Packers will give young players a final chance

The Green Bay Packers will give their younger players one final chance to win a regular season roster spot Thursday night. The Packers will host Kansas City in their fourth and final exhibition game.

Coach Mike McCarthy says most of the starters will play only one series, and some won’t play at all. That will give the coaches a chance to watch their bubble players go against top-line NFL competition.

The Chiefs played their starters for three quarters in last year’s pre-season finale in Green Bay. New Chiefs’ coach Romeo Crennel has not said how long the first stringers will play. He says it depends on how the units are performing.

The Packers must still decide if they want Graham Harrell to be the main backup to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. In his first three pre-season games, Harrell had a passer rating of only 53.7, with 32 of 61 completions for 261 yards and a touchdown.

There’s still a competition for the starting right corner spot, where Sam Shields and rookie Casey Hayward hope to start over Jarrett Bush.

Thursday night’s game starts at 6 p.m. The Packers will release 22 players on Friday to get down to their regular season roster of 53.

Tags: sports, football, wisconsin