Football – albeit preseason football – is on the horizon for the Browns, who will take on the Packers Aug. 10 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced earlier in the week that some starters would see playing time this weekend, although QB Deshaun Watson will be inactive against Green Bay.
But what about the Packers side?
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that most of his starters, including QB Jordan Love, will play Saturday – although not for the entire game. LaFleur said that he has adapted his preseason mentality as he has progressed in his career as a head coach.
"Just going through, kind of reevaluating the last couple years when we've had guys not play and then last year, having all the guys play I thought it was beneficial for us early on, especially Week 1 just to kind of knock the rust off," LaFleur said. "Obviously, we're going to be smart with those guys. The last thing we want to do is put guys at risk."
LaFleur added that he was unsure whether RB Josh Jacobs, who the Packers signed in free agency over the offseason, would play Saturday.
While the result of preseason games has no effect on the outcome of a team's regular season, LaFleur said that he hopes to see consistency out of his players when they take on the Browns.
"You'd like to see whatever they're doing to prepare for that game. The game doesn't change," LaFleur said. "You want them to be able to take what they're doing in practice and apply it to the game and not go out there and do something that they don't practice before. Guys sometimes will freak out when they get into those environments."
After weeks of going against the same defensive or offensive groups, seeing different looks in the preseason – and engaging in a full speed, full contact game – can help a team get ready for the first week of the regular season.
Both the Packers and Browns will likely run basic coverages on defense and will not pull out too many flashy trick plays on offense, but each defense or offense is inherently different – a factor Love thinks will benefit each team.
"I think that's going to be very helpful, because we've been seeing our defense and they do a lot of different stuff, but being able to see different looks, different guys out there, different disguises as much as we can before the season is just going to make us better," Love said.
With fans back at Cleveland Browns Stadium for the first time since late December 2023, Browns faithful will undoubtedly be bringing the juice on Saturday as they celebrate the return of football season.
Recreating that game day environment is impossible in practice and will test both rookies and veterans alike from either team.
"Just the feeling, the atmosphere and just trying to control all those nerves and things like that," Love said. "That game feeling is something you really can't mimic in practice."
The Browns and Packers will face off at 4:25 p.m.
