According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Green Bay Packers fourth-round pick Barryn Sorrell has an MCL sprain, which Sorrell told Demovsky shouldn’t keep him out “more than a few weeks.” Hopefully, the rookie defensive end will be able to return to the field before the start of the regular season, as the team went out of its way to feed him plenty of special teams snaps this preseason, prior to his injury against the Indianapolis Colts.
With the way the NFL’s cutdown rules work, the Packers will only be
able to place two players on the injured reserve at the cutdown deadline with the “designated to return” status. If Green Bay puts more than two players on the injured reserve at cutdowns, the extra players will be put on season-ending injured reserve, like tackle Travis Glover.
What the Packers can do about their injuries, if they want to stash more players on the injured reserve in Week 1, is keep players on the roster for one day after cutdowns. That’s how they can get more than two players on the injured reserve, with the possibility of them returning this year, without having to subject the extra players to waivers.
After the cutdown deadline, they won’t need to designate players to return at the time they’re placed on the injured reserve, either. Those are decisions they can make later on in the year. As a reminder, the Packers are limited to just eight returns from IR during the 2025 season.
With the return of defensive tackle Kenny Clark (back) and defensive end Lukas Van Ness (back), 13 Packers are were held out practice on Tuesday due to injury: running back MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring), receiver Jayden Reed (foot), receiver Christian Watson (knee), receiver Dontayvion Wicks (calf), receiver Savion Williams (hamstring), offensive lineman Aaron Banks (back), offensive lineman John Williams (back), defensive end Barryn Sorrell (knee), defensive end Collin Oliver (hamstring), cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee), safety Xavier McKinney (calf), safety Zayne Anderson (knee) and safety Omar Brown (chest). Watson, J. Williams and Oliver are all on the physically unable to perform list, where they can stay during the regular season without being subjected to waivers as long as Green Bay doesn’t activate them.
If a player goes on the injured reserve, they have to miss at least four games of the regular season. They also aren’t allowed to practice during that time. Those players are allowed to practice for 20 days without being called up to the active roster, but only after those four games have passed. The Packers have a Week 5 bye this year, meaning that Game #5 will be in Week 6, not Week 5, against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Good luck with your mock 53-man roster. Injuries are going to make the Packers’ roster math really difficult to predict.
In other injury news, quarterback Jordan Love will be limited in Green Bay’s joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday. Head coach Matt LaFleur stated that Love will participate in seven-on-seven drills against the Seahawks, but it doesn’t appear that he’ll go through team periods or the preseason finale against the team.
Safety Omar Brown is still in Indianapolis after he was carted off the field with a lung issue on Saturday, but LaFleur has stated that “he’s getting better.”
