2024-08-25 12:55:02
GREEN BAY – The Packers’ reserve units handled Baltimore’s in a 30-7 victory in the preseason finale Saturday at Lambeau Field.
Here are five takeaways as the preseason has wrapped up and roster decisions loom on Tuesday:
- There’s no clear winner in the kicking competition.
Both Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph had their ups and downs over the past month, and both made a big kick Saturday from 50-plus yards. Carlson was good from 54, barely clearing the crossbar, and Joseph from 55 with plenty to spare.
Joseph also hit from 36 yards out, but late in the game Carlson missed wide right from the left hash from just 32, leaving a lot of uncertainty as to what direction the Packers will go.
“That’s not even a question for me,” Head Coach Matt LaFleur said, deferring to General Manager Brian Gutekunst, though LaFleur did not rule out scouring the waiver wire to see who’s out there. “We’ve got a really good sample size, and then we’ll see what happens just around the league.
“Certainly there were some good moments … and then there’s a poor moment there where we missed a chip shot. Lotta good, some we know we can be better at, and we’ll wait and see.”
- Same goes for backup quarterback.
Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt rotated every two possessions and each threw a TD pass – Clifford to Malik Heath over the middle, and Pratt on a nice corner fade that Bo Melton leaped up to snag. Both TDs bode well for Heath and Melton as strong finishes.
But Clifford (6-of-14, 53 yards) completed less than half his passes, though he was under duress on several throws. Meanwhile Pratt (8-of-12, 80 yards) threw a bad interception in scoring territory, drilling a quick throw into the midsection of linebacker Trenton Simpson, and then compounding the mistake by running up to tackle Simpson and getting the wind knocked out of him.
Again, LaFleur did not rule out looking outside for another quarterback who gets released by another team.
“We’ll see,” LaFleur said. “It’s similar to the kicking competition in terms of there were some really good moments, and then there were some things we absolutely have to do better, and then we’ll evaluate everything that’s out there for us.
“I thought they competed hard. There’s a couple throws you always want to have back.”
