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Packers’ Offensive Line at Buccaneers Features One Newcomer, One Curveball

Based on pregame warmups, this will be the starting five on the offensive line for the Green Bay Packers at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bill Huber|
Travis Glover will start at right guard for the Packers vs. the Buccaneers.
Travis Glover will start at right guard for the Packers vs. the Buccaneers. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Green Bay Packers

On Wednesday, the Green Bay Packers signed Wisconsin native and former Wisconsin All-American Kevin Zeitler to be the team’s starting right guard.

Without a training camp to get into prime condition physically and with just three practices to get ready mentally, Zeitler is inactive for Sunday’s game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Based on warmups, the starting offensive line will consist of Morgan at left tackle, Laken Tomlinson at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center, Travis Glover at right guard and Anthony Belton at right tackle.

Glover, obviously, is a major curveball, though he did take a few first-team reps while reporters were present this week.

Tomlinson and Glover are the team’s fifth and sixth starters at guard this season.

Travis Glover’s Starting Debut

Travis Glover was a sixth-round pick by the Packers in 2024. He played in seven games as a rookie and logged 13 snaps on offense. His big chance came in the playoff loss to the Eagles to cap his rookie season. Due to injuries, Glover was thrown into the fire with 23 snaps at left guard and five snaps at right guard. He was benched at one point after being found guilty of three penalties.

Glover spent last year on injured reserve – coach Matt LaFleur had called him one of the team’s most improved players at the time of the injury.

This training camp, his time was split between right guard and right tackle. This preseason, he played 39 snaps at right tackle and 28 snaps at right guard. He allowed two pressures in the passing game.

Donovan Jennings’ Homecoming

Another homecoming was put on hold. Donovan Jennings, who was born in Tampa and played his college ball in Tampa-based South Florida, will be one of the backups this week.

“It’s a pretty cool feeling to be able to play all my college home games in the stadium that I'm about to play in the next level,” Jennings told Packers On SI on Friday. “But just want to go in there and get a win at the end of the day.”

Jennings started in place of Aaron Banks at left guard in Week 1 against Minnesota but struggled along with the rest of the line. Banks returned for Week 2 but dropped out at halftime; Jennings got another chance but suffered a hand injury and couldn’t finish the game. In Week 3, the Packers turned to Jager Burton at left guard, and that was a disaster.

Jennings was hoping for a chance to make amends for his performance at the Vikings. And maybe he will with a potential guard rotation on a hot day.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I want to do,” he said. “I want to go out there for the team, go out there and get the ‘W’ like we know and just get the ball rolling. Me personally, I want to go out there and play my brand of football. I'm just excited – really excited – to go out and play good.”

Laken Tomlinson Will Start

The Packers signed Laken Tomlinson off the Cowboys’ practice squad on Saturday, Mekhi Becton to the practice squad on Monday and Kevin Zeitler to the roster on Wednesday. Of those three former first-round picks, Tomlinson will start, Becton was not elevated from the practice squad and Zeitler is inactive.

“I feel like I can come in and provide some stability, some toughness, some leadership, as well,” Tomlinson said this week. “Obviously going into Year 12, I’ve played a lot of ball. I feel like I still got a lot left in the tank. I feel like I can bring a lot to the team.”

That’s what the Packers are counting on. Their budget-busting starter at left guard, Aaron Banks, has played only 22 snaps this season and is inactive again. Tomlinson, who has started 162 games in his career, will get the call.

“I’m here working with the coaches,” he said. “I’m here learning the playbook, everything. Familiarity with the scheme, it helps a ton and now it’s just going out there and working with the guys.”

On a miserably hot and humid day, it will be interesting to see how many snaps Tomlinson is capable of playing. Jager Burton struggled at left guard last week against Atlanta and was questionable on the final injury report with a groin injury.

“Feel great, honestly,” he said. “The work I’ve put in this offseason, it’s been phenomenal. I have a great team back home. Definitely a humbling experience throughout this whole process, but the hunger is still there.”

Of playing on Sunday, he said: “Whatever Coach wants. Anything they want from me, I’m ready to go.”

Zeitler took the same approach. He just didn’t have the three weeks on Dallas’ practice squad to get ramped up.

“It’s been great, honestly,” Zeitler said on Friday. “An absolute whirlwind in every possible way but it’s been great to get back on there. It’s great getting back into football, learning all sorts of new stuff and, like, thought theories. It’s just great. So, keep it rolling.”

Fresh Start for Packers

Green Bay’s offensive line has been by far the biggest reason for the team’s slow start in terms of wins and losses, points scored and overall efficiency.

According to Pro Football Focus, 34 quarterbacks have faced at least 15 under-pressure dropbacks. Love has faced the third-highest pressure rate, as he’s felt the heat on 44.4 percent of his dropbacks.

Love is not a good quarterback when under pressure – he was the least-accurate passer in the league last season and is struggling again. His 36.0 completion percentage ranks 29th. Being under constant duress and taking more hits than any quarterback in the league has only heightened the issues. It’s hard to play quarterback when you don’t know if you’re going to be hit, when you’re going to be hit and who you’re going to be hit by.

The run game has been equally atrocious. Are Green Bay’s running backs good, mediocre or bad? Who could possibly answer that question when they’ve been hit at or behind the line of scrimmage almost 44 percent of the time?

Or they’re averaging barely 1.3 yards per carry before contact?

It’s, obviously, a different game for a running back when you can guild up a head of steam instead of having to dodge defenders almost instantly.

The Packers have who they have at tackle. Their left tackle is Jordan Morgan, a former first-round pick. Their right tackle is Anthony Belton, who is starting in place of premier blocker Zach Bako-Bewele. Their center is Sean Rhyan, who was given a contract averaging $11 million per season based on a half-season of performance.

Where the Packers could act boldly was at guard, with left guard Aaron Banks inactive for the third time in four games this season due to knee and toe injuries and right guard Jacob Monk inactive with a quad injury after three poor starting performances.

So, belatedly, general manager Brian Gutekunst signed Laken Tomlinson off Dallas’ practice squad, Kevin Zeitler from his home in Nashville and Mekhi Becton to the practice squad. (Becton was not elevated for the same reason as why Zeitler is inactive.)

Zeitler and Tomlinson are proven blockers, not just in the run game but the pass game. They will be immediate upgrades, especially when they are fully acclimated. The hope, presumably, is that will be the case for next Sunday’s showdown against the Chicago Bears.

It’s wild to consider the fate of the season for a team with high-priced starters at practically every position group will hinge on two veteran lineman who weren’t with a team for training camp.

Their talents will be a big plus. So will their experience – eventually – with Tomlinson alongside Morgan, who will be making his fifth career start at left tackle, and Zeitler alongside Belton, who will be making his third career start at right tackle.

“I think that’s just part of the job being a vet at this point,” Zeitler said. “I stayed after the first day talking through some thought processes with them. It’s kind of crazy, they all came right to me after practice. I’m like, ‘OK, cool, let’s do this.’ Take that time, see what they think and try to explain some things maybe in a little different way than they’ve heard it before to get them thinking about something in a different way.

“They’re all attacking the days every day hard, so that’s great. That’s all you can want from your young guys.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.