COLTS COME TO LAMBEAU FOR PRESEASON ACTION
- The Packers return home to take on the defending AFC champion Indianapolis Colts in a nationally televised contest tonight at Lambeau Field.
- It will be the final home game of the preseason for Green Bay, and will give the team a longer look at its starters as well as some of the younger players fighting for a spot on the team with the first roster cut-down on the horizon.
- Head Coach Mike McCarthy said the starters will play the first half tonight, and then he will assess where the team is at during the break before making a decision on playing them into the third quarter.
- Over the past 18 preseasons, the Packers have appeared on national television at least once in 17 of those years. The lone year that Green Bay did not appear on national TV during that span was 2009.
- For the second straight preseason, the Packers will face a Super Bowl participant from the previous season in their third preseason contest. In '09, the Packers traveled to Arizona to face the defending NFC champion Cardinals and came away with a 44-37 win.
- Green Bay and Indianapolis have squared off seven times before in the preseason, with the Colts holding a 5-2 advantage in the series. The last preseason meeting between the teams came on Aug. 24, 1996, a 30-6 Colts victory in Indianapolis.
- The Packers beat Seattle, 27-24, last Saturday night at Qwest Field. QB Aaron Rodgers led the No. 1 offense on a pair of touchdown drives, completing 8-of-11 passes for 116 yards and two TDs. RB Brandon Jackson scored on a 12-yard run with 3:34 remaining to give Green Bay the win.
- Indianapolis lost to Buffalo, 34-21, last Thursday night in Toronto. QB Peyton Manning completed 8-of-15 passes for 91 yards and a TD, and RB Joseph Addai posted a 17-yard TD run.
- The Colts will return home to take on the Bengals next Thursday in their final preseason contest at Lucas Oil Stadium.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Colts DT Dan Muir played for the Packers in 2007, while Colts WR Taj Smith spent the 2008 training camp in Green Bay, and Packers WR Charles Dillon spent the 2008 offseason and part of training camp with the Colts...Packers WR coach Jimmy Robinson held the same position with the Colts from 1994-97...Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin was on the staff at Iowa when Colts TE Dallas Clark and S Bob Sanders played for the Hawkeyes...Colts OL coach Pete Metzelaars and QB coach Frank Reich played for Carolina in '95 when Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was in his first season as head coach there...Colts DL coach John Teerlinck was Packers OLB coach Kevin Greene's position coach with the Rams in '91...The two teams feature several veterans who were college teammates, including Colts QB Peyton Manning and Packers T Chad Clifton (Tennessee), Colts RB Joseph Addai and Packers QB Matt Flynn (LSU), Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez and Packers LB A.J. Hawk and CB Brandon Underwood (Ohio State), Colts T Tony Ugoh and Packers LS Brett Goode (Arkansas), and Colts S Jamie Silva and Packers S Will Blackmon and NT B.J. Raji (Boston College)...Two pairs of college teammates are rookies who were both drafted this past April: Colts DE Jerry Hughes and Packers G/T Marshall Newhouse (TCU) and Colts LB Pat Angerer and Packers T/G Bryan Bulaga (Iowa); Colts DT Mitch King also was a teammate of Bulaga's at Iowa...Colts DT Fili Moala and Packers LB Clay Matthews were both 2009 draft picks out of USC; Colts DB Kevin Thomas was drafted out of USC in 2010...Packers P Tim Masthay began 2009 training camp with the Colts, and was a college teammate of Colts TE Jacob Tamme at Kentucky...Other former college teammates include Colts QB Curtis Painter, DB Brandon King and Packers DE Mike Neal (Purdue), Colts LB Philip Wheeler and Packers S Morgan Burnett (Georgia Tech), Colts DB Melvin Bullitt and Packers LB Cyril Obiozor (Texas A&M), Colts DE Keyunta Dawson and Packers QB Graham Harrell (Texas Tech), Colts LB Cody Glenn and Packers RB Brandon Jackson (Nebraska), Colts G Jacques McClendon and Packers DE Justin Harrell (Tennessee), Colts DT Marlon Favorite and Packers FB Quinn Johnson (LSU), Colts DB Jarraud Powers and Packers CB Pat Lee (Auburn), Colts RB Javarris James and Packers CB Sam Shields (Miami), Colts T Jeff Linkenbach, DT Ricardo Matthews and Packers CB Brandon Underwood (Cincinnati), Colts RB Devin Moore and Packers S Derrick Martin (Wyoming), and Colts G Jamey Richard, DB Mike Newton and Packers RB James Starks (Buffalo).
SAVE THE DATE
- Important dates to remember (all times CDT):
- Tuesday, Aug. 31 – Final practice open to public, 10:15 a.m., Nitschke Field; NFL-mandated roster reduction, to 75 players, by 3 p.m.
- Thursday, Sept. 2 – Preseason game at Kansas City Chiefs, 7 p.m., Arrowhead Stadium
- Saturday, Sept. 4 – NFL-mandated roster reduction, to 53 players, by 5 p.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 5 – Clubs may establish eight-player practice squad, 11 a.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 12 – Regular-season opener at Philadelphia Eagles, 3:15 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field
USA FOOTBALL MONTH
Recognition of "USA Football Month" continues tonight as the Green Bay Westside Wolverines' seventh- and eighth-grade football teams will be on Lambeau Field in the north end zone during the national anthem and then will have the opportunity to scrimmage each other at halftime, with the seventh-graders on the north end of the field and the eighth-graders on the south. USA Football logos will be on the playing field and on banners in the stadium.The Aug. 14 Packers-Browns game featured a similar visit from four youth teams out of the Journey House Football League of Milwaukee.
TONIGHT'S CAPTAINS
As per team tradition, the Packers select game captains each week.
Tonight's captains will be RB Ryan Grant (offense), DE/NT Ryan Pickett (defense) and FB Korey Hall (special teams).
WEARING THE STRIPES
Tonight's officiating crew includes referee Clete Blakeman (34), umpire Garth DeFelice (53), head linesman Tony Veteri (36), line judge Jeff Seeman (45), field judge Mike Weir (50), side judge Greg Meyer (78) and back judge Terrence Miles (111).
