Yesterday, only two Green Bay Packers were non-participants in the open period of practice that the media got to watch. We won’t get the start of official injury reports until Wednesday, but let’s talk through the latest injury updates in Green Bay and how they could impact the Packers in their opening game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Elgton Jenkins
We don’t know what type of injury preferred starting center Elgton Jenkins is dealing with, just that he was sidelined yesterday. When Jenkins has
missed time in practice this summer, the Packers have pivoted to either playing Jacob Monk, now on the injured reserve, or Sean Rhyan, who has been splitting time at right guard with the first-team offense, at the position.
If Jenkins is out, the most likely lineup you’re going to get involves Rhyan playing center and Jordan Morgan, who has played both guard positions and left tackle in training camp, filling in as a full-time right guard for the game. If there were to be another injury at center, God forbid, Zach Tom would probably move from right tackle, as he played some emergency snaps at center in camp, and second-round rookie Anthony Belton would come off the bench to play right tackle.
Hopefully, Jenkins is ready to go in Week 1.
Nate Hobbs
The Packers’ top defensive free-agent signing this offseason had surgery on his meniscus on August 2nd. Green Bay has stated that they were hopeful that he would be ready for Week 1, but he has not yet returned to practice.
Before the surgery, the Packers were undecided whether Hobbs would play outside cornerback or in the slot in nickel sets, only that Hobbs would play outside cornerback in two-cornerback base defense looks. If Hobbs is out, Carrington Valentine would become a full-time outside cornerback for the team, and Javon Bullard would be the full-time slot defender. Notably, Bullard had a tough time in coverage as a slot defender the last time the Lions and Packers faced off.
The next man up at cornerback, if there were an injury to either Valentine or Keisean Nixon, would be converted receiver Bo Melton. I’m unsure how Green Bay would deal with losing Bullard in-game if something were to happen. The Packers made the choice to release both of the other cornerbacks who got significant slot snaps for the defense this summer, Kalen King and Corey Ballentine, to keep Kamal Hadden and Micah Robinson, who is now on Green Bay’s practice squad. Both Hadden and Robinson played almost exclusively as outside cornerbacks for the Packers in camp and the preseason.
Who plays the slot if Bullard and Hobbs are down? Would the team kick in Keisean Nixon, who hasn’t really gotten looks there since early in the 2024 regular season? It might be their only option.
Micah Parsons
Alright, let’s talk about the Micah Parsons of it all. If the Packers had serious concerns over his back injury, do you think they would have traded two first-round picks, a starting nose tackle and given him all that money? Take media reports about his back issue with a grain of salt. What he said to the Dallas Cowboys about his back, when he was in an ongoing contract dispute with the team and wanted the plausible deniability to miss games without missing game checks, means nothing for Green Bay.
I’m no doctor, but here’s one stating that if Parsons was dealing with the back issue that was leaked to the press, his workouts with the Packers in his first practice with the team would have been about the worst thing they could have had him do.
Either Green Bay has the worst medical staff in the world, or Parsons simply lied to the Cowboys about his back, and they’re trying to damage his image like a broken-hearted ex. You can make the decision on which one of those is most likely. Let’s use our brains, people.
Gameday Actives
Here, let’s address who is on the healthy scratch chopping block going into the game against Detroit. In a worst-case scenario, both Jenkins and Hobbs will be out, leaving the Packers with just 51 candidates. As long as Green Bay suits up eight offensive linemen, the remaining non-Jenkins linemen on their team, the Packers will be able to carry 48 players against the Lions. As a reminder, NFL teams are only technically allowed to suit up 47, but there is an exemption for a 48th player if that final player is an eighth offensive lineman. Otherwise, clubs would probably use that roster spot on an extra special teamer.
So who would be the three healthy scratches? There are a couple of candidates.
Rookie third-round receiver Savion Williams is pretty low on the depth chart right now on offense. As an outside receiver, he probably has an edge over Malik Heath, who is a special teams contributor, but Heath gets slot looks over Williams, based on what we saw this summer. Considering how much time in camp that Williams missed and his lack of special teams snaps that he’s projected to play, he’s right there on the gameday roster bubble.
The Packers will also probably have to make a decision on activating just one of the following defensive ends for the game: Brenton Cox Jr. and Barryn Sorrell. Cox is a non-contributor on special teams. Based on the team’s rotation this summer, Cox is also going to be behind Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare on the defensive depth chart, not including the addition of Micah Parsons.
Can you dress a fifth defensive end who can’t play teams? If not, then Barryn Sorrell will probably be activated. Sorrell is behind Cox on the defensive depth chart, and is coming off a knee injury, but received a crash course in special teams during the preseason. Remember, Cox was a healthy scratch in 10 games last season for a reason: They don’t think he can be a difference-maker on teams.
Finally, the last spot probably comes down to who the Packers want as their fourth defensive tackle going into these games. In the pecking order, with Colby Wooden now expected to start at nose tackle, Warren Brinson is the team’s fourth defensive tackle while Nazir Stackhouse is fifth on the list. But Stackhouse is more of a situational run-stopper, while Brinson can play nose tackle and three-technique, but never has situational value over the starting tackles. This is close to a true toss-up to me. We’ll learn a lot about what Green Bay thinks about Brinson and Stackhouse on Sunday when they announce their inactives.
If Jenkins is active, he’ll displace the ninth offensive lineman on the team, be it Donovan Jennings or Darian Kinnard, on the 48-man gameday roster. If Hobbs is active, the Packers will need to find one more player they can knock off as a healthy scratch. With a relatively healthy roster, that’s a good problem to have.
