Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said in his pre-practice press conference on Friday that defensive lineman Warren Brinson will miss a “significant amount of time” after he slipped and injured himself during Wednesday’s practice. Brinson was seen working out with the defensive line group in the media-open portion of practice on Wednesday, but dropped out of action and spent time with the team’s medical staff. On Thursday, Brinson was a non-participant.
Brinson hasn’t played in a game this
season, due to the fact that he injured his calf in pre-game warmups going into the Packers’ Week 2 preseason matchup against the Denver Broncos. After Brinson’s recent injury, he was given the status of “calf/groin,” rather than just “calf,” so the assumption is that his new injury is to his groin.
Green Bay generally uses five interior defensive linemen on their game-day roster for its 3-4 defense, and the team has seven players at the position on the 53-man roster, so they’re “oversigned” on the defensive line. Brinson’s injury doesn’t present an immediate need to backfill the position on the 53-man roster, which is currently full, but it does knock the team’s depth a bit.
For what it’s worth, Karl Brooks (illness) was a non-participant on Wednesday but a limited participant on Thursday, a sign that he’s trending in a positive direction for being a game-day active, while Anthony Campbell (ankle) has missed back-to-back practices this week. As long as Brooks can go on Sunday, the Packers should have five interior defensive linemen in Brooks, Devonte Wyatt, Javon Hargrave, Jonathan Ford and rookie third-round pick Chris McClellan. If Brooks can’t suit up (along with Brinson and Campbell), there’s a chance that practice squadder David Blay Jr. — who was just signed this week — might have to be called up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
