Week 1 was not an auspicious occasion for many former Packers players who departed from Green Bay after last season, or in other years for that matter. Following week 1, here’s a pretty comprehensive Packers alumni report.
Safety Micah Hyde, playing every defensive snap, had three tackles and one pass defended as his Bills beat the Jets, 21-12.
Guard T.J. Lang played the entire game for Detroit, helping to justify his three-year $28.5 million deal.
J.C. Tretter took all the offensive snaps as the Cleveland Browns’ starting center.
In Carolina’s 23-3 win over the 49ers, defensive end Julius Peppers had two QB hits, one tackle and 0.5 sacks.
Eddie Lacy’s line versus the Packers: five carries for three yards. Rookie Chris Carson (6 for 49), and C.J. Prosise (4 for 11) outplayed him, and starter Thomas Rawls was out with an injury. Looks like Lacy is Seattle’s fourth string running back.
Defensive tackle Brian Price, claimed off waivers on September 3, got in on 11 defensive plays in his Cowboys’ debut, but failed to record any stats.
Receiver Max McCaffrey might have caught a break. On Tuesday he went from the Saints’ practice squad to the Jaguars’ active roster. Jags’ star receiver Allen Robinson was just placed on injured reserve, so McCaffrey might get some playing time very soon.
Inside linebacker Jordan Tripp, waived by the Packers last week, was signed three days later by the Falcons. I suspect they are right now grilling him about strategies and trick plays the Packers were working on during the preseason.
Defensive tackle Mike Pennel is with the Jets, where he had 19 defensive snaps and six special team snaps over the weekend.
Quarterback Taysom Hill is currently third on the New Orleans’ depth chart, behind Drew Brees and 30-year-old Chase Daniel, who has only completed three passes since 2014. Looks like there’s an opportunity for Hill to move up.
On September 3, the Packers traded LB Jayrone Elliott to the Cowboys for a 2018 seventh round draft pick. He failed to get on the field, however, on Sunday.
After a fine preseason, Detroit receiver Jared Abbrederis never got on the field on Sunday.
Linebacker Datone Jones signed a one-year contract with the Vikings in March. On September 2, he went on injured reserve, and was then released two days prior to the Vikings’ first game of the season.
Running back John Crockett signed with the Raiders in July but was released on September 2.
Defensive tackle Christian Ringo was claimed off waivers last week by the Bengals, but he was waived by them on Tuesday.
If anyone cares, Letroy Guion is currently a free agent. So is punter Jake Schum, tight end Justin Perillo, running backs James Starks, Knile Davis and Don Jackson, and defensive backs Sam Shields and Makinton Dorleant, and LB Carl Bradford.
Packers Class of 2015
Cornerback Casey Hayward began his second year in San Diego with four tackles, one pass defended and a fumble recovery.
Guard Josh Sitton began his second season away from the Packers by playing every offensive down in the Bears’ narrow loss to the Falcons.
John Kuhn had only eight snaps and one 2-yard carry for the Saints on Monday night.
Safety Chris Banjo is a stalwart special teams player with the Saints, but he got no defensive snaps on Monday.
Josh Walker, the third right guard on the Jaguars depth chart, didn’t play over the weekend.
Inside linebacker Nate Palmer, on the second tier of the Titans’ depth chart, also didn’t get to play on Sunday.
Linebacker Mike Neal is currently a free agent, as is punter Tim Masthay, linebackers Sam Barrington and Andy Mulumba, safety Sean Richardson, defensive end Josh Boyd, and tight end Andrew Quarless (who failed to stay on the Lions’ roster past September, last year).
Nose tackle B.J. Raji is either retired or on hiatus – but probably the former.
Last, and unfortunately least, quarterback Scott Tolzien, who went from the Packers to the Colts after the 2015 season, got the chance to start in place of the injured Andrew Luck. Unfortunately for the ex- Badger star, he was 9-for-18 in passing with two interceptions. He was sacked four times for a loss of 29 yards. Worse still, both interceptions were pick-sixes. The Rams routed the Colts 46-9 and with Luck maybe not returning till October, the Colts may switch to Jacoby Brissett, a third-round draft choice last year.
Other Notable Packers Alumni
After being released by the Chargers just prior to the start of the season last year, and failing to land a contract this year, James Jones retired last week.
Linebacker Erik Walden, now in his 10th year in the league, landed this season on the Tennessee Titans roster. He got just under half of the defensive snaps and recorded two tackles in the Titans’ 10-point loss to the Raiders.