DENVER – It was a rough night in Denver for the Packers' reserves in a 27-2 loss to the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High.
Here are five takeaways from the preseason defeat, in which Green Bay's starters did not play:
- The Packers didn't bounce back from a not-so-great joint practice with the Broncos on Friday.
Denver's starters played early and staked the Broncos to a 10-0 lead. The Packers never really recovered.
"That was a long night," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "Certainly I was hoping our guys would come out with more strain, effort, and grit after kind of getting humbled the other day in practice. To have it happen again, not where we want to be. I think it's a good lesson for our guys."
LaFleur didn't seem as discouraged with how the game started, but more so with the lack of response after the sluggish beginning.
"It's a little different I would say in terms of how you have to judge it," he said of playing reserves against front-line players. "It's great to see a lot of our younger players go up against NFL starters. I thought we showed more resiliency, more fight in the second half, especially defensively. There were some good moments."
- Those moments included an interception and a safety.
Linebacker Kristian Welch hauled in a deflected pass for an interception in the third quarter, and defensive lineman Zach Morton nicely executed a stunt up front for a sack and a safety.
The Packers couldn't turn the takeaway into points, though, going four-and-out on the ensuing drive. Morton's safety turned out to be Green Bay's only points of the game, as Greg Joseph missed a 47-yard field goal wide right after the only real sustained drive by the offense all night.
The defense also had two other sacks, by Brenton Cox Jr. and Brevin Allen, and on balance didn't give up much after the early 10-0 run by Denver's starters. The Broncos' next 10 points, which stretched their lead to 20-0, were the direct result of Green Bay turnovers.
"I thought our defense competed much harder in the second half," LaFleur said. "We just didn't have as many busts. We still had a couple out there. We had some situations where we had their offense in third and long and gave up big completions. That's an area we have to get better at."
- Each Packers QB turned the ball over once.
Sean Clifford's came on an interception late in the first half, which set up a Broncos TD after a long return. LaFleur said the offense had a good play dialed up for the coverage Denver's defense was in but didn't follow through as Clifford tried to hit tight end Joel Wilson deep over the middle.
"We've got to flatten that route a little bit more and try to show up into that window quicker," LaFleur said. "Sean threw it to the right place. Whether it was within the timing of the play, I've got to go back and look at the tape on that.
"All in all, the execution has to be better."
Rookie QB Michael Pratt's turnover came early in the third quarter on a strip-sack, setting up a Denver field goal. He tried to scramble up the middle with the pocket collapsing but didn't protect the football.
Overall, Clifford finished 6-of-10 for 43 yards, while Pratt was 10-of-16 for 52 yards. Running back Emanuel Wilson had 13 carries for 41 yards and receiver Malik Heath made three catches for 22 yards.
Just 10 first downs and 168 total yards of offense made for a disappointing night of work, which LaFleur did not put entirely on the quarterback play.
"I want to see more fight from our guys," he said. "Just the lack of ability to move the football, both in the running game and the passing game …
"The production kind of speaks for it, but it wasn't just on (the QBs). It's on everybody. We've got to block better up front, we've got to finish runs better, we had a couple drops. Collectively, all 11 have to be better in order for us to have any success offensively."
- The new kickoff rule appears to have a major flaw.
After Green Bay's safety, Denver executed a free kick from its own 20-yard line, which is no different than the longtime rule.
But with the kicker able to boom a kickoff almost to the goal line, and the set-up zone in the same place on the field, the fact that the kickoff was from the 20 rather than the 35 made no difference.
Receiver Dimitri Stanley was only able to return the ball to the Green Bay 29-yard line.
"I don't really like it," LaFleur said of the new rules being applied this way in this instance. "You lose the advantage you get from the safety. People are starting in the same spot."
- The last week of training camp and preseason will be a gut check for players looking to make the roster.
The Packers have another joint practice and preseason game left, at home with Baltimore, before roster decisions are made on Aug. 27.
LaFleur said he's not sure how he's going to handle playing time for the starters against the Ravens, but his message to the rest of the roster was pretty clear.
"The thing I challenged our team on is you've got to check yourself every play," LaFleur said. "Are you giving your max effort? Are you straining the way we want you to strain? Is the style of play what we want to see?
"It'll be a good opportunity for all of us to evaluate and see the guys that really want to put it all out there, not only for themselves but for the team."
