I remember huge, ongoing arguments last year about whether Rodgers and the starters should play during the preseason. Since Saleh and Ubrich and Rodgers decided it wasn't really necessary, we only saw the scrubs on the field and of course, the regulars looked like 22 guys who had no idea how to play together. I'm hoping Glenn changes all of that and the meritocracy that was under Saleh is finally gone. Everybody needs to play and the CS can't be scared of the injury bug as familiarity is key to success. The Coaches need to know what they have to work with. The players need to know the other guys on their specific units. Nobody gets a pass as there's no "Royalty" on the roster anymore. Everybody needs to get sweaty and dirty and ready to play on opening day. No passes, no one is too important to play during the preseason. The Rodgers/Saleh/Ulbrich country club days are over. For better or worse.. Its All Hands on Deck!!
Eh…I don’t know…honestly I’m not a big fan of playing starters much in preseason…all I do is hold my breath while I watch The injury risk is just too high, and especially when we have such a thin roster depth-wise, I just don’t need to see the starters play much in the preseason…
The expectation for this team for the most part is 7 wins. That's with everybody healthy. We learned last year that the starters have to play in preseason if for no other reason to get used to playing at game speed under a new system and coaching. That's what preseason is for. You can't be so terrified of injuries that you sacrifice the first several games of the regular season so that the starters are seeing their first live action. If some starter gets hurt? That's what your bench is for. If you have nothing on your bench? You have more work to do before you can dream of 8 or 9 wins. Point being, there's no superstars on this roster. No experience on the sidelines as a unit either. You have to get that experience so, get it during preseason.
The offensive players definitely need to play as much during the preseason as possible. Fields didn't play much after his early benching last season in addition to the fact that he's going onto his third team in three years.
Meritocracy? I think a lot of guys got playing time last season because they were A-rog’s pals, not on merit.
True. A few guys got playing time because (Gipson) had one play that Saleh thought was the norm but turned out to be an outlier. Rodgers was the defacto OC for the most part. Those factors are no longer present, so guys need to actually earn their roster spot and playing time.
Spot on Cman. It’s time players earn their way to the starting lineup based on field performance and team effort. And it starts in training camp and preseason to develop the right chemistry.
Eh. To me it depends. The Jets defense was nasty under Coach Saleh it's difficult for me to criticize his method because of that. The problem was the offense as it's been for the majority(?) of their history. I get what you're saying but they just re-signed Wilson & Sauce to enormous contracts and I really don't need to see them being put at risk for long in meaningless preseason games. Especially with the organization's seemingly cursed history.
I’m a bit more indifferent on this. Teams do varying things that work. Some play their guys. Some don’t. Some that play their guys end up with bad results and some with good results and vice versa. It always a smart idea until Chad Pennington breaks his wrist on a freak play.
