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Love is dealing with a groin injury that led to the coaching staff pulling him on Sunday
While reports have claimed that the Green Bay Packers are optimistic that they avoided any sort of serious injury on Sunday versus the Jacksonville Jaguars, their participation rate on Wednesday should still raise some concerns from Packers fans going into a key matchup against the NFC’s top-ranked Detroit Lions. According to Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber, not only was quarterback Jordan Love missing from practice today, but so were running back Josh Jacobs, left tackle Rasheed Walker, left guard Elgton Jenkins, center Josh Myers, cornerback Jaire Alexander and safety Evan Williams, all starters for the team.
Love is dealing with a groin injury that led to him dropping out of the second half of last week’s game against the Jaguars after initially pushing through the injury with limited mobility. The quarterback underwent an MRI on Monday, which showed no major injury. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Love’s injury has been diagnosed as a strain.
The assumption is that Love is more likely than not to play against the Lions. If he doesn’t, though, it’ll be the fourth time this season that backup quarterback Malik Willis will need to step up to the plate. On the year, Willis has a passer rating of 130.3, but he also has only thrown for 380 yards in 10 quarters of play as the team has leaned heavily into the run without Love in the lineup.
Love’s co-starter in the backfield, Jacobs, didn’t look to be at full health on his final carry versus the Jaguars, but Huber reported after the game that there are “no concerns” that Jacobs won’t be available versus the Lions. A banged-up Jacobs might not mean missing a game, but it could mean leaning more into Emanuel Wilson and/or Chris Brooks, who saw a significant increase in playing time last week.
On the offensive line, the injury to watch with Myers, who has been dealing with a wrist issue that limited his participation in practice last week. At points versus the Jaguars, it was clear that Myers’ wrist was bothering him. When Myers has been out of the lineup this season, Jenkins, who was also a non-participant today, usually moved over from left guard to center and first-round rookie Jordan Morgan was inserted at guard off of the bench.
Defensively, Alexander underwent an MRI on Monday for a knee injury. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported that there were no “significant concerns” that the cornerback would be out for an extended period of time. Williams, who dropped out versus Jacksonville, is not expected to have a long-term injury, either, as reported by CheeseheadTV’s Aaron Nagler.
So are these injuries serious? They aren’t reported to be. These players aren’t on the field, though, which means it’s worth paying attention to the day-to-day change in participation as we inch toward Sunday’s action.
