Both rosters still have real question marks. Green Bay is checking on Tucker Kraft's knee and Josh Jacobs, both trending toward clearance, while a thinned-out secondary — Marlon Jones on IR, Javon Bullard and Dani Dennis-Sutton questionable — gets tested early. Denver's dealing with its own attrition up front, with Michael Deiter's season already over at center and Luke Wattenberg questionable, even as Jaylen Waddle and Marvin Mims work back into the receiver mix. None of that changes what the market already sees: Denver's won 4 of its last 5 and opened this preseason with a blowout, and the price reflects it.
Green Bay's side of the ledger is uglier no matter how you cut it — 5 straight losses across regular season and preseason both, and an opener that got out of hand fast against Pittsburgh. But Friday isn't really about that record. It's about how much tape LaFleur wants on Love before final cuts, and how competitive this stays once both teams' backups take over in the second half.
Empower Field should play fast Friday — 89 degrees and mostly sunny tends to help the passing game more than it hurts it. That matters with Denver's receiver room finally trending healthy and Green Bay wanting clean, extended drives out of its top unit before roster cuts loom.
- QuestionableTucker Kraft (TE) — Kraft (knee) has been impressive in 11-on-11 drills since the Packers cleared him Sunday to take part in them at practice, Bill Huber of SI.com reports08/19
- QuestionableJosh Jacobs (RB)
- QuestionableDarian Kinnard (OT)
- QuestionableJavon Bullard (S)
- QuestionableDani Dennis-Sutton (DE)
- QuestionableCarrington Valentine (CB) — Head coach Matt LaFleur said Tuesday that the hope is Valentine (hamstring) is cleared to return to training camp practices next week, Weston Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official site reports.08/11
- OutJordon Riley (DT) — Riley (Achilles) is not expected to be back for training camp, Weston Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official site reports.08/16
- Injured ReserveMarlon Jones (CB) — ir08/19
- Injured ReserveJohnathan Baldwin II (S) — ir08/19
- QuestionableLuke Wattenberg (C)
- QuestionableMarvin Mims Jr. (WR)
- QuestionableCaleb Lohner (TE) — Lohner (lower body) does not yet have a return timeline, Luca Evans of The Denver Post reports.08/03
- Injured ReserveMatt Henningsen (DE) — ir08/19
- Injured ReserveMichael Deiter (C) — ir08/19
Nobody's record from this stretch means anything once September hits, but the film does. Green Bay needs its offense — and its beat-up secondary — to show something better than the last 5 results. Denver just wants Nix healthy and its backups to keep building on a summer that's gone about as smoothly as one can.