8 Things We Learned From Packers’ Preseason Loss to Broncos

After a disappointing performance in joint practice on Friday, the Green Bay Packers rested 31 players and then lost to the Denver Broncos in a preseason game on Sunday at M-Power Stadium at Mile High. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix led two scoring drives and the Broncos led 17-0 at halftime, and the Packers’ dreadful performance on offense ended in a 27-2 loss.

Here are some things we learned (or didn’t learn) during Sunday’s loss to the Broncos:

We didn’t learn much.

Let’s start with what we didn’t learn. The competition for the backup quarterback spot was sketchy. Jordan Morgan didn’t play, so the battle for right guard was incomplete. The Raiders tried one kick but missed. The receivers competing for a roster spot felt the pain of struggling quarterbacks and pass protection. None of the backup offensive linemen stepped forward. Eric Stokes and Carrington Valentine didn’t play, so nothing happened there. In all, the Packers kept 31 players—the vast majority of whom will determine the success of the team’s season—and lost their bench early to the Broncos’ starters. The combination of little movement in the positional battles and few bright spots from the bench made for a tough evening.

Reserve midfielders shake confidence

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Matt LaFleur didn’t think Sean Clifford and Michael Brate got much help around them, but neither backup quarterback played well Sunday night, clouding the picture behind Jordan Love. Clifford fumbled a pass, completing just six passes and throwing a bad interception while failing to lead the Packers to a scoring drive on four possessions. Brate gave the ball away after being downed, producing just 52 yards on 16 attempts and failing to lead a scoring drive on eight opportunities. Clifford struggled over the summer, and Brate is a seventh-round pick facing a tough learning curve in his first year. Can LaFleur trust either of them to be the second-string quarterback heading into the regular season?

There is no movement in the kicking contest.

The Packers needed opportunities to shoot but ended up trying for just one field goal or extra point. That one opportunity ended in disaster: veteran Greg Joseph blew a 47-yard attempt wide right. Over the past week or so, the Packers’ shooting competition has gone from good to downright alarming. With Joseph and Anders Karlsson both nearing 80 percent in training camp and preseason kicking, it’s increasingly likely that the Packers’ Week 1 kicker won’t make the roster.

Backup attacking fullback struggles

Andre Dillard was included on the Packers’ 53-man roster. He’s on the team because no other offensive tackle has moved behind the starting linebackers. In fact, Sunday night’s loss exposed the troubling lack of depth at the elite offensive line position. Kadeem Telfort, Caleb Jones and Travis Glover all succumbed to multiple pressures and struggled to get movement in the run game. First-round pick Jordan Morgan, who is focused at right guard, did not play Sunday night. The Packers will likely have to start giving him practice reps at offensive tackle in an effort to protect the position in 2024.

The Newman Experiment Must End

Enough. Royce Newman, now a fourth-year starter, can’t make the 53-man roster. The former starter was on the field until the fourth quarter, and his inconsistency must have irked the coaching staff. Newman was beaten on one sack in the first half. Later, he failed to get a push on a fourth-down run. It’s time to move on. The Packers are training Sean Ryan and Jacob Monk at various interior line positions, and Jordan Morgan can and will play guard.

Receiver competition failure

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The Packers’ passing game struggled from start to finish, so we may have to wait to hear more about the position battle at receiver. Malik Heath caught three passes for 22 yards, and at least two deep balls aimed at him barely got him. Bo Milton caught just two passes for 10 yards. Grant DuBose didn’t catch either of his two targets — he dropped one, the other a fastball thrown behind him by Michael Pratt on a fourth-down attempt. DuBose helped his cause late in the game with a solo tackle to cover a punt.

Interesting battle in DE

It would be easy to put Brenton Cox Jr. in the running back’s box as the Packers’ fifth defensive lineman, but Aaron Mosby shouldn’t be counted out. While Cox has been able to shut down opponents and create at least two more pressures, Mosby has also continued to be a playmaker over the summer. He earned a penalty and then applied pressure that helped create Christian Welch’s interception in the second half. Ideally, the Packers would be able to keep one of Cox or Mosby and keep the other in the practice squad.

A Hard Night for Kalen King

The seventh-round pick had a number of big negative plays. In the first, he missed an open-field tackle and allowed the Broncos to convert a 3rd-and-17 on a completion too close to the sticks. Later, he was one of the defenders who failed to make a tackle on Jarrett Stidhan’s thunderous touchdown, and he lost coverage from the slot on another third-down conversion. Consider King squarely on the roster bubble entering the final week of the preseason.