We've made it to the halfway point of the Preseason. If that's even a thing considering there are only three games. Nonetheless, we're there, and the Packers are in Denver today to face off against the Broncos in their second preseason game of the 2024 season. The game will kick off at 7 pm CST at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. This is the only "prime time" preseason game the Packers have this season and I have to say, I miss them all being Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night starts. I may be alone in this, but come the regular season, fall and winter, when the temperature starts to drop, you're ready for your weekend to be spent indoors. In the summertime when there are things to do, even though it's the Packers, it still stings a little to be in front of a TV at noon or 3:25 on a beautiful Saturday. 

This will mark the 11th time the Packers have faced the Broncos in preseason action. The last time being a 20-17 Broncos victory in the Mile High City where the majority of the game saw Brett Hundley at Quarterback for the Packers in relief of Aaron Rodgers who only had five passing attempts, completing three for 12 yards. Hundley had an average game with 186 yards passing with no TDs or INTs but recorded one rushing touchdown off a six-yard run in the 4th quarter.

The Packers did meet the Broncos last season, however, in regular season action and had a very lackluster performance losing 19-17 in Denver. This game was one of the definite low points in the 2023 season before the Packers turned it again. Despite this game being a meaningless preseason match-up, some of the team may still want to leave the Denver airport with a better feeling this time around. 

The Packers and Broncos had a joint practice on Friday which acted as the "Preseason" reps for many of the Packers starters as they will not be playing today. Unfortunately, this practice can be summarized as a "rough day at the office" as Denver seemed to dominate it. Despite this, Packers players and coaching seemed to still be optimistic in regards to the work they got done. We don't know if the Packers truly gave it their all in this practice, my guess is "not really." They want the reps and the practice more than the end results. 

What to see on Offense

As I said previously, we won't see many starters today. With Jordan Love not playing we are likely to see a lot of Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt. Clifford had a pretty decent showing in the first preseason game vs the Browns going 10/19 for 111 yards, with no TDs or INTs. And Michael Pratt went 5/7 for 46 yards, also no TDs nor INTs. Pratt, however, mainly played a clean-up role against the Browns. Kind of a hand-the-ball-off and run-out-the-clock game plan for Pratt as the Packers were in the lead the entire game. Of course, I want the Packers to be in the lead the entire game, but I really want to see Pratt air it out when he has the opportunity. I want his highlight to not be a block he threw on a 23-yard running play but a big throw for a TD or something. Dare I ask Matt LaFleur to start Michael Pratt so we get that chance? I would surely enjoy it. I'm not entirely sold on the fact that Sean Clifford is the Packers' answer should something God forbid happen to Jordan Love, so I want Michael Pratt to have his chance to say something about it. 

If I were to guess, with Jordan Love on the sidelines, wide receivers Watson, Doubs, Reed, and Wicks, likely won't play. I'm anticipating a heavy dose of Grant DuBose who shined against Cleveland as well as Bo Melton, Malik Heath, and also Julian Hicks who had a big catch in Cleveland last week. Melton has had a rough start to camp with a case of the drops. You would think the way he performed towards the end of the year last season, that he could be a shoo-in for a roster spot. He still could be, but with DuBose shining the way he has, the heat could be put on Melton awfully quickly depending on how many receivers the Packers plan on keeping. 

Everyone was talking about Emanuel Wilson after the Cleveland game last week. Rightfully so, he made a big case for himself to make the team yet again this year despite the odds. We'll look to see if he has another big game in Denver against the team that actually cut him after rookie mini-camp in 2023 before he signed with the Packers. It'll be fun to see Wilson get a little preseason redemption. I'm not sure if he'll be a go tonight but if he is, I'll also be looking forward to seeing Jarveon Howard out of Alcorn State. He had 8 carries for 44 yards last Saturday and if he plays after being held out of practices with an injury this past week, he could be a fun watch. If Howard isn't a go, then look for the newly signed Nate McCrary to maybe get a few carries along with Ellis Merriweather. Perhaps one of the bigger things I'll be watching for in tonight's game as far as running backs go, is whether or not AJ Dillon plays. Dillon has been considered by most to be on the roster bubble. If he is held out tonight, then there is a chance he was a roster lock all along, but if not, he could be running for his job tonight in Denver. 

As far as Tight Ends go, I'll be curious to see whether or not Luke Musgrave or Tucker Kraft are in uniform tonight. Neither player recorded a reception last week but considering neither did the majority of the first-team offense, that's not saying much. They're not playing for their jobs, but I'm eager to know if Musgrave or Kraft could be the TE on the field the most this season and some preseason action could show that. Otherwise, I'll be watching Joel Wilson a bit more tonight. He wasn't really on my radar heading into camp, but three catches for 30 yards last week and a few targets in practice as well could make him a bit of a dark horse. I don't see him edging out Ben Sims or Tyler Davis, especially given Davis' special teams work, but he could be a good practice squad candidate. 

And now the big boys. There's sure to be a lot of shuffling along the offensive line but I'll say tonight one of the top guys I'll be watching is Jacob Monk. He got some reps at right guard this week in practice which was a little bit of a surprise but I wouldn't say it's a big challenge in terms of a starting role. The Packers will be looking heavily at which of their offensive linemen who may not be starting can be swingmen. Easy plug-and-play linemen that if there is an injury they can throw that guy in without missing a beat. Monk has looked pretty good in practice and could be in line to be that guy. Meanwhile, along the rest of the line, first-round pick Jordan Morgan returned to practice this week. I don't know if this means we'll see him in preseason action tonight, but if so, you can bet your money my eyes will be on number 77 while he's out there. 

What to See on Defense

Okay, don't lie to me, who else was amped up to see Evan Williams make a beautiful open-field tackle on John Kelly Jr without a helmet on? Funny enough this reminded me of the first preseason game of the 2008 season vs Cincinnati when James Jones caught a pass from Aaron Rodgers in the first quarter, had his helmet ripped off, and still took off into the end-zone for a touchdown. Yeah, that's right, I remember a preseason play from 16 years ago. Evan Williams was everywhere as he made six tackles and also forced a fumble looking every bit like a draft steal for Brian Gutekunst. There's no doubt I'll be watching him in this one. Alongside Williams, in the secondary of course, there's Javon Bullard who's continued to look pretty decent, as well as Kalen King. Heading into this season I saw the Packers cornerbacks as being Jaire, Stokes, Nixon, Valentine, and Ballentine, but I would say King is stating his case for possibly overtaking Ballentine if not putting some heat on Carrington Valentine as well for that number 4 position. 

When it comes to the defensive line it's going to be a big question mark of "who's playing?" Devonte Wyatt has been wreaking havoc in practice and so has Lukas Van Ness. I would think Van Ness may be playing tonight, but I'm not so sure about Wyatt. Both are locks to make the roster but they could also use some reps in their new roles. I'm also going to be looking for some action from Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden. Wooden had a sack in the preseason game vs the Browns, and Brooks has looked stellar all camp. Despite Jeff Hafley's expertise being the secondary, it seems like the Packers defense is going to start up front. Alongside Clark, Wyatt, and Slaton, getting some great performances out of Wooden and Brooks will be huge for this defense. 

Getting to the linebackers it seems as though we'll finally get to see Ty'Ron Hopper in action. Both he and Edgerrin Cooper have missed time due to injuries. Hopper should see action tonight, Cooper however, we're still not sure. I must say it's driving me crazy as I feel like Cooper is going to be a big part of this defense at some point but we'll just have to wait. We'll have to see if Quay Walker is a go tonight or not, he's obviously a roster lock but I feel like his role is far from perfected. I could see him and Isaiah McDuffie on the field for at least a series or two. 

These teams find themselves in opposite situations when it comes to the Quarterback position. The Packers know Jordan Love is their QB now and for the future, and they paid him as such. So, therefore, he's definitely going to be put in bubble wrap until the games really count. Denver drafted Bo Nix in the first round kind of surprising some that he would go so high, but in camp so far, Nix has looked a bit better than his competition in Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham. Therefore, Denver wants to be sure they're making the right decision in starting Nix instead of maybe red-shirting him for a season or even just a few games. I think we will see Denver's starting offense with Nix at the helm for the first quarter and maybe even a little beyond. With the Packers likely sitting many starters, it will surely be a big test for the guys who may be pushing for a roster spot. Looking good against a starting offense will surely turn some heads positively in the direction of those roster bubble players. 

Extra Notes

It would be nice if the kicker competition would show us a clear leader at some point. I'm part of the crowd that thought the signing of Greg Joseph would maybe kick Anders Carlson in the pants and cause him to win the competition easily. But that's hardly been the case. Joseph has been a little better than Carlson so far in camp. That's not saying much though. Kicking in that Mile High air on Sunday night may give Carlson a bit of an advantage as he's got the leg to boot some deep attempts. But will he have the accuracy? Most of Greg Joseph's successful attempts have been straight down the middle. Carlson has had a few that have just barely squeaked through the uprights. And what about Alex Hale? Sadly, Hale has only converted 68% of his attempts in his short camp time. That's not quite good enough to be considered a threat to Carlson or Joseph who have both hit on around 80% of theirs. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll have any answers tonight either unless one of them has a catastrophic failure in their attempts while the other is perfect. It's starting to seem like the Packers might have to keep one of them and then place the other on waivers to land on the practice squad just in case.   

Last week I mentioned getting the chance to see how the Packers handled the new kickoff format. When the Packers were kicking we got to see them cover five returns and they did fairly well holding the Browns to an average of about 25 yards. Returning, however, Cleveland opted to put the Packers at the 30-yard line to start with two touchbacks and there was only one return by Emanuel Wilson that was taken for 28 yards. Looking to tonight's game, last week Denver kicked off 7 times with zero touchbacks. Colts returners averaged about 26 yards each return, however, they did give up one return of about 49 yards to Colts rookie wide receiver Anthony Gould. Of course, if we see more kick returns, that means the Broncos are scoring more, and even though it's preseason, I still don't want that. But I do hope we see the Packers get at least one more attempt to return a kick than last week. 

In the End

With the Broncos likely to play starters for a bit against the Packers majority playing backups in tonight's matchup, I'm not going to get upset looking at the scoreboard. Tonight could be one of those preseason games where you take the negatives with a heavy grain of salt in the first half and focus on what players stood out no matter how minimal that standout could be. It will be a good test to see who perhaps mails it in given the circumstances, and who comes out still looking to make this game a Packers blowout. Even so, I think we still have the young talent to win this preseason matchup, but it may have to be a second-half or even fourth-quarter comeback where some of those roster bubble guys show us what they're made of. Enjoy it Packers fans, and Go Pack Go.