The Green Bay Packers close their preseason on Aug. 28 against the Arizona Cardinals, and this one matters because several jobs are still unsettled. Zach Bako-Bewele, MarShawn Lloyd and three defensive linemen are all in the frame as the Packers use the game to sort out what Week 1 might look like.
The search around Packer Game Today is really about what gets decided now, before the roster can be trimmed to 53 on Aug. 30. The Packers held a joint practice with the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 26, but the final preseason game is the last live chance to test players in game conditions before the first round of cuts.
Bako-Bewele is one of the clearest examples. He is coming off a partially torn patellar tendon, and before the joint practice he took three or four snaps with the No. 1 offense before giving way to the backup. That is enough to show the staff how far along he is, but not enough to fully settle whether he will be cleared to start in Week 1 at Minnesota.
Anthony Belton is in a different fight. He has been the backup at right tackle since about the second week in camp, even though he started at right guard last year. The Packers could give him work at right guard against the Cardinals to see whether he can beat out Jacob Monk for that job, and that kind of cross-check is exactly what a final preseason game is for.
MarShawn Lloyd brings the most obvious workload question. He has 10 carries for 30 yards, with a long run of 7 yards, and he has also caught an 11-yard touchdown pass. That line hints at progress, but it also leaves room for caution because Josh Jacobs' status is still up in the air after a possible suspension and a groin injury. If Jacobs is unavailable in Week 1, Lloyd could be the starter, which makes how many carries he gets against Arizona more than a routine preseason stat watch.
The Packers also still have to sort the middle of the defensive line, where Jonathan Ford, Nazir Stackhouse and Anthony Campbell are fighting for one or two spots. Five names look safe there — Devonte Wyatt, Javon Hargrave, Warren Brinson, Karl Brooks and McClellan — while Lukas Van Ness has the ability to slide inside on passing downs. That leaves Ford, Stackhouse and Campbell all needing a strong showing, and the setup suggests each should get plenty of playing time against the Cardinals before the Packers make their next hard choice.
That is what makes Aug. 28 feel like more than one last preseason date. It is the final test before decisions harden, and for players on the edge, the next step is not another speech or another practice. It is the roster cut on Aug. 30, when the Packers will have to turn all of this evaluation into a list.
