Acme Packing Company
The Green Bay Packers have only ruled out running back MarShawn Lloyd, defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. and defensive end Collin Oliver against the Denver Broncos after all members of the 53-man roster were available for practice on Friday. All three of the players the Packers ruled out are participating in practice in Green Bay, but are currently members of the team’s injury lists (either injured reserve or the physically unable to perform list).
The Packers will have one more week to decide on the fate of those players. If they aren’t activated to the 53-man roster next week, they will revert to the season-ending injured reserve.
The players that Green Bay listed as questionable against the Broncos are running back Josh Jacobs (knee), receiver/returner Savion Williams (foot), defensive end Lukas Van Ness (foot) and linebacker Kristian Welch (concussion). Both Williams and Van Ness were inactive in the Packers’ last two games, while Welch dropped out of Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears with a concussion. In good news, Welch was able to participate in every practice with Green Bay this week.
The big one to watch, though, is Jacobs, who said that he was feeling better on Thursday, his second practice off of the week, but is battling through bruising on his knee that dates back to the New York Giants game. Since the Giants game, this is the first time he’s been asked to play a game on a seven-day turnaround.
If Jacobs can’t go, it seems surprising that the Packers would have ruled Lloyd out already. This gives the team only one opportunity to have a third running back, if Jacobs isn’t in the mix: practice squadder Pierre Strong Jr. Without too many injuries on the team, Green Bay should be able to call up Strong as a practice squad elevation on Saturday, if their plan is to play him on Sunday.
So look for that transaction. It could be the canary in the coal mine signaling that Jacobs won’t be able to go against Denver. If the move isn’t made on Saturday, assume that Jacobs is going to have a green light.
