Packers-Patriots Preseason: Five Players to Watch

The Packers will take the field tonight for their second preseason game. From the top of the depth chart to a few undrafted free agents, here are five players to watch.

On the heels of two hotly contested joint practices, the Green Bay Packers will host the New England Patriots for their second preseason game on Saturday night.

The consensus was the Packers won the first day. The Patriots had a decisive victory on Thursday. Who will win tonight? That's really not all that important. What is important is continued development.

Despite the struggles, those growing pains can turn into learning experiences for a young team that is trying to soak up as many learning experiences as possible before the games count.

Here are five players to watch.

Jordan Love 

All eyes are going to be on the quarterback regardless of what game Green Bay plays. Last week, I told you he wasn't worth highlighting because he was obvious.

This week, however, is interesting because the general manager said it was a big week for Jordan Love.

Aaron Rodgers never took a preseason snap after coach Matt LaFleur was hired in 2019. Perhaps not coincidentally, the offense sputtered in Week 1 in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

The change in philosophy comes because of the youth movement. The Packers believe Love needs to play. Just as important, they think the offense needs to play together. 

“I think it’s important for our offense to play together,” GM Brian Gutekunst said on Friday. “You guys have heard me talking up here a million times of how he needs to play, and a lot of it is just to see things over and over until you just kind of develop the instincts and the callouses to know what you can and can’t do and with our offense, with this particular group." 

“So, it’s not just him. It’s our entire offense together. We’ve got a lot of young guys that are seeing some things for the very first time. I think [Thursday] was a great example of that.”

Love was good on Wednesday. The offense as a whole was not good on Thursday.

That's likely how the season is going to go for Love. There will be highs. There will be lows. The key will be in how Love bounces back from low moments.  

Tonight's game is a chance to bounce back from a poor performance. 

Lukas Van Ness 

Speaking of poor performances. The 13th pick's preseason debut left a lot to be desired.

There were some flashes of Van Ness' raw ability, but he had a lot of rookie moments against Cincinnati.

The Packers aren't worried. Van Ness has continued to get reps with the starters. They're not relying on him to be one of their better pass rushers this season, assuming Rashan Gary is going to be ready for the start of the season, but the team has to be hoping for a better performance.

According to Pro Football Focus, Van Ness graded 34th out of 37 defensive players that took snaps that week. He only played 20, so that's a limited sample, but there wasn't really a play that jumped out in a positive way, either. A bounce-back performance would help the rookie gain some confidence. 

This is probably Lukas Van Ness' most memorable play from his #Packers debut which underscores how nondescript it was. It's only one game though.pic.twitter.com/04Ha1ImCTF

— Jason B. Hirschhorn (@by_JBH) August 13, 2023

Emanuel Wilson

Far and away the best story to come out of the Packers' preseason opener was rookie running back Emanuel Wilson.

Wilson, playing on the anniversary of the death of his father, had the night of his life. 

He scored two touchdowns and totaled 111 yards on just six carries. That included the biggest play of the night, an 80-yard touchdown to cap the scoring.

Wilson's incredible night thrust him into a competition for the team's third running back job.

Patrick Taylor is the incumbent. He's probably the favorite for the job with Tyler Goodson sidelined with an injury. Wilson, however, has the better size-speed combination. 

If he can show capability in the passing game as well as on special teams, he has a chance to steal a spot. 

“When you’re the third guy, you have to be versatile enough to do all those things,” Gutekunst said on Friday. “Those guys aren’t easy to find but I think that’s really, really important. And that will separate who wins that job.”

Brenton Cox

Cox is one of the more intriguing undrafted free agents on the roster. Cox followed up a strong performance against Cincinnati by continuing to cause havoc in the practices against New England.

“He did a nice job,” LaFleur said on Sunday, a couple days after the Cincinnati game. “There were a few moments where he got pressure on the quarterback. Obviously, got his hand on Dallin Leavitt’s interception, which is a big-time play.”

Cox is in what is possibly the most crowded room on the Packers' roster. There are at least five players that are likely to be ahead of him on a weekly basis.

Can he make a couple of plays on special teams? Can he continue to make plays as a pass rusher? That's what it will take to force his way onto the roster.

Cody Chrest 

Chrest is likely going to need a miracle to make the roster. 

Miracles, however, aren't anything new to Chrest this training camp as he finished  Thursday's practice with a miracle play.

Sean Clifford threw a Hail Mary on the final play of a 2-minute drill.

“What do they say? Send up a prayer,” Clifford said,

Chrest was there to answer that prayer. The pass was batted twice like a pinball machine, and ended up in the hands of Chrest.

Get to know Cody Chrest, a #Packers shareholder with one heck of a story.https://t.co/9Zn9vPtZZc https://t.co/ueBrk2doNm

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 30, 2023

"Definitely a cool moment. That’s just the brotherhood we got here. We want to support each other," Chrest said. 

"We all want to see each other succeed. That’s just kind of our culture here when anybody makes a big play like that. We’re going to go storm them. We’re going to have a good time. We’re going to celebrate with them."

Much like Clifford, the UDFA and Packers shareholder has similar odds of making the roster, but Chrest has made some plays in camp. 

Earlier in camp he made a one-handed catch that drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd.

Chrest will be playing in front of his family for the team he grew up rooting for. That's a story that so many can only dream of, but Chrest gets to live it.

"It’s going to be great. I have all my family coming," Chrest said. 

"I have like 17 ticket requests. I couldn’t all of them. I wanted to, but I couldn’t get all of them. It’s going to be a great experience. It’s gonna be a special moment. Really excited to have all my family here, really excited to get to go out on Lambeau and have this experience, take advantage of this opportunity."

Perhaps he'll give them a moment to remember as he fights for a spot on the roster or the 16-man practice squad.

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