Preseason Game 2 Packers at Colts Game Thread

[milani]

If you don't practice pre-season what you will do in the reg season how do you get better, how do you determine what the opponent is going to counter with and how do you respond. So far GB is undisciplined, attention to detail is lacking, poor technique - all of that is not just on the players but on the coaching staff. After 2 games not impressed at all and concerned that this team is not ready to win the division or get into the playoffs. With Love missing the remainder of preseason (pretty much), the O line seems to be in disarray, and other aspects of both O and D are questionable. Have seen Lions play and Vikes and both of them also appear to have big questions, the Bears game yesterday (regardless of what "string" they played against) looked pretty good, Williams has more confidence which may be a harbinger of future performance. Do not see that in the Pack or other two teams. This bears team added a lot of new players and contributors this offseason, they "seem" to be jelling while the other 3 "seem" to be trying to pull it together.

This is when coaches must step up and initiate that change. It is a 16 game schedule.

 

[OldSchool101]

Elgersma can not be the International exception player (IPP) He is from Canada. US/Canada citizens are exempt from the program.

rules :

• age 24 or younger
• out of high school (or equivalent) for at least four years
• did not play football at an American college
• ability to speak English
• not a citizen of the U.S. or Canada
• must be available and eligible to travel to the U.S. for two months from the first week in March

Thanks for that!
I had to go back and look but I recalled an articles regarding him when he was brought in. Not saying any are sound material, but at least reliable sources. Although you’re right Firethorn, because I could not find Elgersma on an official list from the NFL site earlier in 2025. It appears this article was incorrect based on that Canadian connection you referenced.
I have the same problem on my IRS taxes, I can’t even overlap exemptions they catch me every dang time!

Packers quarterback eligible for ‘free’ roster spot

Canadian QB Taylor Elgersma is eligible for Green Bay’s international exemption

www.acmepackingcompany.com

In other news. The Vikings just got more exciting news. They’ll be bringing their Pom Pom Boys to Lambeau to celebrate this wonderful news.

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/lEGb98KXkfhPczv8Kt_4xg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQwMTtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_telegraph_258/550cbd5ac749b4d5563891c80558e942

 

[Curly Calhoun]

Belton -ugh. Only one game, but that was dreadful.

On the plus side, I think Bo Melton is going to makes this team. He looks the part.

 

[gopkrs]

I liked what Belton had to say after the game. And I don't think he had any penalties in the 2nd half. I don't know how much he played in the 2nd half but maybe he's gaining control of himself. I sure am giving him a chance.

 

[Thirteen Below]

Anthony Belton is at best a project. He beat defenders in college because he was bigger than them. In the NFL, defenders use skills to blow past him. He can't react to it and that's when the penalty flags start flying. He has poor footwork and ends up a stationary target. Did I mention he's slow? They don't time him in the 40 with a stopwatch. They use a calendar.

I think Green Bay understood the tradeoff when they drafted him, but decided it was worth the risk. We haven't talked about it much here, but I think a lot of us have noticed that Green Bay has been making more of a commitment to size and power in the trenches. Gute's been talking about it for several years, but I think this year they're really doubling down.

At the draft, VP of Player Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said of Belton, "It's the old phrase, 'Big doesn't get small,' especially when you play here in the NFC North," vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said. "We want to be physical. We want to be able to overwhelm with size and physicality. That's what attracted us to him. He's a good football player, and he happens to be a huge man, as well."

Belton was a significant departure from Green Bay's typical emphasis on athletic, nimble players with good speed and footwork, as was 324 lb Aaron Banks. The Lions and Bears both have very large, powerful lines, and even the Vikings have become more physical than they've been in recent years. We play 1/3 of our games against those teams, and frankly, the Eagles just plain handled us at the line of scrimmage January. I think the front office sees that as a serious threat to our Super Bowl run, and have made it a priority to address.

As Sullivan said, you can't teach size, but with good coaching, you might be able to teach footwork. He wasn't Rudolf Nureyev the other night, but there were a couple of plays where he just walked his man back 3 or 4 steps. He's a very powerful man, and seems to have a great attitude. I guess we will see.

 

[lambeaulambo]

I’m not sure

lol it is due to their current K being THAT GOOD.

 

[OldSchool101]

I liked what Belton had to say after the game. And I don't think he had any penalties in the 2nd half. I don't know how much he played in the 2nd half but maybe he's gaining control of himself. I sure am giving him a chance.

Yes. I scanned more to see how Belton played 2nd Half concentrated mostly on him. Belton was at RT until ~6:00 in 4th Qtr, where they slid Telford from LT to RT to give the big man a rest.

Overall Belton played good once past the discipline flags. He did get beat on an inside move and his guy tackled our RB for a -1. Other than that ZERO flags and actually had a couple Run blocks that he stalemated or eliminated his guy from the play (granted they were second team). 2 big run blocks and one the RB slid by him and Belton followed through by pushing the pile at the 2 yardline in for TD.

Between Belton and Jennings and Telfort at LT against Colts 1st-Team D they were collecting penalties. I will say this though.. Belton never once gave up a Sack in 3.6 Qtrs of play
2.6 Qtrs of that 3.6 qtrs were without a flag. It was ALL 2nd Qtr stuff.
1. False start
2. Unsportsmanlike shove on sideline
3. Face mask should’ve been offsetting the Defender had his fist completely under Belton’s face mask into his chin area snd it looked brutal. Belton probably couldn’t even see his hand his head got cocked pretty bad. Could’ve easily been D hands to face imo. Should’ve been offsetting fouls no flag.
4. Lineup off LOS
5. Lineup off LOS

These are all very teachable and more discipline fouls (self inflicted). Never once fully beat that I saw.. except that 1 Run play above. Clean up the messy and he graded 70.5 Pass Protect 63.0 Run grade type performance. He actually didn’t look bad at all in his ability to block as a RT and that included against Colts 1st Team.

 

[OldSchool101]

The other thing I noticed was that former Georgia Bulldog turned 2021, RD6.6 Bengals draft selection Trey Hill looked Good playing Center. I like his size at 6.3”.5 X 320lb. He came in 2nd half. He played backup spot duty 4yrs for the Bengals, but PFF graded him about exactly average 53.3-55.3 for the 3 games he was called upon to play.

Also Cooper looked good at Guard. Granted later in the game with the Colts scrubs, but those guys battled and helped give Elgersma and Clifford clean looks while propelling our Running game.

 

[Voyageur]

I think Green Bay understood the tradeoff when they drafted him, but decided it was worth the risk. We haven't talked about it much here, but I think a lot of us have noticed that Green Bay has been making more of a commitment to size and power in the trenches. Gute's been talking about it for several years, but I think this year they're really doubling down.

At the draft, VP of Player Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said of Belton, "It's the old phrase, 'Big doesn't get small,' especially when you play here in the NFC North," vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said. "We want to be physical. We want to be able to overwhelm with size and physicality. That's what attracted us to him. He's a good football player, and he happens to be a huge man, as well."

Belton was a significant departure from Green Bay's typical emphasis on athletic, nimble players with good speed and footwork, as was 324 lb Aaron Banks. The Lions and Bears both have very large, powerful lines, and even the Vikings have become more physical than they've been in recent years. We play 1/3 of our games against those teams, and frankly, the Eagles just plain handled us at the line of scrimmage January. I think the front office sees that as a serious threat to our Super Bowl run, and have made it a priority to address.

As Sullivan said, you can't teach size, but with good coaching, you might be able to teach footwork. He wasn't Rudolf Nureyev the other night, but there were a couple of plays where he just walked his man back 3 or 4 steps. He's a very powerful man, and seems to have a great attitude. I guess we will see.

Belton's penalties were anxiety related. He knows he's not as quick on his feet, and he's learning the position at a level he's never played before. He was trying to get a jump on his assignments because he realizes he's slower than most of the guys he's facing. That can be corrected, and he took ownership of his mistakes without hesitation so you can count on him working hard to make his mark. In a way, he reminds me of Tauscher. Not in size, but in how polished his game is. It took Tausch a little time to get his footwork down and develop a better punch. When he got it, he was a darned good right tackle. Belton has the capability of reaching a similar level in my opinion, but he needs to be coached up to that level.

 

[gopkrs]

The other thing I noticed was that former Georgia Bulldog turned 2021, RD6.6 Bengals draft selection Trey Hill looked Good playing Center. I like his size at 6.3”.5 X 320lb. He came in 2nd half. He played backup spot duty 4yrs for the Bengals, but PFF graded him about exactly average 53.3-55.3 for the 3 games he was called upon to play.

Also Cooper looked good at Guard. Granted later in the game with the Colts scrubs, but those guys battled and helped give Elgersma and Clifford clean looks while propelling our Running game.

I like to listen what you have to say and it gives me something to think about, but I try and blank our that grading stuff. For me it detracts. Just don't like them pretending to be so exact.

 

[OldSchool101]

I like to listen what you have to say and it gives me something to think about, but I try and blank our that grading stuff. For me it detracts. Just don't like them pretending to be so exact.

It’s just 1 barometer to use as generality. I look at PFF As more a tool to weigh against my eye test, perceptions by those who study players and several other grading systems like ESPN win metrics, Lineups etc. Heck on occasion ESPN and PFF differ wildly, that when I’ll go to a 3rd separate source to lean one way or another.
There’s a common misperception (not you) that if you post a grading? Or a statistic? You are perceived as accepting it as the only way to judge a player. To the point of over correcting and saying stats or rankings or ratings don’t matter, which becomes far more laughable imo. All we have to measure a player are folks who I believe more often than not make an attempt to quantify a player in the most objective way possible.

The best tool to use is watch the game closely! Maybe even throw in replays. Heck I sometimes do that on a Movie I like and I pick up small nuances I missed on first pass.

Don’t rely on others ratings solely I’d never consider that or preach that. No, use them as a tool to apply to your own opinion of said player based on the film. There’s a reason teams study film right?

My favorite thing to do when I have time is to focus on 1 or 2 players and go snap by snap condensed replay. It takes about 45min-1hr per 2 players or so. I’m not trusting of condemning our player for 1 bad performance. Heck most of us in here have watched enough football to work for ESPN and get a pass on our ability to decipher game. Thats really all their analysts do and not 2 of them Completely agree.

 

[Voyageur]

I liked what Belton had to say after the game. And I don't think he had any penalties in the 2nd half. I don't know how much he played in the 2nd half but maybe he's gaining control of himself. I sure am giving him a chance.

I think the young man said a lot just by what he said. It may take some time for him to become a highly productive player, but it's obvious from his statement that he has every intent in the world of making it happen.

So much of the game is focused on attitude. You either have the right attitude and learn to listen and learn, or the game will gobble you up and spit you out. There's too many moving parts of every play on the field to let one constantly disrupt the good works of another.

It's like a watch and it's multiple gears. If 10 of the 11 gears are perfect and work perfectly but the 11th has lost teeth and is bent and doesn't mesh with the others, the watch itself is of no value.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I liked what Belton had to say after the game. And I don't think he had any penalties in the 2nd half. I don't know how much he played in the 2nd half but maybe he's gaining control of himself. I sure am giving him a chance.

Before a person can improve they must identify their mistakes, own them, and learn from the mistake. Seems like Belton gets that, with a little help from MLF.

 

[Heyjoe4]

The other thing I noticed was that former Georgia Bulldog turned 2021, RD6.6 Bengals draft selection Trey Hill looked Good playing Center. I like his size at 6.3”.5 X 320lb. He came in 2nd half. He played backup spot duty 4yrs for the Bengals, but PFF graded him about exactly average 53.3-55.3 for the 3 games he was called upon to play.

Also Cooper looked good at Guard. Granted later in the game with the Colts scrubs, but those guys battled and helped give Elgersma and Clifford clean looks while propelling our Running game.

Who is Cooper?

 

[Pkrjones]

Who is Cooper?

Tyler Cooper, rookie OG from Minnesota. #60. Game will be rebroadcast on NFL Network Thursday AM (when I'll get my 1st chance at watching PS game 2).

 

[OldSchool101]

Who is Cooper?

Tyler Cooper he’s fighting for a Spot. Oddly I thought some of the bottom depth has played good. Although against 2nd team guys so take it with a grain of salt.

One thing someone said and I agree. We really have 6 Starting OL. the battle between Walker vs Morgan will decide who’s OL6. Past that it’s a little shaky but I think the bigger ? Is Jennings or Monk. Problem is Monk has a Hamstring I believe? so that’s not helping his cause either.

I like Telfort he seems versatile. He played both LT and RT on Saturday 2nd Half. Took over for Belton at RT midway through Qtr4. I’d think he’s in that OL7 or OL8 spot. Seems like they like him. He did have I think 2 infractions but overall seemed ok.

 

[Voyageur]

Tyler Cooper he’s fighting for a Spot. Oddly I thought some of the bottom depth has played good. Although against 2nd team guys so take it with a grain of salt.

One thing someone said and I agree. We really have 6 Starting OL. the battle between Walker vs Morgan will decide who’s OL6. Past that it’s a little shaky but I think the bigger ? Is Jennings or Monk. Problem is Monk has a Hamstring I believe? so that’s not helping his cause either.

I like Telfort he seems versatile. He played both LT and RT on Saturday 2nd Half. Took over for Belton at RT midway through Qtr4. I’d think he’s in that OL7 or OL8 spot. Seems like they like him. He did have I think 2 infractions but overall seemed ok.

To make the team, Telford will have to be one of those multiple position players. Very few guys make it on our offensive line unless they have that capability.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Tyler Cooper, rookie OG from Minnesota. #60. Game will be rebroadcast on NFL Network Thursday AM (when I'll get my 1st chance at watching PS game 2).

Thanks Pk. Was he drafted or is he an UDFA? This is a problem when the roster is at 90. The final 53 is probably 95-99% known right now. I don't watch PS games because the audience is primarily the coaches. And the Packers seem pretty set at OG, so I'm not sure I get the excitement for this guy.

 

[Heyjoe4]

To make the team, Telford will have to be one of those multiple position players. Very few guys make it on our offensive line unless they have that capability.

At this point, it's hard for me to see an OL group in the final 53 that isn't already set. Gluten did a lot of work in the draft and FA to improve this group/add depth. Maybe an outsider makes it due to injury. Otherwise, the best these guys can hope for is the PS.

 

[Voyageur]

My concern is that I see good things happening with Welch on the field, yet I don't believe the Packers are going to keep him. He has the instincts but seems to be shuffled aside in favor of others. I think he'd be a good fit and contribute with special teams as well as offer value as a backup LB.

 

[Pkrjones]

My concern is that I see good things happening with Welch on the field, yet I don't believe the Packers are going to keep him. He has the instincts but seems to be shuffled aside in favor of others. I think he'd be a good fit and contribute with special teams as well as offer value as a backup LB.

I have a hard time believing Welch won't make the 53. Walker, Cooper, McDuffie are locks. Next up are Hopper, Welch, Simmons. JDJ, & Bartlett.

Simmons is well on his way off the roster with 2 VERY poor showings in live action (and is 27 yrs old). JDJ has been pretty good against 2's & 3's and is a 23 yr old UDFA. Welch is #5, and if they keep 6 I think JDJ makes it over Simmons.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I have a hard time believing Welch won't make the 53. Walker, Cooper, McDuffie are locks. Next up are Hopper, Welch, Simmons. JDJ, & Bartlett.

Simmons is well on his way off the roster with 2 VERY poor showings in live action (and is 27 yrs old). JDJ has been pretty good against 2's & 3's and is a 23 yr old UDFA. Welch is #5, and if they keep 6 I think JDJ makes it over Simmons.

Man what a disappointing career for Simmons. I think he was a #8 selection by AZ, and then went to the NYG. He has consistently played out of position as a S. I thought he'd get back to his strength as a LB. Guess not.

 

[Heyjoe4]

My concern is that I see good things happening with Welch on the field, yet I don't believe the Packers are going to keep him. He has the instincts but seems to be shuffled aside in favor of others. I think he'd be a good fit and contribute with special teams as well as offer value as a backup LB.

How was Welch acquired - UDFA, FA? Thanks. I don't know anything about the guy.

 

[Curly Calhoun]

My concern is that I see good things happening with Welch on the field, yet I don't believe the Packers are going to keep him. He has the instincts but seems to be shuffled aside in favor of others. I think he'd be a good fit and contribute with special teams as well as offer value as a backup LB.

He seems to be a core ST player.

I think he has a pretty good shot at making the 53.

 

[Heyjoe4]

He seems to be a core ST player.

I think he has a pretty good shot at making the 53.

Is he a LB? How did he get on the Packers? Thanks CC.