Jordan Love never left the field in Green Bay’s season-opening loss to Minnesota, but the Packers’ Week 1 snap counts still painted a messy picture everywhere else. The offense was unstable, the receiver roles looked set, and the line had a rough enough afternoon that the Vikings piled up 29 straight points while repeatedly working with short fields.
At quarterback, there wasn’t any rotation at all. Love played every snap. The bigger concern was what was happening in front of him, because if the offensive line keeps performing like it did Sunday, the Packers may be forced to turn to Tyrod Taylor sooner rather than later.
The backfield had one especially notable wrinkle: Kaleb Johnson never saw an offensive snap. Green Bay had acquired the second-year back from the Pittsburgh Steelers at the cutdown deadline, and even with his previous ties to offensive coordinator Tim Lester and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, he was a complete non-factor against Minnesota. Chris Brooks was listed as the team’s “top” back, but MarShawn Lloyd handled more of the rushing work, finishing with 13 carries for 37 yards compared with Brooks’ seven carries for 29 yards.
The wideout group is no longer being shuffled around like a weekly experiment. Matthew Golden logged 55 snaps, Christian Watson 52 and Jayden Reed 38, with Bo Melton at seven and Skyy Moore at four.
That’s the shape of the room now: Golden and Watson on the outside, Reed in the slot. Watson and Golden also drove the passing game, with Watson catching six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and Golden adding six receptions for 95 yards.
Tight end usage followed a similar pattern of defined roles. Tucker Kraft played 44 snaps and Jonnu Smith 32, and together they combined for five catches and 115 yards.
Mark Redman, with 21 snaps, worked mostly as a blocking tight end from in-line spots, while Josh Whyle was fourth in line at the position with 11 snaps. The long-term numbers game at tight end is going to get crowded, especially with Luke Musgrave (neck) expected to return to the 53-man roster at some point during 2026.
Up front, every starter logged all 67 offensive snaps: Jordan Morgan at left tackle, Donovan Jennings at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center, Jacob Monk at right guard and Zach Bako-Bewele at right tackle. Anthony Belton played four snaps, while Jager Burton and John Williams were both held out completely.
Aaron Banks, dealing with knee tendinitis, was unavailable at left guard, which pushed Jennings into the lineup. Jennings and Monk both had a hard time of it, and the entire unit unraveled as the game went on.
By the fourth quarter, Green Bay’s drive sequence read like a collapse in real time: turnover on downs, fumble, interception and turnover on downs.
On defense, the front rotation was led by Karl Brooks with 35 snaps and Devonte Wyatt with 33. Jonathan Ford played 28, Javon Hargrave 27 and Chris McClellan 26.
The Packers had already treated Brooks and Wyatt like starters this preseason, so their usage wasn’t a surprise. Ford handled the 3-4 nose role, with Brooks and Wyatt on the ends, while Hargrave and McClellan came in off the bench.
Warren Brinson, inactive because of a calf injury, will be part of a bigger roster conversation when he returns, and Anthony Campbell was a healthy scratch.
On the edge, Lukas Van Ness led the group with 39 snaps, followed closely by Barryn Sorrell at 36. Brenton Cox Jr. played 27 and Dani Dennis-Sutton 21.
That alignment fit what the Packers had shown all summer, with Van Ness and Sorrell starting on the edge. Van Ness also carried over the strong finish to his 2025 season and turned in one of the better games of his NFL career.
At linebacker, the old three-man look is gone. Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin each played 61 snaps, while Isaiah McDuffie got just one.
Nick Niemann and Kristian Welch did not play. That leaves Franklin at Mike and Cooper at Will as the clear setup under defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, with other linebackers mostly limited to specialty situations or injury cover.
The cornerback group had its own late-game twist. Keisean Nixon played 61 snaps and Brandon Cisse 48, with Carrington Valentine at 13, Benjamin St-Juste at one and Kamal Hadden at zero.
Nixon and Cisse started, but Cisse was later replaced by Valentine. Valentine then gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one on a run-at play and another when he allowed Justin Jefferson to catch a ball and reach the pylon.
Cisse’s late exit was tied to cramps.
At safety, there was no mystery. Evan Williams and Xavier McKinney each played 61 snaps, while Javon Bullard logged 32 and Kitan Oladapo did not play.
Williams and McKinney are the starting safeties, and Bullard is the team’s starting slot defender. The Packers also split roughly evenly between base 3-4 defense and subpackages, mostly nickel, in Week 1.
In Other News...
Packers O-Line Issues Just Turned Into A Bigger Coaching Debate
The Packers opening-week loss quickly pushed the offensive line into the center of the conversation, and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich tried to frame the problems as more about communication than anything structural. He said the choice to start Donovan Jennings at left guard came down to what the staff saw in practice, and he also left open the possibility of moving Anthony Belton back to guard as Green Bay continues to search for the right mix up front.
What makes the issue linger is that the discussion has started to bleed beyond the line itself. Stenavich and Matt LaFleur offered different explanations about how Tucker Kraft was used on one particular play, a small detail that points to a larger question about how cleanly the offense is being coached and executed. For a unit already under pressure after Week 1, those kinds of differences matter because they can reveal whether the problem is simply timing, or something deeper. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Jacobs Update Leaves Packers Facing A Serious Off-Field Question
Josh Jacobs has already played a central role in Green Bays offense, but his latest legal resolution puts the Packers in an uncomfortable spot off the field. The running back entered a no contest plea to two misdemeanor charges tied to a domestic disturbance case, resulting in a battery conviction and a $1,000 fine, while the property damage charge was handled through a deferred judgment arrangement.
The remaining issue now centers on what happens with the evidence from the incident itself. The victims legal team has asked to seal surveillance footage related to the case, and the Packers are left monitoring a situation that has moved beyond the courtroom but not fully out of the spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Rodgers Sent A Message Steelers Fans Will Love After Week 1
After Week 1 in Pittsburgh, Aaron Rodgers took a moment to reach across the aisle and salute a familiar face. The former Packers quarterback sent ZaDarius Smith a handwritten note after the Steelers game against the Falcons, praising the veteran pass rushers energy and the way he worked his way back into the action.
Rodgers and Smith spent three seasons together in Green Bay, so the message carried the kind of respect that usually comes from shared locker rooms and a few battles together. Smith had only recently signed with Atlanta after a brief retirement, and he played through a shoulder issue in the opener, a detail Steelers fans will appreciate even if the note itself was aimed at an old teammate. [Read more 🡒]