Jacob Monk isn't the answer. There's a reason the 2024 5th-round pick was inactive most of last year and passed over when he did dress. And there's also reason the team has tried almost every one of its backup guards at center as well. Monk can't play at this level. When he wasn't getting called for a hold (three times), he was getting beat by his man. Sean Rhyan, who will try to keep his job at right guard, isn't the answer at center, either.
What was he thinking?: Mecole Hardman was a Pro Bowl returnman for the Kansas City Chiefs, so he knows what he's supposed to do, right? So why did he catch a punt at the 5-yard line? And why did he let a punt roll to him at the 9-yard line that he muffed?
"I made two bad decisions,'' Hardman said. "It's all on me. I was just trying to make something happen. But it's preseason, so good to get it out of the way now.''
He's just special: When the team signed former first-round pick Isaiah Simmons the smart money felt it would help the special teams, not the defense. Simmons had been a bust on defense for the Cardinals, who took him with a top-10 pick. But graded out as the Giants best special teams player in 2024. And that's exactly what he is. Simmons looked out of place on defense Saturday. So if he makes the 53 it will be because of his special teams ability.
Love Hurts: Jordan Love completed just one of five passes in his limited playing time. His first three passes were all dropped — two by Romeo Doubs and one by Malik Heath, who may have cemented his spot on the waiver wire. Love's only errant pass was an overthrow of tight end Luke Musgrave downfield. Heath and Hardman also dropped Malik Willis passes later in the game.
The Good: This won't take very long.
Rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden continued to show why the team finally took a wide receiver in the first round. Golden was targeted twice. He made a nice first-down catch on 3rd-and-7 on his first and drew a pass interference penalty on Sauce Gardner on the second.
Jordan Morgan, who had fans in a frenzy over a tough family night performance, was probably the team's best offensive linemen Saturday night. The 2024 first-round pick help up fine at left tackle.
After a bad opening drive, the defense played ok. In particular the defensive line did a nice job led by ends Kingsley Enagbare, Brenton Cox and rookie Barryn Sorrell. Undrafted rookie defensive tackle Nazir Stackhouse also showed why he's likely to keep the streak alive of an UDFA making the initial 53.
Finally, kicker Brandon McManus continued to impress. He was right down the middle on his 46-yard field goal.