When a player goes down with injury in an exhibition game, as the Green Bay Packers experienced when Jordy Nelson tore his ACL in 2015, the answer will be an easy no. Players shouldn’t be risked in the preseason.
But when a team makes a slow start to the regular season and don’t look sharp, it’s questioned whether starters were given enough game-time reps in August.
I tend to lean on the sign of being cautious and avoiding too much risk. You can overcome a slow start to the season, but in the Packers’ case, they couldn’t overcome a lost season from Aaron Rodgers if he got injured in an August game.