The Green Bay Packers had a rock performance against the New England Patriots during their meetings last week. The teams had joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday before playing in a preseason game on Saturday night. The Patriots won the game 21-17 but it was stopped early after rookie cornerback Isaiah Bolden suffered a scary injury and required a stretcher to be removed from the field.
For Green Bay, a few players stood out performance-wise, as some very impressive PFF grades were earned. But, there were players who ended up on the opposite end of the spectrum, putting together some underwhelming performances.
The lowest grade of the evening was earned by Tariq Carpenter. The safety-turned-linebacker has admitted that the change has been a tough one for him, as he still sees himself as a safety. While Green Bay will rely on him for his special teams’ prowess, he has a long way to go before contributing defensively.
Carpenter was credited with a missed tackle in the game and earned the lowest run-defense grade on the evening. He had a grade of 25.1, barely beating out fellow linebacker Arron Mosby.
Mosby recorded the second-lowest grade, coming in at 28.7. He played 13 pass-rushing snaps, failing to record a single pressure and was the second-lowest graded run defender. Defensive lineman Jonathan Ford was starting to garner some attention during Packers practices but came up short against the Patriots.
Ford earned a grade of 32.6 on the evening. He was on the field for 24 snaps but didn’t do much with his opportunity. In the trenches on the other side of the ball is where the fourth lowest grade came.
Zach Tom, who was playing right tackle once again, had possibly his worst performance of the offense. The versatile second-year player graded out well in pass protection but was average in the run game. His two penalties committed also negatively impacted his grade. One tough outing isn’t going to change his standing with the Packers coaches, but it was certainly a disappointing night for the Wake Forest product.
Last but not least for the Packers’ lowlights was cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles. An already tough offseason for the fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, this performance against the Patriots isn’t going to help Jean-Charles.
He allowed four completions and was credited with a missed tackle. On top of that, he committed an illegal contact penalty, which resulted in a grade of 42.9. With Carrington Valentine playing so well, Jean-Charles’ hold on a roster spot is tenuous, at best.
