It is dangerous to draw any conclusions from the preseason—let alone from one preseason game.  However, in one drive, many of the questions that have been surrounding the Packers began to clarify: Does Ted Thompson have a plan?  In what direction is this franchise moving?  Does the offense have any weapons? 

Facing Jacksonville’s starting defense, leading 3-0, Aaron Rodgers was brought into the game to lead the Packers’ starters to keep Brett Favre from injury.  On the second play of the drive, the Packers’ only dependable offensive weapon, Donald Driver, left the game with an injury.  There the Packers sat, sixty yards from the end zone with 2:29 on the game clock.  Their QB was a third-year with zero NFL starts; their WRs were a second-year player and a rookie.  The running back was also a rookie, and the offensive line consisted of a host of younger players on the interior who have been brought into the fold in recent years.

The starting defense of the Jaguars had given up only one scoring drive and a host of three-and-outs in their first two games, and had held the Packers’ offense scoreless in the first quarter before a long field goal drive.  They now were likely to be salivating over the Driver-less, Favre-less and presumably punch-less Packers offense across from them.

Within 32 seconds, though, the young QB had found Driver’s rookie replacement James Jones three times for 48 yards and the Packers were now at the 12 yard-line.  After a couple short pass attempts, including two to second-year man Greg Jennings, an old Packer standard returned when Rodgers hit rookie Brandon Jackson on a well-executed screen pass securing a first-and-goal at the one yard line.  On the next play, Brandon Jackson and the offensive line barely pushed over the goalline past Marcus Stroud and John Henderson. 

It was one drive in a meaningless game, but the message was sent and received loudly and clearly.  With no Favre and with no Driver, facing a tough defense and a time crunch, the next-generation Packers made their move and showed a possible glimpse of things to come, but this trend was not just about Rodgers and Favre, or about the young “skill position” players.  It is not even about the still-developing (and still in-question) offensive line.  Limiting this observation to the offense would be a gross mis-step.

All over the defense, plays were being made by young, often little-known players.  The regulars—Hawk, Barnett and Kampman (all locked into long contracts)—made their impacts, of course, but rookie MLB Desmond Bishop arrived as a player who was involved all over the field, delivering solid play along with bone-crushing hits like the one that dislodged Reggie Williams from his helmet.  Fellow rookie Aaron Rouse got in on the fun—still facing mostly starters—by jarring the ball loose from tight end Jermaine Wiggins, while also forcing him to the sidelines for concussion testing.  Altogether, the Packers’ starting defense pitched a shut-out yet again with only their starting cornerbacks above the age of 27, and some of the most memorable plays came from some of the youngest players.

What cannot be lost in the discussion of youth is that Brett Favre had a very strong showing and was a deflected goalline pass away from capping off a long touchdown drive (to a wide open James Jones, of course), and that it appears Donald Driver’s injury will not keep him on the sidelines for an extended period of time.  These last two bastions of the old guard are not yet done, and are both likely to make significant contributions this season. 

Furthermore, the inconsistency of the running game throughout the preseason cannot be ignored, and there is still certainly work to be done for the team in line to be the league’s youngest for the second consecutive season. 

However, the display put on by the young “futures of the franchise” did send its message.  Not only is this what the future may hold, but from the looks of things, the future could be right now.