- The Green Bay Packers will take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the preseason opener at Lambeau Field.
- This will be the 16th time Green Bay and Philadelphia have met during the preseason. The Eagles lead the preseason series, 9-6.Â
- The last time the two teams met was during the regular season last year, a 27-13 Packers victory at Philadelphia that gave Green Bay a 26-14 lead in the regular-season series.
- The Packers and Eagles last played each other during the preseason in 2015, a 39-26 road victory by Philadelphia.Â
- This will be the fifth consecutive year that the Packers and Eagles have faced each other in the preseason or regular season.Â
- The Packers will take to the road for their second preseason game, traveling to play the Washington Redskins on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 6:30 p.m. CST.
BISHOP'S CHARITIES GAME
- Thursday night marks another Green Bay preseason tradition: the Bishop's Charities Game. It was first played in 1961 after Vince Lombardi was approached by the Diocese of Green Bay about playing a charitable contest in Green Bay (the Shrine contest was a fixture in Milwaukee).Â
- The series enjoys its 57th contest this year and has raised more than $3.7 million.Â
- For more than 30 years, the church handled much of the game's business-related tasks, including game-program and advertising sales, using a network of volunteers covering 14 counties throughout northeastern Wisconsin. The Packers assumed many of those tasks beginning in 1994. Â
- The Packers are 31-24-1 all-time in the series.
- The Eagles will be making their second appearance in the Bishop's Charities Game. Their lone appearance came in 1983, a 27-14 Philadelphia victory.
- Green Bay has won three consecutive contests and seven of the last eight games in the series, including a 20-12 victory over the Oakland Raiders last year. Prior to that, the Packers had lost six consecutive Bishop's Charities contests. That six-game losing streak (2003-08) came on the heels of a 12-game winning streak (1991-2002) in the series.
- Over the last three Bishop's Charities Games, the Packers have outscored their opponents, 92-36.
WITH THE CALL
- Preseason games are televised over the 16-station Packers TV Network throughout the state of Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, northeastern Minnesota, the Quad Cities, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo in Iowa, Omaha in Nebraska, Fargo in North Dakota, Sioux Falls in South Dakota and Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau in Alaska.
- The top-notch broadcast team includes CBS's Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) alongside fellow CBS broadcaster Rich Gannon (analyst), with Lance Allan of WTMJ-TV serving as the sideline reporter. Allan will also host an informative half-hour pregame show featuring former Packers tackle Mark Tauscher.
- In addition to flagship stations WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and WGBA-TV in Green Bay the game will be televised over WKOW/ABC, Madison, Wis.; WAOW/ABC, Wausau/Rhinelander, Wis.; WXOW/ABC, La Crosse, Wis.; WQOW/ABC, Eau Claire, Wis.; WLUC/NBC, Escanaba/Marquette, Mich.; KQDS-TV/FOX, Duluth/Superior, Minn.; WHBF-TV/CBS, Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities); KCWI-TV/CW, Des Moines, Iowa; KWWL-TV/NBC, Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, Iowa; KMTV-TV/CBS, Omaha, Neb.; KVRR/IND, Fargo, North Dakota; KDLT/NBC, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; KYUR/ABC, Anchorage, Alaska; KATN/ABC, Fairbanks, Alaska amd KJUD/ABC, Juneau, Alaska.
- Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee(play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro BowlerLarry McCarren (analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team's broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 23rd season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 19th season of broadcasts together.
BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
- The Packers enter training camp with an 90-man roster that is composed of 45 offensive players, 42 defensive players and three specialists.
- Of the 90 players on Green Bay's roster, 41 of them (45.6 percent) were draft picks of the Packers. Dating back to 2007, Green Bay has at least one member of each draft class still on the roster.
- Green Bay has 42 players on the roster that began their careers as undrafted free agents, with 36 of those originally signed by Green Bay.Â
- Nearly 60 percent of the players (53 of 90, 58.9 percent) on Green Bay's roster entered the league as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as an undrafted player.
- The Packers have four players on the roster that played in the NFL prior to the 2009 season. All four of those players were draft picks of the Packers (QB Aaron Rodgers, K Mason Crosby, WR Jordy Nelson and LB Clay Matthews) and three have made at least one Pro Bowl.
- Of the 90 players on the roster, 77 began their pro careers with the Packers (85.6 percent).
- Only 21 of the 90 players on the roster (23.3 percent) were selected in the first three rounds of the draft, with 19 being drafted by the Packers.
GREEN BAY'S ROSTER ...
BY AGE (as of August 10)
- 21-24: 57 players
- 25-28: 24 players
- 29-32: 7 players
- 33-plus: 2 players
BY EXPERIENCE
- R-1: 42 players
- 2-3: 22 players
- 4-5: 10 players
- 6-9: 10 players
- 10-plus: 6 players
BY DRAFT ROUND
- 1st: 7 players
- 2nd/3rd: 14 players
- 4th/5th: 16 players
- 6th/7th: 11 players
- Undrafted: 42 players
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
- Packers vs. Eagles:
- All-time, Preseason:Â 6-9-0Â
- All-time, Regular season: 26-14-0
- All-time, Postseason:1-2
- Streaks:The Packers have won four of the past five meetings.
- Last meeting, regular season:Nov. 28, 2016; Packers won, 27-13, Lincoln Financial Field
COACHES CAPSULES
- Mike McCarthy: 124-69-1, .642 (incl. 10-8 postseason); 12th NFL season
- Doug Pederson:7-9-0, .438; 2nd NFL season
- Head to Head:McCarthy Leads, 1-0
- vs. Opponent:McCarthy 5-2 vs. Eagles; Pederson 0-1 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY…Is in his 12th year as the Packers' 14th head coach.
- Led the Packers to their eighth consecutive playoff appearance last season, tied for the third-longest streak in NFL history. Has also led the team to nine playoff appearances in the last 10 years (2007, 2009-16).
- Ranks second in franchise history in total victories, trailing only Curly Lambeau.
- Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that time; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
- Reached the 100-win plateau faster than any active NFL head coach, needing just 155 games.
- Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
DOUG PEDERSON…Begins his second year as the Eagles' 19th head coach.Â
- Coached Eagles QB Carson Wentz as he set five Eagles rookie records in 2016, including pass attempts (607), passing yards (3,782) and passing touchdowns (16).
- In Kansas City, coached Chiefs QB Alex Smith to the most wins by a starting quarterback in his first three years as the starter (30) in team history.Â
- In his first coaching position, as the Eagles offensive quality control coach from 2009-10, Pederson helped an Eagles offense score 868 points in those two seasons, setting single-season franchise records for points score (429 in 2009 and 439 in 2010).
- Played quarterback in the NFL for 12 years with Green Bay, Miami, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
THE PACKERS-EAGLES SERIES
- The Packers swept the first nine contests in the series and won 16 of 18 from 1933-70.
- En route to winning Super Bowl XLV, Green Bay beat the Eagles in Philadelphia twice with a 27-20 victory to open the season in Week 1 and a 21-16 win in the NFC Wild Card playoffs.
- The Packers also defeated Philadelphia in Week 2 of the 1996 season, 39-13, as part of a 13-3 season that led to a Super Bowl XXXI victory.
- The Eagles handed Hall of Fame head coach Vince Lombardi his only postseason defeat in the 1960 NFL Championship, 17-13.
- Green Bay's Week 12 matchup in Philadelphia in 2016 was the start of the club's six consecutive wins to close out the regular season en route to the Packers' NFC North title.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers G Jahri Evans is a Philadelphia native, attended Bloomsburg University (Pa.) and is part owner of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League...Packers DT Mike Daniels is from Blackwood, N.J. ...Packers LS Derek Hart is from Manheim, Pa. …Eagles LS Rick Lovato and CB Tay Glover-Wright each played the Packers...Packers defensive line coach Mike Trgovac held the same position for the Eagles from 1995-98...Eagles head coach Doug Pederson played quarterback for the Packers for eight seasons (1995-98, 2001-04), winning Super Bowl XXXI with Green Bay...Eagles safeties coach Tim Hauck played safety for the Packers from 1991-94...Eagles DT Beau Allen (2010-13), S Chris Maragos (2008-09) and rookie RB Corey Clement (2013-16) played at Wisconsin…Maragos is from Racine, Wis., and Eagles G Brandon Brooks attended Riverside University High School in Milwaukee...Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers coached for the USFL's Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars from 1984-85...Philadelphia linebackers coach Ken Flajole was Green Bay's defensive quality control coach in 1998...Packers president & chief executive officer Mark Murphy was Colgate's athletic director in 1992 when Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was the school's linebackers coach...Flajole coached in Seattle (2000-02) when Packers executive vice president, general manager & director of football operations Ted Thompson was the Seahawks' vice president of football operations...Green Bay associate head coach/linebackers Winston Moss played in Seattle with Eagles defensive quality control/assistant defensive line coach Phillip Daniels (1996-97) and Hauck (1997)...Moss also coached Daniels in Seattle in 1998...Packers tight ends coach Brian Angelichio coached with Flajole and Philadelphia QBs coach John DeFilippo in Cleveland in 2015...Trgovac and DeFilippo are both from Youngstown, Ohio…Eagles RB LeGarrette Blount, DE Chris Long and Packers TE Martellus Bennett won a Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2016…Blount (2010-12) played in Tampa Bay while Angelichio (2012-13) and Alex Van Pelt (2010-11) were on the Buccaneers' offensive coaching staff…Additionally, Van Pelt finished his playing career in 2003 in Buffalo, where he was a teammate of Eagles LS Jon Dorenbos, who was beginning his NFL career...DeFilippo coached with Capers in Carolina (1997) and secondary-safeties coach Darren Perry in Oakland (2007-08)...Eagles T Jason Peters was coached in Buffalo by Van Pelt (2005-08)...Capers was Carolina's head coach when Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich played QB for the Panthers... Eagles QB Nick Foles, DE Chris Long (2008-15) and Packers TE Lance Kendricks were teammates with the Rams in 2015…Kendricks was with the Los Angeles Rams in 2016 while Eagles WRs coach Mike Groh was the WRs coach/passing game coordinator…Groh also coached Bennett in Chicago from 2013-15…Bennett was a teammate of Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery for three seasons with the Bears…Evans and Philadelphia CB Patrick Robinson played together with the New Orleans Saints…Philadelphia G/T Matt Tobin was Iowa teammates with Packers T Bryan Bulaga and DT Mike Daniels...Tobin was coached at Iowa by Green Bay offensive perimeter coach David Raih from 2010-12...Hauck and Raih coached together at UCLA in 2008... Eagles TE Zach Ertz played at Stanford with Packers RB Ty Montgomery, T Kyle Murphy and LB Blake Martinez...Barclay played at West Virginia with Eagles LB Najee Goode from 2008-11...Packers WR Jordy Nelson played at Kansas State from 2003-04 with Philadelphia RB Darren Sproles...At California, Packers TE Richard Rodgers played with Eagles LB Mychal Kendricks in 2011..Packers WR Trevor Davis played at California from 2014-15 with Eagles WR Bryce Treggs...Green Bay S Kentrell Brice played at Louisiana Tech with Eagles WR Paul Turner (2014-15)...Packers LB Reggie Gilbert and Eagles QB Nick Foles played at Arizona in 2011…Packers DT Letroy Guion and Eagles CB Patrick Robinson were members of the Florida State defense…Eagles G Chance Warmack and Packers S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix played at Alabama…Green Bay CB Kevin King and Philadelphia CB Sidney Jones were a part of Washington's secondary together.