The Green Bay Packers will use their final preseason game on Aug. 28 against the Arizona Cardinals to sort out questions that still hang over the roster. The game comes two days after a joint practice and just before the team must cut to 53 on Aug. 30.
That makes this Packers schedule search more than a routine check-in. The Packers still have to decide how ready Zach Bako-Bewele is after a partially torn patellar tendon, how much run MarShawn Lloyd should get, and which defensive linemen can survive the last round of cuts. It is the last chance to see those jobs in live action before the decisions become final.
Bako-Bewele has a real shot to start in Week 1, but he has not fully committed to saying he will be cleared for the opener. Before the joint practice on Aug. 26, he was taking three or four snaps with the No. 1 offense and then giving way to the backup, a pattern that says more about caution than certainty. The Packers need him healthy enough to handle the job, but they do not yet sound ready to treat that as settled.
On the other side of the backfield, Lloyd has turned preseason touches into a clear reason for attention. He has 10 carries for 30 yards, with a long run of 7 yards, and he has also caught an 11-yard touchdown pass. Those numbers do not lock in a role by themselves, but they do show why the Packers have reason to keep watching him while Starter Josh Jacobs' status remains up in the air because of a possible suspension and a groin injury. If Jacobs is not ready, Lloyd could be asked to do more than simply finish a preseason game.
The defensive line is just as crowded, but the math is clearer. Devonte Wyatt, Javon Hargrave, Warren Brinson, Karl Brooks and Chris McClellan are treated as locks, while Jonathan Ford, Nazir Stackhouse and Anthony Campbell are fighting for one or two spots. All three should get plenty of playing time against the Cardinals, which gives the Packers one last chance to compare them directly. Lukas Van Ness can also slide inside on passing downs, which adds another layer to how the team can build the front.
Anthony Belton is part of the same sorting process. He has been the backup at right tackle since about the second week in camp, even though he was a starter at right guard last year. The Packers could also give him work at right guard against the Cardinals to see whether he can play better than Jacob Monk, and that kind of flexibility matters when the roster is shrinking fast.
That is the shape of this finale: not a dress rehearsal, but a decision game. The next hard deadline is Aug. 30, when the Packers have to cut to 53, and the playing time against Arizona will tell them whether Bako-Bewele can be trusted early, whether Lloyd is ready for a bigger role, and which defensive linemen have done enough to stick. For a team still building around uncertainty, this is the last clean look before the choices stop being theoretical.
