The injury news continues to be positive for the Green Bay Packers this week. On Wednesday, seven players who were listed on the team’s injury report leading up to the Philadelphia Eagles game did not appear on the Packers’ initial injury report of Week 11 at all. Now, defensive end Lukas Van Ness (foot) has returned to practice for the first time since his injury against the Cincinnati Bengals over a month ago.
Without Van Ness, the Packers have played defensive end Kingsley Enagbare at a high rate.
Enagbare, who is on an expiring contract, was one of the hot names near the trade deadline, but Green Bay never pulled the trigger on a trade, possibly because of the timing of the Van Ness injury. Last week, Enagbare played just 6 fewer snaps than starter Rashan Gary, despite also contributing 10 snaps on special teams to Gary’s 0.
When healthy, Van Ness has been the third defensive end in the Packers’ rotation, behind only Micah Parsons and Gary, and contributed as a defensive tackle in Green Bay’s “Cheetah” packages, where the team has played three defensive ends at the same time to help improve their pass-rushing chances.
In other injury news, receiver Matthew Golden, who was estimated to be a limited participant in the Packers’ walkthrough on Wednesday, did indeed practice today, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. Demovsky added that both running back MarShawn Lloyd and receiver Jayden Reed “have ramped up their rehab” alongside practice, too. Both players are currently on the injured reserve. Reed is expected to return to the 53-man roster around Thanksgiving.
