Five Packers Who Must Play Better After Bye

First-round pick Matthew Golden is off to an encouraging start to his career. All you want from a rookie is progress. Golden caught a total of two passes in the first two games. He followed that up by catching all four targets for 52 yards with a long of 34 against Cleveland in Week 3 and 5-of-6 targets for 58 yards with a long of 46 against Dallas.

On a do-or-die fourth-and-6 in overtime at Dallas, Golden made the play. It was a clutch catch by Golden and a show of trust in the rookie by quarterback Jordan Love to give him the ball. He hasn’t dropped any passes, which is no surprise after he caught everything in sight during training camp.

As it appears the Packers are making it a point to get him the ball, he’s got to maximize those opportunities. He’s been good so far but “good” isn’t good enough for a first-round pick. He’s got to continue his promising trajectory. Meanwhile, he’s been shaky in his new role as a punt returner and must improve in that phase to prevent another game-turning miscue by the special teams.

“I feel like they’ve been good,” Golden said last week of his first few games. “Obviously, not going to have a perfect game but I feel like for me, I’m going out there and playing fast, getting open. I’m going to keep stacking. Each and every game, I’m going to try to be even better and do whatever I can do to help the team win.”

RT Zach Tom, DT Devonte Wyatt

This has nothing to do with performance and everything to do with getting healthy and staying healthy.

Zach Tom is one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL. As our Jacob Westendorf pointed out in his bye-week grades, which will publish on Saturday morning, Tom has played more than one snap in only one game this season. That was against the Detroit Lions in Week 1. Not coincidentally, that was the only game in which Jordan Love was not sacked.

Credit to Tom for trying to push through an oblique injury when he started but lasted only one play at Cleveland. No credit at all to the training staff and coaching staff for letting him play. While rookie Anthony Belton and veteran Darian Kinnard have filled in admirably, Tom is a high-level starter.

Wyatt, a first-round pick in 2022, has slowly and steadily become an impact defensive tackle. Even while missing the end of the Cleveland game with a knee injury, he entered Week 4 at Dallas ranked second among interior defensive linemen in pressures. He’s sixth at the position in pass-rush win rate among those with at least 60 pass-rushing snaps. Plus, he’s been a key cog in Green Bay’s surprising run defense.

Like Tom with the oblique, Wyatt tried to play through his knee injury at Dallas but lasted only 13 snaps. The defense fell apart without him.

“We missing D-Wy,” Micah Parsons said after the game. “The dominant player that he is, his energy is so contagious. I think he’s underlooked in his value on this team. He telling me he going to go get healthy and, hopefully, we get him back soon. You lose a great player like that, it kind of stings.”