Jared Abbrederis
Former Wisconsin wide receiver and Wautoma native, Jared Abbrederis finally played an NFL preseason game for the Green Bay Packers. He was robbed of that opportunity last season when he went down with a knee injury early in training camp. This summer, he suffered a concussion on the first day of training camp and wasn’t available until this week.
Abbrederis caught one pass in last nights 38-10 Green Bay victory, a slant play that went for six years. His main contribution came as a punt returner. He averaged 11.7 yards per return on three attempts with a long of 17 yards, which came on his first return attempt. He had to break some tackles along the way and brought the fans to their feet.
AUDIO: Mike McCarthy on what he saw from Abbrederis on punt returns :21
Wisconsin football fans were hoping Abbrederis would get plenty of opportunities in his only game appearance. Those chances didn’t really come. Instead, Larry Pinkard took a slant pass and went 77-yards for a touchdown. Myles White, who grabbed two touchdown passes to continue his solid preseason production and Jeff Janis added another preseason touchdown catch.
Abbrederis played plenty of snaps, but he just didn’t get too many balls thrown his way. Has he done enough to make the team? It would probably be a stretch to suggest the Packers will have Abbrederis join the 53-man squad as they break training camp.
But, Abbrederis is a perfect candidate for the teams practice squad, which will be established before the weekend is out.
The Packers are working to establish their 53-man roster now and will have to announce the 22-player cuts by 3pm Saturday afternoon.