Green Bay Packers fans can breathe a sigh of relief on the statuses of a few of the team’s key players who were injured in or before Friday’s preseason game in Denver. Speaking to the press ahead of the team’s penultimate open practice on Monday, head coach Matt LaFleur provided a positive update on Brandon Cisse, while addressing the status of a few other banged-up regulars.
The Packers hold an open practice at 10:30 AM Central on Monday, then will have two joint practices with the Arizona Cardinals
— coached by LaFleur’s younger brother, Mike — on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the teams’ preseason finale on Friday evening. Wednesday’s joint practice will be open to the public and will also be the final public practice of training camp.
Here’s what LaFleur had to say about a few key Packers players in the Monday morning press conference.
Brandon Cisse
The Packers’ rookie cornerback has been working with the starting defense throughout training camp, but he got banged up covering a kickoff in Denver and did not return to the game. Thankfully, it appears that he will not miss any time and will be full-go for Monday’s practice. Cisse himself said that the injury was “nothing serious” after the game, and now LaFleur has confirmed that he will not miss any time.
LaFleur: “He should be fine. He should be good to go.”
Josh Jacobs
The Packers have been working Jacobs into the offense gradually as he works his way back from a groin injury. Jacobs has been out of practice for almost two weeks until returning late last week. It appears that the team is continuing to be cautious with him, but he will keep ramping up over the course of this week, starting with a limited workload on Monday.
LaFleur: “He’ll be limited in all team periods but he’ll be out there practicing.” When asked if Jacobs would participate in team drills, the coach responded “Oh yeah.”
Aaron Banks
The Packers’ assumed starting left guard has been in and out of the lineup during practices all summer with knee tendinitis, and he appeared to drop out of practice again last week. Jager Burton has been the next man up at that position when Banks has been out of the lineup, while also working in at center and right guard. However, it seems that the Packers are trying to be careful in managing Banks’ workload with the plan being to have him ready for the regular season opener.
LaFleur: “He should be out there (on Monday).” When asked if Banks would be ready to be in the starting lineup for week one, LaFleur was optimistic: “I think so, I believe so. I think he’s made good progress and ultimately he’s got to continue to put those days back to back to back. He’s definitely getting better, he’s trending in the right direction.”
Warren Brinson
Brinson was a surprise scratch from the lineup in Friday’s game, which likely caused the coaching staff to scramble a bit to fill his snaps on the defensive line. Now is an unfortunate time for him to be out of the lineup, with the team’s other depth defensive linemen flashing, but it does appear that he will be off the field for a bit, which could affect the Packers’ decisions at final cuts on Sunday.
LaFleur: “It happened in warmups, he felt a little tweak in his calf and so he’ll miss a little bit of time.”
Matt Orzech
Finally, the Packers’ long snapper went on the PUP list at the start of training camp and is still yet to return. Since then, Cal Adomitis has been handling those duties admirably, contributing to Trey Smack’s perfect start on place-kicks in the first two preseason games. It does seem that the Packers still like Orzech, but they must be preparing to start the season with Adomitis in that role, because it appears Orzech may not be ready to go before final cuts.
LaFleur: “I think he’s getting closer. To say that he’ll be back this week might be too soon to say, but I know he’s getting close.”
