Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon recently said he feels like he’s being “punished” by being required to compete for a starting job, which includes Nixon taking second-team reps. On Tuesday, coach Matt LaFleur was asked about Nixon’s comment.
“He loves making a headline, doesn’t he?” LaFleur said with a smile before the question was over.
“Yeah, you guys will take it different than me, because the way I look at it is this: Then I guess our whole team is being punished, because everybody’s in competition,” LaFleur said. “So I’m a big believer that competition will bring the best out of people. And I want everybody to play with a chip on their shoulder. If they feel like they have something to prove, you’re probably gonna get more out of them.”
LaFleur made it clear he’s not upset about Nixon’s remark.
“I love Kei,” LaFleur said. “He’s been awesome since the day he’s been here. I don’t read any of that stuff. . . . I’m not gonna micromanage what everybody says, and if he feels a certain type of way, I mean, it is what it is, but I do think that, you know, it’s a benefit to the team to have people that you feel are capable to go in there and play, and we’ll all be better for that. So, like I said, whether it’s at corner, it’s the offensive line, I mean, really, every spot is — you better come to compete, each and every day, if you want to be out there.”
Nixon remains listed as a starter, ahead of Benjamin St-Juste. And Nixon, who made the Pro Bowl as an alternate last season, surely wants to be on the field as much as possible in 2026. It’s a contract year, and he’ll want as many chances as possible to make a good impression on his Packers or, if necessary, one of the other 31 teams.
Packers Clips
Green Bay’s starters played in the team’s preseason opener against Pittsburgh last week.
They will be out there again on Friday.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed in his Tuesday press conference that starters will play in Friday’s matchup with the Broncos, with the first unit likely getting at least another drive.
Quarterback Jordan Love and the starters were on the field for just nine plays last week, with the one possession resulting in a field goal.
But with a joint practice on tap with the Cardinals next week, LaFleur noted the starters are unlikely to play in the Packers’ preseason finale.
Kickoff between the Packers and Broncos is slated for 9 p.m. ET on Friday.
The Packers have some positive news on the injury front.
Running back Josh Jacobs will return to practice on Tuesday, head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters during his daily press conference.
Jacobs had been sidelined by a groin injury.
Last season, Jacobs rushed for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns in 15 games. he also caught 36 passes for 282 yards with a TD.
The Packers will be on the road to face the Broncos on Friday for the second week of preseason play.
Keisean Nixon had previously been a Pro Bowler as a return specialist. Last year, he made it to the Pro Bowl as a cornerback. This year, the long-time Packer is fighting for a spot in the starting lineup.
Nixon shrugged at the reality on Sunday.
“I don’t see myself in no competition,” Nixon told reporters on Sunday, via Ryan Wood of USA Today. “I’m coming in here to compete for myself. What they do, and what they choose to do, that’s out of my control. I can only control what I can control.
“No, I came from the bottom, so I’m here. I’m Year 8. Since I’ve been here, I ain’t been off the field, and anything they’ve asked me to do I’ve played at a high level. . . . I always show up.”
On Sunday, coach Matt LaFleur discussed the key factors in the competition.
“Obviously, it starts with doing your right assignment, and then it comes down to your style of play,” LaFleur said. “How are you competing, going after the ball. Not only in the past game, but in the run game as well? Are you sticking your nose in there? And we need corners that are willing and capable tacklers.”
The Packers’ unofficial preseason depth chart lists Nixon as the starter, with Benjamin St-Juste as Nixon’s backup. Nixon started the preseason opener at Pittsburgh, playing 19 snaps.
Nixon, undrafted in 2019, enters the final year of a three-year, $18 million contract. He’s due to make $2.66 million in salary and per-game roster bonuses. St-Juste signed a two-year, $9.8 million deal with Green Bay in the offseason.
Packers tight end Tucker Kraft took a big step back toward the lineup on Sunday.
Head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters at a pre-practice press conference that they might be in for a treat when asked when Kraft would move into team drills and those reporters later shared that Kraft participated in 11-on-11 work for the first time since tearing his ACL last season.
Kraft has been aiming for a Week 1 return all offseason, although LaFleur said earlier this summer that he could take part in a joint practice with the Cardinals on August 26. The return to full team work would seem to make that likelier, but the team has time to make that call.
Kraft is in line for a contract extension and continued health should help his chances of landing one before the final year of his rookie deal is over.
The Packers waived fourth-string quarterback Kyron Drones on Saturday, the team announced.
His departure leaves Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord behind Jordan Love.
The Packers signed Drones as an undrafted free agent on April 25, and he played in their first preseason game.
Drones was 0-for-1 and took three sacks against the Steelers.
He spent his first two seasons at Baylor before transferring to Virginia Tech. In three years with the Hokies, he completed 58.3 percent of his passes for 5,566 yards and 44 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,798 yards and 20 touchdowns, giving him 7,364 total yards and 64 total touchdowns.
The Packers return to action on Friday night against the Broncos.
Packers running back Josh Jacobs has missed more than a week of practice with a groin injury, but his return could be around the corner.
Head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters on Friday that Jacobs could return to practice next week. LaFleur said that if Jacobs does return, he would likely come back late in the week.
The Packers played their preseason opener on Thursday and they play again next Friday, so it is unlikely that Jacobs would be under consideration to play so soon after making it back to the field.
Jacobs ran 535 times for 2,258 yards and 28 touchdowns over his first two seasons in Green Bay. He also caught 72 passes for 624 yards and two scores.
After the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Packers last year, Dallas owner and G.M. Jerry Jones compared the move to the Herschel Walker trade from 1989.
On Thursday, Jerry did it again.
“You could say those picks got us key players, but the main thing that the Herschel Walker trade did, it caused me to be more aggressive and caused us to, if you will, take more risk because we had more picks,” Jones said, via Todd Archer of ESPN.
But the Parsons deal sacrificed one of the best defensive players in the NFL for a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. For Walker, who had one 1,000-yard performance in three NFL seasons, the Cowboys emerged with three first-round picks, three second-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick.
Still, Jerry views the two extra first-round picks as the spark needed to turn him into a gambler.
“It’s like going to Las Vegas with some extra money in your pocket or going out there with the baby’s new pair of shoes and formula money in your pocket,” Jones said. “You can’t be as good a crapshooter as you are when you’ve got the baby’s new pair of shoes throwing out there with it.
“So, in a way, this actually created a mental part to us and to my role in it with me, to step out and make the moves and take, if you will, risks that are involved to be where we are today with a complete makeover of the defense.”
Jones nevertheless acknowledges that Parsons is a special talent.
“Even though Micah’s an outstanding talent [that] anybody would like to have, the bottom line is that I like what the result of the trade has ended up as I stand here today,” Jones said.
Frankly, it’s no surprise. That’s Jerry’s way. The glass is always half-full, even when it’s not. He craves interest in his team, and he knows how to generate it.
But if he’s truly serious about the Parsons trade causing future picks to burn a hole in his pocket, he should be looking to make more deals. Especially if the Raiders struggle to start the season and defensive end Maxx Crosby once again becomes available.
The Packers made a different choice than the Steelers when it came to playing their starting quarterback on Thursday night, but they didn’t leave Jordan Love in the game for long.
Love got the ball after the opening kickoff and moved the team 46 yards over 10 plays in a drive that ended with a field goal. Love exited the game after that drive and Tyrod Taylor is now at quarterback for Green Bay.
Love’s night looked like it would be slightly shorter, but Steelers defensive lineman Dean Lowry was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a Trey Smack 58-yard field goal attempt. The rookie hit the kick, but the Packers took the penalty and turned back to Smack for a shorter kick after an incompletion on third down.
Love connected with Jayden Reed for a 19-yard gain, but a pass to running back MarShawn Lloyd resulted in a four-yard loss and Love finished 3-of-5 for 18 yards.
Aaron Rodgers did not start for the Steelers. Mason Rudolph was given the nod by Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy for the preseason opener.
The Steelers did not announce their quarterback plans for Thursday night’s preseason game against the Packers.
Aaron Rodgers, though, is on the sideline in street clothes.
Mason Rudolph will start, with Will Howard replacing him at some point in the first half, according to the 102.5 WDVE pregame show. Rookie Drew Allar will play the second half.
Howard missed the 2025 preseason with a hand injury.
Rodgers is expected to play in the preseason, perhaps Aug. 21 against his other former team, the Jets.
Rodgers’ protegee, Jordan Love, will start for the Packers tonight in what is expected to be Rodgers’ final meeting against the team that drafted him.
