Davis not only winner for Packers in loss to Raiders

Aaron Rodgers, Tim Boyle and Trevor Davis were the obvious winners for the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night against Oakland.

Rodgers doesn’t see the value in playing in preseason games. In that respect, the unplayable end zones in Winnipeg were a dream come true for Rodgers, as coach Matt LaFleur chose to bench Rodgers and the rest of the starters.

“The practices are so much more important than the preseason,” Rodgers said at his locker on Monday. “The looks that we see on a day like today are invaluable reps. It’s an attacking defense, it’s different fronts, it’s different pressures. Oakland does some different things over the last couple preseasons that stress you at times protection-wise, so it’s not as vanilla as you might see in the preseason. But the best reps I’m going to see all summer are in practice. If Matt wants us to play, we’ll play and go out and compete. If not, I feel pretty good about where we’re at.”

Rodgers figures to enter the regular-season opener at Chicago with zero preseason snaps. So, it’ll be a case of “Ready or not, here they come” to face the mighty Bears defense.

“We’ll be ready,” Rodgers said during an interview on the Packers Television Network broadcast.

With Rodgers getting the night off, LaFleur gave the start to Tim Boyle. Boyle started miserably, going 2-of-9 passing as the Packers’ first three possessions ended with punts. Boyle got rolling from there, though. His final three drives of the night ended with touchdowns. In one half, Boyle was 16-of-25 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns.

“Tim played well,” LaFleur said. “We moved the ball. We had three straight drives that ended in touchdowns, and anytime you’re doing that, you’re doing something right. All in all, he played well and I thought he also got support from the guys around him.”

With that, Boyle might have seized control of the backup role. That’s because DeShone Kizer, who started the first two preseason games after serving as Rodgers’ backup last season, was just 4-of-7 passing for 24 yards. His five second-half possessions gained just three first downs.

Through three games, Boyle has led 15 possessions, which he’s turned into six touchdowns and 45 points. Kizer, on the other hand, has guided 11 possessions, which he’s turned into one touchdown, one field goal and 10 points.

“It will definitely stay with me,” Boyle, an undrafted free agent last year, said of his first professional start. “It’s a preseason game, though. You have to take that with a grain of salt. It was our twos vs their twos and it’s an 80-yard field. Will I remember it? Yes. But you can’t put too much stock into it.”

If one player won a roster spot on Thursday, it might have been receiver Trevor Davis. After missing a couple weeks with a stinger sustained in the first joint practice against Houston on Aug. 5, Davis had fallen behind Equanimeous St. Brown, Allen Lazard and Darrius Shepherd in the battle for the final spot(s) at receiver. Davis, however, was sensational in perhaps vaulting himself right to the front of that pack. On offense, he caught 5-of-6 passes for 78 yards and one touchdown and added 18 yards on an end-around. Each of his seven touches on offense resulted in first downs. On special teams, he took his only punt-return opportunity back 17 yards.

“At the end of the day, I just have to keep stacking up days,” Davis told reporters after the game. “I can’t get too high on what’s happened today in the game or in previous practices. Every day I just have to keep going up and keep doing the same thing consistently. Consistency is really the biggest thing.”

Otherwise, it will take a closer look at the tape for LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst to make any headway on the other roster battles.

Running back: Nothing changed between Tra Carson and Dexter Williams in the race to be the No. 3. Carson is a meat-and-potatoes runner who will get what’s blocked and another couple years because of his strength. He is a rock in pass protection, which is why he played a lot of third downs in the first half. Williams is an explosive runner who doesn’t need a hole to stay open for long. On the night, Carson carried nine times for 32 yards. By our count, 21 yards came after contact. Williams carried 11 times for 27 yards, with 16 yards coming after contact.

Left guard: LaFleur kept veteran starter Lane Taylor and second-round challenger Elgton Jenkins on the bench.

Inside linebacker: With undrafted rookie Curtis Bolton on crutches and wearing a knee brace, the battle with seventh-round rookie Ty Summers might be over. Summers had a game-high 10 tackles. Far more importantly, after missing a total of eight tackles in the first two games, Summers didn’t miss any, by my count. However, with Oren Burks already out, the Packers’ paper-thin inside linebacker corps badly needs a new body or two.

Defensive back: The Packers have a lot of versatile options at the bottom of the depth chart. Cornerback Chandon Sullivan has made some splash plays and has given up some, as well. That was the case against the Raiders, when he broke up a game-high four passes but also missed two tackles. Safety Will Redmond almost had an interception but also missed a tackle. Safety Natrell Jamerson broke up two passes but almost gave up a touchdown and missed a tackle.