Travis Glover started again at right guard for the Green Bay Packers in Detroit on Sunday, and Kevin Zeitler was inactive. Less than a month after the Packers signed Zeitler to a one-year, $4 million contract, they chose to keep him off the gameday roster and ride with Glover for another week.
The reason was not hard to hear after the game. Matt LaFleur said the Packers needed linemen who could come in, snap the ball and play center, and that belief shaped the roster more than any simple comparison at right guard. He said the team was down to its third center on Sunday and praised John Williams for handling the operation and communication in a hostile environment after two centers went down so quickly that it was, in his words, a little terrifying.
That helps explain why the Packers went with John Williams, Jacob Monk and Aaron Banks as the backup offensive linemen. Once that group was set, there was no room left for Zeitler, even if the move did not make the right guard picture any clearer. Glover remained the starter, and the Packers used the active roster to protect their center depth instead of giving Zeitler a jersey.
The decision sits awkwardly next to Glover’s recent play. He led all Packers offensive linemen with six pressures allowed against the Detroit Lions and posted a 40.6 pass-blocking grade, and over the past three weeks he has allowed 11 pressures. No other Packers player allowed more than eight in that span, which is why the choice to keep him in place over Zeitler invites a second look even after the center emergency is accounted for.
Jordan Love said Glover had been doing a good job and that the team would roll with Zeitler if he got an opportunity, which leaves the job open but not settled. The Packers have a short runway before they face the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, and that makes the next decision more important than the last one: whether the team keeps treating this as a temporary roster fix or finally uses the mini-bye after Thursday to make the change it has not yet made.
