Green Bay Packers at New York Jets: 5 matchups to watch

1. Josh Jones vs Eli McGuire

If the Packers make the right choice, rookie linebacker Oren Burks will see the field a lot on Sunday afternoon. He and safety/linebacker Josh Jones should split snaps this week because they both need the chance to grow. The best way to do that is to get them on the field. For Jones, he has had roughly two years of being athletically gifted, but he hasn’t been as technically sound when things come to coverage, other than close to the line of scrimmage.

After numerous injuries have occurred, running back Eli McGuire has the Jets backfield to himself, and he took a significant increase in his snaps and touches last week. In the last two weeks, he has had 35 carries. In the four weeks before that, he had just 24 combined. McGuire is a decent pass catcher out of the backfield, and that is the area that Jones does the best when he’s playing on the ball.

Last week, against Chicago Bears running back Tarik Cohen, Jones had a decent game, but his matchup is much easier this week. McGuire is not quite as shifty, and he’s a much more natural runner. This is the chance for Jones’ athleticism to shine through in the right way. Far too often, he plays too fast, and the game looks too fast for him. Alexander will likely win his matchup, and Jones needs to win his to make the Jets offense completely anemic.