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Despite not being on the injury report, it was announced by the Green Bay Packers on Saturday that receiver Malik Heath was not going to play against the New York Giants this week, due to a “coaches’ decision.” The team also announced that Heath would not be making the trip to New York.
The only other time I can remember something similar happening to the Packers under head coach Matt LaFleur was when Romeo Doubs was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team for his homecoming game against the Los Angeles Rams last season. Green Bay stopped short of suspending Heath, though, which has given people the space to fill in what they think happened with the receiver.
When LaFleur was asked about the Heath situation, here’s how he responded in the post-game press conference following the Packers’ win over the Giants:
“I’m just going to keep that between our team. It’s just one of those decisions. I will say this about Malik: I think he’s definitely a valued member of our team. He’s put in a lot of good work for us, and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow.”
Good luck trying to make heads or tails of that.
In other non-comment news, LaFleur didn’t give us much on running back Josh Jacobs’ knee injury, which led him to drop out of action after the Packers’ first touchdown drive against the Giants. LaFleur gave his usual canned response about how he’s “always worried” when players don’t finish games. He pretty much says this about all injured players, so Jacobs could be out next week against the Minnesota Vikings, or he could be back at practice by Wednesday. Your guess is as good as anyone’s.
Before the game, The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman caught that receiver Savion Williams, listed with a foot injury, was in a walking boot coming off the team bus. Williams was active for this game, playing two offensive snaps, including a 33-yard catch. According to LaFleur, Williams has been in a boot “pretty much on a daily basis” recently, though the coach said the rookie receiver was dealing with an ankle injury, not a foot injury. Don’t tell the NFL.
LaFleur said that Williams’ injury is about managing pain, and that the receiver has “got a pretty high pain tolerance.”
In non-injury news, LaFleur also added that kicker Lucas Havrisik wasn’t supposed to kick the ball into the end zone to start the Giants’ final drive of the game. Several times this year, the Packers’ kickers, both Havrisik and Brandon McManus, have done this very thing — only for the coaching staff to later tell the press that they were instructed to do anything but kick the ball into the end zone.
Update: It doesn’t sound like the Quay Walker stinger is serious, either.
