Love-to-Wicks TD Sets Tone as Packers Beat Browns

Jordan Love’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks kick-started the Green Bay Packers to a 23-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns to start the preseason on Saturday.

Green Bay Packers running back Emanuel Wilson (31) celebrates with wide receiver Malik Heath (18) after scoring a touchdown at the Cleveland Browns. / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The preseason could hardly have started any better for the Green Bay Packers, who dominated the Cleveland Browns 23-10 on Saturday at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

On the third offensive play of the game, Jordan Love went deep to Dontayvion Wicks for a 65-yard touchdown. Defensively, a pair of former first-round picks, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt and defensive end Lukas Van Ness, were superb.

“I thought it was good to get back out there,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “It’s been getting a little chippy in practice. It was good to go up against somebody new. I loved how our guys competed in all three phases. I thought they put a lot of good tape out there. I thought the things that we were looking for in terms of the effort and running to the football and finishing, I thought it was on point.”

On the opening touchdown, Wicks was matched one-on-one against safety Ronnie Hickman. Wicks took advantage of the mismatch and got behind Hickman in an instant. Love, who underthrew a couple deep shots to Christian Watson at practice on Thursday but otherwise has been better with the long ball, threw a perfect pass. Wicks caught the ball in stride near the 35-yard line and, at three-quarters speed, ran the final 15 yards.

“We had a great play dialed up for that situation, one-on-one with Wicks in the slot,” Love said. “Faking the handoff and he ran a great route, kind of lulled him to sleep at the top and then was able to go past him, and (I) just put the ball out there for him and he made the rest happen. Great play by him.”

Cleveland answered with a 55-yard field goal. After the Browns’ second first down of the drive, Wyatt’s pressure set up Van Ness for a sack and applied the heat again on second down to force an incompletion.

The score remained 7-3 for most of the half until Emanuel Wilson scored on a 4-yard run with 2:48 left in the half. Sean Clifford hit Grant DuBose for gains of 14 and 13 and Wilson carried seven times. The score came on an up-the-middle run in which DuBose, receiver Bo Melton and tight end Ben Sims were just as important as the offensive line.

Late in the half, Clifford’s 28-yard pass to DuBose, who made a toe-tapping catch along Cleveland’s sideline, set up Anders Carlson’s 46-yard field goal on the final play to make it 17-3 at intermission.

During his halftime interview, LaFleur said he was looking for the defense to force a turnover. Sure enough, on the first play of the third quarter, safety Evan Williams planted his shoulder into running back John Kelly, who coughed it up. Kristian Welch recovered at the Browns’ 38. A 17-yard completion to tight end Joel Wilson set the stage for Greg Joseph’s 35-yard field goal, which bumped the lead to 20-3.

Another rookie defensive back, Kalen King, made a great open-field tackle on third-and-2 to force a three-and-out punt. The Packers turned that into another field goal, a 33-yarder by Carlson. With rookie Michael Pratt in at quarterback, DuBose continued his strong game with a 12-yard catch on third-and-3. On the next play, Wilson broke a tackle and picked up a block by Pratt, of all people, on a run for 25.

The Packers enter a big week of training camp. They will practice in front of the fans on Tuesday and Wednesday before flying to Denver on Thursday. The Packers and Broncos will have a joint practice on Friday and a preseason game on Sunday.

LaFleur was inclined to “use [the practice] as their game reps and let the other guys play for the most part in that second preseason game, then we’ll reevaluate it for the third one.”

Love finished 2-of-2 for 63 yards and one touchdown. Clifford was 10-of-19 for 111 yards; three of his incompletions served to manage the clock on his 2-minute drill.

Wilson was a one-man running game with 13 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown; nobody else had more than 10 yards until rookie Jarveon Howard found a huge hole between Lecitus Smith and Jacob Monk for a gain of 16 with about 4 minutes to go. Howard finished strong as the Packers ran out the final 5 minutes.

DuBose, a seventh-round draft pick last year who was buried on the practice squad because he missed so much time with a back injury, continued his strong training camp by catching five passes for 66 yards.

Van Ness had one sack and three tackles for losses, and defensive tackles Colby Wooden and Spencer Waege had sacks, as well.

With right tackle Zach Tom and presumptive right guard Jordan Morgan, the team’s first-round pick, out with injuries, the No. 1 line consisted of left tackle Rasheed Walker, left guard Elgton Jenkins, center Josh Myers, right guard Sean Rhyan and right tackle Andre Dillard. They played together for just the three-play touchdown drive. The pass protection was excellent on both passing plays, and the line opened a hole for Josh Jacobs to gain 7 on his lone carry.

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

Your 2024 NFL MVP started his preseason with a bang.

More on Jordan Love's start, and the other stuff. https://t.co/a5OszkqM0Q

— Jacob Westendorf (@JacobWestendorf) August 10, 2024

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