GREEN BAY – Training camp is over, the preseason games have been played and the Packers have plenty of tough calls to make as the NFL's mandatory roster reduction looms.
Numerous players, veterans and rookies alike, emerged this offseason, making decisions increasingly more difficult on General Manager Brian Gutekunst and his brass as they work to trim the Packers' 91-man roster to 53 by 3 p.m. CT Tuesday.
Meanwhile, players on the roster bubble must navigate a 72-hour gap between the Packers' dominant 30-7 victory over Baltimore in Saturday's preseason finale and Tuesday's deadline.
After four months of relentless studying, practicing and playing, all you can do is wait and hope the phone doesn't ring.
"There's a lot of tough decisions that are gonna have to be made," rookie quarterback Michael Pratt said. "There's some really good football players in this (locker) room. Whatever's best for this team and whatever is gonna have the impact to win the most games here is what's most important."
Pratt spent the summer competing with second-year quarterback Sean Clifford for the opportunity to serve as Jordan Love's primary backup. The two have an affable relationship, with Pratt and Clifford talking in the past about their position battle being more about competing together rather than against one another.
It's always possible Green Bay keeps both QBs on the 53. During Gutekunst's six years as GM, the Packers have twice proceeded into the season with three QBs on the Week 1 roster (2020 and 2018).
Acknowledging the decision is out of his control, Clifford told reporters he planned to start breaking down tape of Green Bay's Week 1 opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, and possibly even studying the Packers' Week 2 adversary, the Indianapolis Colts.
"It's not my decision to have," Clifford said. "I think the world of Mike. I think that he's a great player. I think that I'm also a great player, so it's not my decision to have here. I think they should keep all of us."
Fifth-year kicker Greg Joseph has seen every angle of cutdown day. As an undrafted rookie in 2018, Joseph was released by Miami only to be signed weeks later by the Cleveland Browns.
After stints in Carolina, Tennessee and Tampa Bay, Joseph finally made the Week 1 roster of an NFL team when he won the Minnesota Vikings' kicking job in 2021. This summer, he's been locked in a tight kicking competition with 2023 sixth-round pick Anders Carlson.
His plans while waiting? Simply relax while spending time with family and friends.
"I have nothing bad to say about it. Good kid, good head on his shoulders," said Joseph of Carlson. "Super-nice guy. I met his family, super-nice family. … Whatever happens, I wish him the absolute best whether it's here or elsewhere. You know how it goes."
There is one new provision Gutekunst will have at his disposal as he builds the Packers' 53. The NFL now allows teams to place up to two players on injured reserve and designate them to return later this season. Previously, injured players needed to be carried on the initial 53 to be eligible for the designation.
Over the course of the year, teams are allowed to designate up to eight players to return from IR and up to 10 if they make the postseason. Players on IR must miss a minimum of four games.
Roster adjustments also could come less than 24 hours later, as the busiest day of the year beckons on the waiver wire. Last year, Green Bay added tight end Ben Sims and safety Zayne Anderson after setting its initial 53.
Once the waiver process ends, teams may build their 16- or 17-man practice squads. If rookie Alex Hale is released and clears waivers, the Australian-born kicker will be eligible to join the Packers' practice squad on an international player exemption.
Before all that, the Packers must settle on their first 53. After competitive battles at receiver, offensive line, linebacker and defensive back, players anxiously wait to see who'll be accompanying Green Bay to Brazil when it opens the season against Eagles in less than two weeks.
"You've just got to have faith," receiver Grant DuBose said. "It's above me. Ultimately, it's in the decision of the people in the front office. Hopefully, I did enough to where they think highly of me to bring me back. But, if they don't, that's just that. Onto the next. That's the business that we're in and that's how you've got to approach it."
