Coach Mike McCarthy will have ample opportunity to see what his young quarterbacks are capable of on Friday night when they share the snaps in the preseason game against the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium.
Second-year quarterback Will Howard is slated to start the game, while rookie third-round pick Drew Allar will also see plenty of work.
"We're going to play the two young guys for the Jets game. That will be our focus," said McCarthy. "Will Howard will go first."
McCarthy is aware that neither quarterback has a lot of NFL reps under their belt, both playing last week against the Green Bay Packers for the first time in their careers.
This week, he wants them to get plenty of snaps to show how they have acclimated to the offensive system and more.
"They're young," said McCarthy. "Will didn't get to play last year. Drew is a first-year player. I have two veterans I feel really good about with Aaron (Rodgers) and Mason (Rudolph). I saw what I needed to see in Mason last week.
"I really want to max out the opportunities with both Will and Drew.
"Who you play and how you play, that's all part of the evaluation. We've got two games here. I want to see those guys play as much as possible. We'll continue as we have all camp, you'll see it today. We'll keep working as many players with different combinations.
"I want to come of this with a lot of video, a high understanding of every one of these guys. I want to give every player a chance to play in the game on Friday night. I want to give those guys a chance to make the 68-man roster, the 53-man and the practice squad."
There are no plans to expand the playbook this week for Howard and Allar to test them more, but rather go with what is working.
"Our playbook and the way we're approaching the game is more about what concepts our players are most comfortable with," said McCarthy. "We watched the Jets and their first preseason game just to have a general understanding of where they are in their install. But we're not putting a lot of energy into that. I've always approached preseason this way. I'm really not concerned with who the team is and what they're doing. I want to see our guys run the offense, especially the quarterbacks.
"When we install concepts or proactive adjustments, they have the tools to do what they need to do, regardless of the defense. It's the same on defense. We want to get our guys lined up, we want to win the pre-snap, I want their eyes in the right place. I want them to play better fundamentally, and we want them to run and go get the football."
"Preseason football is great for young quarterbacks on so many fronts. Obviously, they get to play. You want to see them command the offense. Take the play entry. Get up on the line of scrimmage. If they get in trouble, they have proactive reasoning to do it. But also, if something goes wrong, if the route's not the way it should be, or if nothing happens, or the right tackle doesn't do the right thing, he'd be able to react to that and not be surprised by it.
While the two young quarterbacks will play, Rudolph, who got the start against the Packers last week, has shown enough to not require McCarthy to put him in the game.
"Mason has great command of the offense," said McCarthy. "Just pure on the field game day. He's very experienced. He's a strong personality in the locker room. I really like this command and understanding of the offense. He's been through a number of systems. He's been asked to do things differently for how we believe the quarterback position is played. He's done an excellent job."
More from McCarthy:
On if running back Kaleb Johnson will see more opportunities on Friday against the Jets:
"I hope so. If the guy calling the plays would call more run plays, I think that would help him out. We'll continue to work that way. He'll play Friday night. We want to focus on the younger part of our team and give these guys the chance to make our squad."
On what Eli Heidenreich has shown:
"The biggest thing for me with Eli, he spent so much time with the injuries so it's good to see him get out there. I just want him to take a step, get more comfortable, feel more comfortable particularly in the run game. See the burst that he has shown on the practice field. I can see him getting more opportunities."
