Rookie leaves game with wake-up call from Matt LaFleur as Packers make clear they expect much more in the future
Anthony Belton is a big part of the Packers’ long-term plans
Anthony Belton clearly has talent. It’s also clear he has to get out of his own way. On Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts, the Green Bay Packers’ rookie second-round pick played again an extended period of time at right tackle, but this time around it wasn’t nearly as clean as the first game, versus the New York Jets.
After not giving up a single pressure in his first preseason action, Belton gave up three versus the Colts. Even worse, he committed five penalties—including an illegal formation that nullified a touchdown from quarterback Taylor Elgersma to tight end Ben Sims.
Yes, Belton had a tougher assignment playing with backups against the Colts’ defensive starters. But the Packers expect more out of him.
“It puts you in a really tough position to try to convert first downs. So that is completely unacceptable in my mind,” LaFleur stressed. “I appreciate the effort that he plays with, and I thought he did a really nice job. Really, our whole line, there were some scrums in the run game where you could see our line trying to push the pile, and I think we did that on one of the touchdown runs by Amar [Johnson]. I love the effort. It’s just you’ve got to be smart in those situations. I didn’t get a great look at it, so I’m not quite sure what happened, but yeah, we got to clean that up.”
This year, Anthony Belton is expected to have some sort of redshirt season. The ideal offensive line probably has Rasheed Walker, Aaron Banks, Elgton Jenkins, Sean Rhyan, and Zach Tom. Last year’s first-round pick Jordan Morgan is competing with Walker at left tackle, and could theoretically play at right guard as well like he did as a rookie. So Belton is the swing tackle behind Morgan.
However, both Walker and Rhyan are entering the final season of their rookie deals. There is a reasonable chance that the Packers see Belton as a long-term starter at left tackle or right guard, just like Morgan. Therefore, the rookie knows he has to be smarter and avoid mental mistakes.
“It’s just underperforming. Getting penalties like that, that’s not the standard that I hold myself to,” Belton admitted after the game in Indy. “You’ve just got to bounce back from it.”
Belton will have a final big opportunity to show his talents next week, when the Packers play the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field. In 2024, the Packers had to give snaps to backups like Andre Dillard, Travis Glover, and Kadeem Telfort. So while the plan is not to play Belton beyond the preseason, the rookie better be prepared for a long regular season ahead.
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