This could be the group of veterans held out of Packers preseason opener
Wondering which players might sit for the Green Bay Packers during the preseason opener on Friday night in San Francisco? Coach Matt LaFleur might have dropped a big hint on Wednesday.
As captured below by Andy Herman of Packer Report, LaFleur had an on-field meeting with a group of veteran players during the end of Wednesday’s practice in Green Bay:
If I had to guess, I think this is a meeting with LaFleur and the vets who will be off on Friday night.
Group includes:
Dillon
Jones
Clark
Watkins
Campbell
Stokes
Lowry
Reed
Lewis
Amos
Jaire
Cobb
Preston
Gary
Rodgers
Lazard pic.twitter.com/B4aFJunRsL— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) August 10, 2022
As noted by Herman and other beat reporters, the players involved in the meeting are Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Sammy Watkins, Marcedes Lewis, Robert Tonyan, David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Kenny Clark, Jarran Reed, Dean Lowry, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, De’Vondre Campbell, Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, Eric Stokes, Adrian Amos, Darnell Savage and Mason Crosby.
That’s 22 of the 90 players on the roster. A few are injured or on the PUP list and wouldn’t play anyway. Most are veterans who don’t need to be on the field in a preseason game.
LaFleur already confirmed Jordan Love would start at quarterback and Jones and Dillon wouldn’t play. It would be surprising if any of the other veterans were on the field against the 49ers for an exhibition game.
The one notable name here might be Watkins, who has played 99 career games and doesn’t need to risk injury in a game environment. His inclusion in the group might mean his roster spot is secure. At the very least, the Packers don’t need to see him in a preseason game to know what he’s about as a player.
LaFleur and the Packers have roster spots to figure out past the veterans. Expect a bunch of notable names to be on the sideline on Friday night while the rest of the 90-man roster competes in San Francisco.
