Three Green Bay Packers were non-participants in practice on Wednesday: receiver Dontayvion Wicks (calf), defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness (foot) and kicker Brandon McManus (quad). Wicks was injured in last week’s win against the Arizona Cardinals, while both Van Ness and McManus were held out of action for that game. Head coach Matt LaFleur stated that McManus will kick on Thursday, and also stated that he’s not optimistic that Van Ness will play this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. So far,
there’s been little to no news on Wicks’ health issues, which have caused him to drop out of two straight games.
Limited on today’s injury report were running back Josh Jacobs (calf), receiver Christian Watson (knee), left guard Aaron Banks (groin), right tackle Zach Tom (back), swing tackle Anthony Belton (ankle), defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (knee), cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee), safety Xavier McKinney (ankle/knee) and safety Evan Williams (back). This is Wyatt’s first practice back with the team since getting injured in the Dallas Cowboys game in Week 4.
The new injuries on that list are to McKinney and Williams. The safeties are going to have to play a lot of crucial downs against the Steelers, which play multiple tight end sets at a higher rate than any other team in the NFL. Hopefully, they aren’t too banged up come gametime.
It’s also worth mentioning here that Tom is no longer listed with an oblique injury. He’s now dealing with just a back issue.
Watson also told the press after practice today that he plans to play against the Steelers, so assume that he’s going to be on the 53-man active roster and 48-man gameday roster on Sunday. To make room for Watson’s addition, the team will need to make a corresponding roster move, likely the release of one of the following players: tight end Ben Sims, offensive lineman Donovan Jennings or kicker Lucas Havrisik.
Pittsburgh is mostly healthy, with the only player who didn’t fully practice on Wednesday for a reason other than rest being center Zach Frazier, who is dealing with a calf injury. He was limited today.
