10 Most Important Packers for Today’s Game at Browns

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will try to improve their record to 3-0 when they face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland. Here are the Packers’ 10 most important players.

10. P Daniel Whelan

The Packers and Browns field two of the best defenses in football. That means this game could come down to a field-position battle. Daniel Whelan and the punt unit had a superb game in Week 1 against Detroit but just a 35.8-yard net average in Week 2 against Washington. The return of Bo Melton from a shoulder injury will help but Whelan’s got to do his part.

9. S Javon Bullard

The Browns run a lot of two-tight-end sets, with David Njoku (124 snaps) and Harold Fannin (107) both over two-thirds playing time.

It will be interesting to see how the Packers line up defensively. Two tight-end sets typically mean base defense. However, Njoku has averaged 67 catches the last three seasons and Fannin, a third-round rookie, has a team-high 12 catches after leading the nation with 117 receptions for 1,555 yards last season at Bowling Green.

Chances are defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will line up in nickel, which will put the focus on Javon Bullard in coverage as well as a run defender against bigger personnel.

8. WR Matthew Golden

The pressure will be on the Packers’ receivers without Jayden Reed, who has proven himself to be one of the NFL’s most explosive slot receivers.

“I think J-Reed’s 1-of-1,” quarterback Jordan Love said this week.

Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, the team’s top veterans, must get open before the Browns’ pass rush converges on Love. But it’s Golden who needs to be the difference-maker. In what could be a low-scoring matchup, it might just take one play. Love and Golden misfired on two deep shots last week. They’ve got to hit this week.

“Coming into the league, we knew he was fast, we knew he could catch,” passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable said. “I think he’s gotten open. I thought Week 2 was a better performance overall than Week 1, which is all you can ask from him – to do your job and to get open. I think our coaching staff saw on the tape after the game, you’re like, ‘Man, he was open on a lot of these plays.’ He played faster.”

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden (0) catches a pass during the season opener against the Detroit Lions. | Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Vrable turned to basketball lingo in talking about the key for Golden.

“I just think continuing to work on his shot clock,” he said. “I think what happens so many times for young players, they just rush their routes because they want the end result and the process is your route’s supposed to be 18 to 20 and if you cut at 14, you might be open but the QB’s not always ready to throw.

“I think that’s the biggest growth for guys as they get in the league is just seeing the big picture, the timing, your shot clock, how it marries up to the quarterback, that it’s not always just about you getting open.”

7. TE Luke Musgrave

While Tucker Kraft will play after last week’s knee “tweak,” the Packers probably would like to ease back on his playing time after he played 91 percent of the snaps in the first two games.

Cleveland’s defense has been terrific against tight ends, allowing just six catches for 42 yards. Baltimore’s Mark Andrews, who is one of the best in the business, caught only one pass last week.

A second-round pick in 2023, Musgrave has become a bit of an afterthought behind Kraft, who was a third-round pick in 2023. Now’s the time for Musgrave to show that he has all the tools to be an impact player.

“I told our tight ends coach the other day, ‘This is the best I’ve seen him since he’s been in the building,’” passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable said. “I think it has a lot to do with his offseason training and his habits. He’s stronger. He’s always been fast, but he’s stronger, he’s playing with more confidence and he’s, in my mind, catching the ball at a really high level, and that’s what you like to see.”

6. LG Aaron Banks

Browns defensive tackle Maliek Collins is one of the more disruptive players at his position in the NFL. Of his 78 snaps, 65 have come from the defense’s right side. That means he’ll see a lot of left guard Aaron Banks.

Banks, who was inactive last week due to injury, will be back in the lineup to face Collins, his teammate with the 49ers last year. Through two games, Collins is No. 2 among defensive tackles in pass-rush win rate after finishing 16th last year.

“He’s a really good player,” Banks said. “He is very crafty as a D-lineman. His pass rush is very crafty. A lot of counters. He’ll hit you with two or three counters on one play, so you’ve just got to watch film and you’ve just got to block him.”

5. RB Josh Jacobs

Cleveland Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate (43) tackles Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs in the 2023 preseason. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

It’s going to be tough sledding for Jacobs. Cleveland has allowed 91 rushing yards this season. Incredibly, 111 yards have come after contact. That means, more often than not, the Browns are making contact with the back in the backfield.

Jacobs is one of the best run-after-contact backs in the league. He’s going to have to do it again to keep the Packers out of second- and third-and-forever.

“Without question, it is a challenging defense to run the ball against,” running backs coach Ben Sirmans said. “It’s not just their personnel. It’s also their scheme. When you combine good personnel with really good scheme, it’s going to make it difficult. We’re aware of the challenge that we’re faced with. It’s like anything else. When you’re a competitor, you’re looking forward to that challenge.”

4. LB Edgerrin Cooper

Last week, Browns second-round running back Quinshon Judkins made his NFL debut. He rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries. After a strong start, he’ll get a lot more opportunities against the Packers.

Judkins rushed for 3,786 yards and 46 touchdowns during three college seasons. He is an elite size-speed prospect, a player with the power to break tackles and the speed to take it the distance.

Edgerrin Cooper is off to a tremendous start for the Packers. He leads the team in tackles, with his average tackle limiting the play to a gain of just 0.6 yards – best at the position. Between bottling up Judkins and limiting the Browns’ tight ends, the Packers will need big games from Cooper and Quay Walker.

3. DE Micah Parsons

The best players on the field will be the Browns’ Myles Garrett and the Packers’ Micah Parsons, arguably the best defensive ends and pass rushers in the NFL.

The Packers will have the edge on the edges with Rashan Gary and Parsons rushing against left tackle Dawand Jones and right tackle Jack Conklin (or Cornelius Lucas, if Conklin can’t play through an elbow injury).

The Packers mortgaged their future to get Parsons for a game like this, which might require one game-turning play. Parsons has been excellent in two games and should be in line for even more playing time.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) rushes Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“He’s a great, great player,” Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees told reporters this week. “We go against one very similar every day in practice. You’ve just got to be hyper aware of where he is. You got to be hyper aware. They do a nice job of moving him around, not just kind of being stationary where you can home in on it. They did the same thing with him in Dallas, where they were able to move him around. He’s so versatile in his rush, he’s so versatile athletically in what he can do. He’s in that upper echelon, for sure.”

2. QB Jordan Love

There will be bigger games on the schedule but there won’t be many challenges bigger for Jordan Love.

In Week 1, the Browns lost at home to the Bengals 17-16. Surrounded by the elite tandem of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was just 14-of-23 passing for 113 yards. Including three sacks, his 26 dropbacks produced 95 yards.

Love is not as good as Burrow. Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks are not as good as Chase and Higgins.

Love is off to a strong start with a 120.0 passer rating through two games. He enters this game on a regular-season streak of 226 passes without an interception, the sixth-longest streak in franchise history. Last week was Love’s ninth in a row without an interception, which tied Aaron Rodgers for the longest streak since the 1970 merger.

Love, however, has been prone to panic interceptions. The Browns are going to bring the heat. It will be up to Love to make some big plays while avoiding big mistakes.

“Every week is obviously a new journey, he said. “First road game, so it’s going to be a test. We won’t have that crowd behind us and be in enemy territory. It’s a test, as every week is, but a really good Browns team, a really good defense over there, so we got a good test on our hands. Every week is a new challenge, but I got a lot of confidence in this group and I think we all got confidence in who we got.”

1. LT Rasheed Walker

Most weeks, Jordan Love will be in the No. 1 spot. This isn’t most weeks, though. Browns All-Pro Myles Garrett mostly lines up against the left tackle and rushes the quarterback’s blind side. That means a lot of matchups against Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker.

Walker is a quality, underrated starter. In two games, he has allowed zero sacks and zero quarterback hits and been guilty of zero penalties.

Garrett is a gold-standard player. He is No. 1 in NFL history in sacks per game. In 2023, he led the NFL in tackles for losses. Garrett and the legendary Deacon Jones are the only players in NFL history with four consecutive seasons of at least 14 sacks.

No matter the Browns’ myriad of issues, Garrett can single-handedly win a game. It will be up to Walker and teammates to give Jordan Love a chance to throw the ball.

“I feel like it’s more it’s just always about me,” Walker said. “It’s not really about nobody else, it’s just always about me. Out on the edge, I feel like I have the ability to dictate the rush and to dictate what’s going on. So that’s why I said it’s a faceless opponent and then we just going to go out there and play football. Follow our rules and everything should be fine.”

In Part 1 of our usual day-before-the-game tandem of stories, here are three reasons why the #Packers will be upset by the Browns. ⬇️https://t.co/WOIVr3xt7W
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 21, 2025

In Part 2 of our usual day-before-the-game tandem of stories, here are three reasons why the #Packers will move to 3-0 by beating the Browns. ⬇️https://t.co/JBNj3F0zcS
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 21, 2025