Preseason Game 1 Packers vs Jets Game Thread

[rmontro]

We only logged 64 yards Receiving. Now granted we also only used 21 minutes of clock time which means we couldn’t find any rhythm. The Run game was good at 5.9 per and 124 yards and 1 TuD

We seemed to have problems with rhythm last year also, and the drops were also an issue last year.
Which is one reason I said in another thread that I'd like to see us pass the ball a little more, because it seemed like our passing game had trouble getting into rhythm last season.

 

[OldSchool101]

Also I know there’s lots of chatter about causing Fumbles or Takeaways from the Defensive side and I like that. However chatter this week has to be figuring out how to hold onto the ball better. We finished last season giving the ball away too much. We don’t need to start the season the same way.

 

[OldSchool101]

We seemed to have problems with rhythm last year also, and the drops were also an issue last year.
Which is one reason I said in another thread that I'd like to see us pass the ball a little more, because it seemed like our passing game had trouble getting into rhythm last season.

Yes and particularly this preseason. Plus our RB room is a better equipped and established. That WR room has a fierce competition for the last 2 spots and Practice Squad. You’ve got 3 maybe 4 spots at RB including Practice Squad and 3 are pretty well set (if Lloyd heals up)
At WR you 7 or 8 spots including PS.

 

[Magooch]

I suspect / hope that LaFleur will get fired up this week. I'm sure that he was angered more than most of us about the individual performances on Saturday. This is the perfect time to see how he gets his players motivated.

I hope so too, but I'm not holding my breath on it.

Don't get me wrong - I don't really put much stock at all in preseason matches, and I really like LaFleur overall - but this has been a longstanding criticism of his. Slow starts and a lack of intensity/focus/preparation are not exactly new.

We're entering our 7th season (time flies!) with LaFleur as our HC, and it seems like every year these questions persist. Early in the season, coming off extra prep, heading into a big matchup...we just often seem to come out a bit flat-footed and lacking for urgency.

Whether fair or not, I think for many (at least from the outside looking in), I think LaFleur has developed a bit of a reputation as a somewhat "soft" coach (Sounds harsh, but I don't know how else to describe it) and that is reflected in what often seems to be perceived as a "soft" team on the whole.

And that's not supposed to be a doom-and-gloom, everything is terrible, fire LaFleur, we're winning nothing, fire everyone type of post...There are a lot of things we do very, very well and are in a better position than the majority of teams in the league. It's not like this is a week-in, week-out type of thing. But I guess I just get this sense that other teams often feel like if they can just come out and punch us in the mouth, we won't know how to handle that and/or how to recover from it. It would be nice in these situations if it felt like we were the ones coming out and doing the punching more often.

As they say...in coaching, the stuff that happens under your watch - you're either encouraging it or you're allowing it.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Nah! Nothing to get excited about. They played a horrible game and did not look prepared. When you play as bad as they did it gives the coaches a lot of teaching opportunities and that can work in their favor. It gets any chips they have on their shoulders off.

Yeah I'm not going to project an awful season based on the first PS game. I was surprised at the collective lack of energy by the Pack. And the Jets needed a solid performance to keep Jets' fans mollified.

 

[Heyjoe4]

From a post in this forum by Packerlifer almost exactly nine years ago,

Geez I am floored by these Lombardi PS records.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I hope so too, but I'm not holding my breath on it.

Don't get me wrong - I don't really put much stock at all in preseason matches, and I really like LaFleur overall - but this has been a longstanding criticism of his. Slow starts and a lack of intensity/focus/preparation are not exactly new.

We're entering our 7th season (time flies!) with LaFleur as our HC, and it seems like every year these questions persist. Early in the season, coming off extra prep, heading into a big matchup...we just often seem to come out a bit flat-footed and lacking for urgency.

Whether fair or not, I think for many (at least from the outside looking in), I think LaFleur has developed a bit of a reputation as a somewhat "soft" coach (Sounds harsh, but I don't know how else to describe it) and that is reflected in what often seems to be perceived as a "soft" team on the whole.

And that's not supposed to be a doom-and-gloom, everything is terrible, fire LaFleur, we're winning nothing, fire everyone type of post...There are a lot of things we do very, very well and are in a better position than the majority of teams in the league. It's not like this is a week-in, week-out type of thing. But I guess I just get this sense that other teams often feel like if they can just come out and punch us in the mouth, we won't know how to handle that and/or how to recover from it. It would be nice in these situations if it felt like we were the ones coming out and doing the punching more often.

As they say...in coaching, the stuff that happens under your watch - you're either encouraging it or you're allowing it.

There's no doubt that on too many occasions, MLF teams have started slow and the "fire in the belly" is noticeably absent.

Does this mean MLF is "soft"? I don't think so. Nevertheless, it's been a concern in too many games and for too long. I don't know why 3rd and 4th string players, hell even the 2nd team wouldn't be fired up in the competition for a spot on the 53, or as a starter. I don't get it.

 

[Voyageur]

There's no doubt that on too many occasions, MLF teams have started slow and the "fire in the belly" is noticeably absent.

Does this mean MLF is "soft"? I don't think so. Nevertheless, it's been a concern in too many games and for too long. I don't know why 3rd and 4th string players, hell even the 2nd team wouldn't be fired up in the competition for a spot on the 53, or as a starter. I don't get it.

I think a lot of it is due to his having seen so many injuries to key players during the preseason that he eases up on the contact until the season starts. When you see the injuries he has on his team during his tenure, you get a little gun-shy. Just shooting from the hip on this one, pure conjecture.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I think a lot of it is due to his having seen so many injuries to key players during the preseason that he eases up on the contact until the season starts. When you see the injuries he has on his team during his tenure, you get a little gun-shy. Just shooting from the hip on this one, pure conjecture.

Anf that may have made the Jets' game a perfect storm. A new HC trying to resuscitate a mostly-failing franchise, and another HC who would like to get to Sept with a mostly healthy team. That explains a lot.

There is still the matter of slow starts in the regular season. But with two straight playoff appearances with a new starting QB, one season playing mostly injured - MLF knows how to win games.

 

[Half Empty]

How many of the errors we saw would have made any progress toward a healthy September team?

 

[Thirteen Below]

But I guess I just get this sense that other teams often feel like if they can just come out and punch us in the mouth, we won't know how to handle that and/or how to recover from it. It would be nice in these situations if it felt like we were the ones coming out and doing the punching more often.

I'm totally aligned with you here; it's a very clear pattern. And it's not just Lafleur - this goes back to McCarthy; he was notorious for his teams getting off to slow starts in both individual games and in seasons. 2011-2014, we started 1-2 every single year. And of course, every year he said he was gonna get that fixed, etc. etc., which he finally did in 2015, but we still were known for getting off to a slow start in games.

This has been a pattern for so long, it's not unfair to say it's become our culture. For years, we were able to somewhat get away with it, because we played 6 of our games every season against a pretty weak division, but now our division rivals are flipping the script and are reclaiming the nickname "Black and Blue Division" - the Lions are one of the most aggressive, hard-hitting teams in the NFL, it very much looks like Ben Johnson is determined to turn the Bears into the Monsters of The Midway V2, and even the Vikings are playing much tougher lately than they have been known for.

Numerous reporters at Chicago's camp last week said that they have never seen "such a violent practice". Numerous Bears beat reporters and vloggers said that these are the most intense, physical practices they've seen in years, even decades. Johnson has said that he "wants tough, gritty, dirty individuals", and believes that the way to get that is to drive them "brutally" - he's actually used that word.

I'm not looking forward to what comes out of Chicago this season, or Detroit for that matter. We're going to get punched in the mouth a lot, and not just in our division - we have Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Denver, all with very tough, smash-mouth defenses, and we can't afford to play "soft" or get off to slow starts.

We're not the Lombardi Packers anymore.

 

[gopkrs]

I think we will be up to the challenge of the regular season and we will play tough football. I'm just worried about Belton and Morgan. Especially Morgan. As long as we didn't waste those two picks, we'll be fine. But I do believe Love needs to run when it's given to him and he won't be getting smashed. That's not to say I'm not worried about the first two games.

 

[tynimiller]

I think we will be up to the challenge of the regular season and we will play tough football. I'm just worried about Belton and Morgan. Especially Morgan. As long as we didn't waste those two picks, we'll be fine. But I do believe Love needs to run when it's given to him and he won't be getting smashed. That's not to say I'm not worried about the first two games.

Morgan was one of the bright spots first PS game along with Belton really.

 

[gopkrs]

Morgan was one of the bright spots first PS game along with Belton really.

Just preseason and he, from what I've read, can't handle the future hall of famer VanNess nor win a starting guard position. I hope they were right on these two big early draft picks. It's going to matter

 

[Pkrjones]

Just preseason and he, from what I've read, can't handle the future hall of famer VanNess nor win a starting guard position. I hope they were right on these two big early draft picks. It's going to matter

Since LVN shoved Morgan back into Love on the opening Family Night play Morgan has been pretty stout. I think it was a wake-up call to him that he's with "the big boys", now. I'm cautiously optimistic that his head is where it needs to be, moving forward, and will challenge Walker for the LT spot.

 

[gopkrs]

Since LVN shoved Morgan back into Love on the opening Family Night play Morgan has been pretty stout. I think it was a wake-up call to him that he's with "the big boys", now. I'm cautiously optimistic that his head is where it needs to be, moving forward, and will challenge Walker for the LT spot.

Ok. I'll completely believe it after I see a few real games. Until then, I'm nervous because I think it is so important for both now and the future.

 

[tynimiller]

Since LVN shoved Morgan back into Love on the opening Family Night play Morgan has been pretty stout. I think it was a wake-up call to him that he's with "the big boys", now. I'm cautiously optimistic that his head is where it needs to be, moving forward, and will challenge Walker for the LT spot.

Or…that play was just a loss. Even the best in the game have them.

Morgan has been nothing but solid on the whole and even playing injured last year was a split time starter at RG and played one start at LG.

Folks worried about not getting a solid OL out of him I think is short sighted. Now sure I can hear the case that a first rounder ought to have starter quicker but thing is if he’d not had injury most assume he’d have started last year and not split time with Rhyan.

 

[Voyageur]

Or…that play was just a loss. Even the best in the game have them.

Morgan has been nothing but solid on the whole and even playing injured last year was a split time starter at RG and played one start at LG.

Folks worried about not getting a solid OL out of him I think is short sighted. Now sure I can hear the case that a first rounder ought to have starter quicker but thing is if he’d not had injury most assume he’d have started last year and not split time with Rhyan.

I've been impressed with both LVN and Morgan. I pretty much felt that what's happened to this point would but still it's nice to know it's panning out. Sometimes things don't go like we think they should.

 

[ExpatPacker]

Or…that play was just a loss. Even the best in the game have them.

Morgan has been nothing but solid on the whole and even playing injured last year was a split time starter at RG and played one start at LG.

Folks worried about not getting a solid OL out of him I think is short sighted. Now sure I can hear the case that a first rounder ought to have starter quicker but thing is if he’d not had injury most assume he’d have started last year and not split time with Rhyan.

It's sure taken awhile, but might 2 of our 1st round picks finally be playing like 1st round picks?

 

[tynimiller]

It's sure taken awhile, but might 2 of our 1st round picks finally be playing like 1st round picks?

That's all purely opinion - I know some fans that expect top 3 positional value out of any first day pick...so they'd still argue we've never selected one.

However, Morgan came in his rookie here and hit the ground running in a OL that didn't really have a vacancy, yet forced split time starting out the gate with the incumbent (despite injury) I'd argue Morgan for sure came into the league just fine as a late day 1 guy.

LVN, was an incredibly young prospect, that while a consensus top 20 guy - everyone knew was not a day 1 blow the door off the hinges type. We are finally starting to see the maturation, even despite that in many ways he's not be terrible ever in his first two years yet most weeks.

 

[OldSchool101]

I'm totally aligned with you here; it's a very clear pattern. And it's not just Lafleur - this goes back to McCarthy; he was notorious for his teams getting off to slow starts in both individual games and in seasons. 2011-2014, we started 1-2 every single year. And of course, every year he said he was gonna get that fixed, etc. etc., which he finally did in 2015, but we still were known for getting off to a slow start in games.

This has been a pattern for so long, it's not unfair to say it's become our culture. For years, we were able to somewhat get away with it, because we played 6 of our games every season against a pretty weak division, but now our division rivals are flipping the script and are reclaiming the nickname "Black and Blue Division" - the Lions are one of the most aggressive, hard-hitting teams in the NFL, it very much looks like Ben Johnson is determined to turn the Bears into the Monsters of The Midway V2, and even the Vikings are playing much tougher lately than they have been known for.

Numerous reporters at Chicago's camp last week said that they have never seen "such a violent practice". Numerous Bears beat reporters and vloggers said that these are the most intense, physical practices they've seen in years, even decades. Johnson has said that he "wants tough, gritty, dirty individuals", and believes that the way to get that is to drive them "brutally" - he's actually used that word.

I'm not looking forward to what comes out of Chicago this season, or Detroit for that matter. We're going to get punched in the mouth a lot, and not just in our division - we have Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Denver, all with very tough, smash-mouth defenses, and we can't afford to play "soft" or get off to slow starts.

We're not the Lombardi Packers anymore.

This is why I was offering that little things matter. Finishing drives. finishing games. Heck Finishing plays. Don’t get lazy. A little Leavening leaven’s the whole loaf.
I like Tucker and Jacob’s attitude more. Which by their actions display that we’re only as good as our weakest link. Those guys see the D running a lap? They jump at the chance to run with them because their failure is our failure. THAT is how you build a team.

When we start making allowances and excuses and saying “I wasn’t a part of that, it’s not my problem” “this might get the practice over quicker” type mentality? Ok I get it sure… It might be acceptable. I agree. It will meet bottom thresholds of doing “just enough”. The great players and achievers of our time don’t settle for the easy path n Michael Jordan didn’t settle for “just enough”.

You CAN win with just enough if you’re just that good. I don’t believe our 2025 Roster is so much superior to everyone else that we only meet minimum requirements of walking a mile. Walk the 2 miles. Make EVERY second count like it’s the last time you see a football field. No regrets

On a positive note! .. because this will inevitably be spun as a “woe is me” or “I’m smarter or better than everyone else”. Nope. I learned this by studying the greats. I’ve read many accounts of the best athletes or producers mentalities and I’m so sorry, but disagreeing doesn’t erase their testimony of how they achieved maximum results.

That Game 1 was lackluster outside of a handful of guys. Amar Johnson, Kristian Welch, Omar Brown, Kalen King, Enagbare, Clark, Will Sheppard. Colby Wooden.. this message isn’t as much for guys battling and noticeable and looking like they wanted to be present (I’ll throw in Our QB Sean Clifford for being seen 30 yards down field making a block like it’s the SuperBowl, that’s inspiring)

GB has their 1st of many an opportunity to get back up after being slapped on the mat, because we will never be remembered by how we started 10-0 We will be remembered by how we started 10-6 and finished 14-6

 

[Heyjoe4]

Just preseason and he, from what I've read, can't handle the future hall of famer VanNess nor win a starting guard position. I hope they were right on these two big early draft picks. It's going to matter

Yeah I read that Belton played well and Morgan held his own at LT. But yeah, it's one PS game.

Both guys will have to be ready and productive come September.

 

[Heyjoe4]

That's all purely opinion - I know some fans that expect top 3 positional value out of any first day pick...so they'd still argue we've never selected one.

However, Morgan came in his rookie here and hit the ground running in a OL that didn't really have a vacancy, yet forced split time starting out the gate with the incumbent (despite injury) I'd argue Morgan for sure came into the league just fine as a late day 1 guy.

LVN, was an incredibly young prospect, that while a consensus top 20 guy - everyone knew was not a day 1 blow the door off the hinges type. We are finally starting to see the maturation, even despite that in many ways he's not be terrible ever in his first two years yet most weeks.

Yeh it sounds like LVN has been doing good things in TC and I think against the Jets. The drafts are over now and guys need to produce, no matter when they were selected.

 

[Thirteen Below]

TLDR: Lukas van Ness rocks. All hail LVN.

You've been warned.

LVN, was an incredibly young prospect, that while a consensus top 20 guy - everyone knew was not a day 1 blow the door off the hinges type. We are finally starting to see the maturation, even despite that in many ways he's not be terrible ever in his first two years yet most weeks.

This is very important, and I think a lot of people overlook it.

The kid was drafted as a 21-year old sophomore. 10 or 15 years ago, when it was much more common for players to enter the draft after completing their senior season, 2025 would be LVN's rookie NFL season. Yeah, his first year or two, he clearly needed more development - and in the days of yore, he'd have gotten that development in college, and would right now be coming into his first NFL training camp with a lot more experience under his belt than he had two years ago.

When Gute drafted him, he took a big chance. LVN had not only played just 2 seasons of college ball; he only played 2 years of varsity football in high school - his favorite sport was hockey, but his mother insisted he play football too so that he could get a more complete high school experience and make a wider range of friends. Thank god he was a good boy, who listened to his mother.

But Gute saw the ceiling, pushed his whole stack of chips into the middle of the table, and bet on LVN's potential.

This looks to me like excellent scouting. I think the Packers studied his backstory thoroughly; traced his development through all 4 years of organized, competitive football (from his junior season in high school through his sophomore season at Iowa), and realized that the trendline was consistently angling sharply towards the top right corner.

Tyni, I think this is something you are aware of and constantly keep in mind when talking about Lukas, and I'm pretty confident that Voyageur is very aware of it as well, because of his confidence in what LVN is bringing to the table this year. But I think a lot of fans don't really understand this, and look at him solely through the "yeah but what has he done for us lately" lens. Which is somewhat understandable; you draft a guy at #13, it's reasonable to expect a Year 1 impact.

And I'll admit, there were times in 24 where i sometimes had some doubts. But I always saw somethng special in Lukas, and had faith (or sometimes just hopes) that he was going to blossom.

And it looks like we are finally seeing that.

My wife and I work online 10, 12, 14 hours a day sometimes; she has 5 LLC corporations, and between the two of us, we do contract work on numerous projects in IT, AI, and various other fields. It bores the **** out of me, so I put on headphones and listen to Pink Floyd or the Beatles, plus podcasts on science, history, etc., and... Packers. I spend 3, 5, maybe even 6 or 8 hours a day listening to Packers podcasts every single day, and when the subject is defense, I hear 4 names over and over and over again, all day long - Barryn Sorrell, Edgerrin Cooper, Nazir Stackhouse, and (more than any other with the possible exception of Cooper) Lukas van Ness.

LVN and Cooper have the podcast guys and the established reporters foaming at the mouth. People who are at camp every day are raving about him, going on and on about how he's added so many moves, tweaked his technique so much in order to play to his strengths... the "Locked on Packers" guy (can't remember his name) said the other day that van Ness seems to have figured out what it is that he's good at, and dedicated himself to making himself as good as he can possibly be within that skillset.

Another one said that when an OL stops him, it looks as though the lineman had taken a hundred snaps across from van Ness over the last few weeks, and has figured out his subtle "tells", but in league play that's not going to be common. Many of these watchers report that even when Lukas does bring a certain trademark move, the OL can't stop it because LVN just dominates the snap - even when they know what's coming, they can't stop him.

I think we have a player here. And yeah, the first couple of years were somewhat underwhelming, but it looks like he is showing up at just the right moment. And I, for one, am happy to see him.

 

[Voyageur]

TLDR: Lukas van Ness rocks. All hail LVN.

You've been warned.


This is very important, and I think a lot of people overlook it.

The kid was drafted as a 21-year old sophomore. 10 or 15 years ago, when it was much more common for players to enter the draft after completing their senior season, 2025 would be LVN's rookie NFL season. Yeah, his first year or two, he clearly needed more development - and in the days of yore, he'd have gotten that development in college, and would right now be coming into his first NFL training camp with a lot more experience under his belt than he had two years ago.

When Gute drafted him, he took a big chance. LVN had not only played just 2 seasons of college ball; he only played 2 years of varsity football in high school - his favorite sport was hockey, but his mother insisted he play football too so that he could get a more complete high school experience and make a wider range of friends. Thank god he was a good boy, who listened to his mother.

But Gute saw the ceiling, pushed his whole stack of chips into the middle of the table, and bet on LVN's potential.

This looks to me like excellent scouting. I think the Packers studied his backstory thoroughly; traced his development through all 4 years of organized, competitive football (from his junior season in high school through his sophomore season at Iowa), and realized that the trendline was consistently angling sharply towards the top right corner.

Tyni, I think this is something you are aware of and constantly keep in mind when talking about Lukas, and I'm pretty confident that Voyageur is very aware of it as well, because of his confidence in what LVN is bringing to the table this year. But I think a lot of fans don't really understand this, and look at him solely through the "yeah but what has he done for us lately" lens. Which is somewhat understandable; you draft a guy at #13, it's reasonable to expect a Year 1 impact.

And I'll admit, there were times in 24 where i sometimes had some doubts. But I always saw somethng special in Lukas, and had faith (or sometimes just hopes) that he was going to blossom.

And it looks like we are finally seeing that.

My wife and I work online 10, 12, 14 hours a day sometimes; she has 5 LLC corporations, and between the two of us, we do contract work on numerous projects in IT, AI, and various other fields. It bores the **** out of me, so I put on headphones and listen to Pink Floyd or the Beatles, plus podcasts on science, history, etc., and... Packers. I spend 3, 5, maybe even 6 or 8 hours a day listening to Packers podcasts every single day, and when the subject is defense, I hear 4 names over and over and over again, all day long - Barryn Sorrell, Edgerrin Cooper, Nazir Stackhouse, and (more than any other with the possible exception of Cooper) Lukas van Ness.

LVN and Cooper have the podcast guys and the established reporters foaming at the mouth. People who are at camp every day are raving about him, going on and on about how he's added so many moves, tweaked his technique so much in order to play to his strengths... the "Locked on Packers" guy (can't remember his name) said the other day that van Ness seems to have figured out what it is that he's good at, and dedicated himself to making himself as good as he can possibly be within that skillset.

Another one said that when an OL stops him, it looks as though the lineman had taken a hundred snaps across from van Ness over the last few weeks, and has figured out his subtle "tells", but in league play that's not going to be common. Many of these watchers report that even when Lukas does bring a certain trademark move, the OL can't stop it because LVN just dominates the snap - even when they know what's coming, they can't stop him.

I think we have a player here. And yeah, the first couple of years were somewhat underwhelming, but it looks like he is showing up at just the right moment. And I, for one, am happy to see him.

From the start, a few of us knew Van Ness had the tools to be a solid player it was just going to take time for him to reach a point where his body and game came up to the level that he could compete in the NFL. He only had 4 years of football and 2 of those in college. He was going to be raw around the edges and it would take time to smooth things out and help him find his role in the game. Making the call by drafting him, like Gute did, shows just how much he and his cadre of scouts and evaluators work at their jobs to ensure they are actually seeing the potential for the future.

To me, and I've always said this, you cannot judge a draft class until two and sometimes three years after you make the picks. Even then, you need to realize that some of the picks might not be what you felt fits the needs now, but they did in the eyes of the drafters at the time the picks were made.

I have a hunch that Stackhouse, Sorrell, LVN, and Cooper are going to be turning some heads before this season is over, and for all four, they haven't even started to reach the potential that's out there for each of them. Enjoy the ride, it might be a bit bumpy this year but it promises to be even better next year, even though there will be a lot of new faces replacing those leaving as FAs.