Getty Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers looks on from the sidelines during the first half of a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on August 15, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Choosing to hold star quarterback Aaron Rodgers out of Thursday night’s preseason loss in Baltimore was just a precaution, the Green Bay Packers promised when they announced the news before kickoff. The same degree of caution was exercised when the team returned to Green Bay, as Rodgers also sat out Friday’s training camp practice.
But Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after Friday’s sessions he anticipates Rodgers will be back on the practice field come Sunday’s practice as the Packers prepare for next week’s trip to play the Oakland Raiders.
“That’s the plan. A lot of it’s going to be predicated on how he feels,” LaFleur said. “I think he feels better, but we’ll see Sunday.”
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Rodgers was originally slated to play Thursday night with the rest of the starters — minus running backs Jamaal Williams (hamstring) and Aaron Jones, who returned to practice Saturday after his own hamstring tightness — but instead rested while DeShone Kizer took the opening snaps with the first-team unit.
Neither Kizer nor alternate backup option Tim Boyle, though, performed particularly well in the low-scoring effort for the Packers. Kizer completed just 5 of his 10 passes for 70 yards, while Boyle did a bit more damage — 107 yards and a touchdown — but still underwhelmed with a 12-for-21 passing effort.
Similar problems rearer their head in the running game with an array of four rushers generating a measly 55 yards on 18 carries out of the backfield. Newcomer Keith Ford took his only handoff for 10 yards, but rookie Dexter Williams couldn’t grind for more than 5 yards on three takes.
In total, the offense generated just 226 yards over 12 drives Thursday night, while LaFleur also bemoaned “a lot of missed tackles” on the part of his defense.
“I was a little more frustrated after last night’s game, but it’s just because I know we’re capable,” LaFleur said Friday. “We’ve shown some flashes of some really good stuff, it’s just again it keeps coming back to the consistency, how well we can repeatedly do something. That’s what you’ve got to do in order to stop people and in order to score points. You’ve got to put together long stretches of good, solid, fundamental football.”
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