The Green Bay Packers have battled their share of injuries throughout the season. However, with the first playoff game of the Jordan Love era approaching, they could be taking a relatively healthy roster to their wild-card game at the Dallas Cowboys.
While the injury count was 19-10 on Wednesday’s initial injury report of the week, the only player who did not practice for Green Bay was running back AJ Dillon (stinger).
Receiver Christian Watson (hamstring) and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (concussion), both of whom were inactive for Sunday’s victory over the Chicago Bears, returned to practice on Wednesday.
So did receiver Romeo Doubs, who was hospitalized after falling hard in the end zone during the first quarter against Chicago. Doubs was spitting up blood on the sideline. Initially thinking it was a bloody lip, he stayed warm on the sideline by riding an exercise bike before leaving the field for the rest of the game.
What would it mean to have the full contingent on pass-catchers available for the playoffs?
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“You can never have enough good players,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “Certainly, I think not having them for quite some time, it creates some challenges in how do you insert them into the lineup and what exactly are you going to do with them, but that’s a good problem to have to figure out.”
The Packers’ promising injury report comes with an asterisk. LaFleur had the players on the field for less than an hour on Wednesday, with the focus on getting the players ready mentally while getting them as fresh as possible physically. In fact, all injury designations were approximations.
Despite a bunch of injuries to their perimeter group – Watson has missed four consecutive games, for instance – the Packers have been rolling offensively. During their season-ending three-game winning streak, the Packers are fourth with 27.7 points per game.
Love had ratings of 109.1 at Carolina, 125.3 at Minnesota and 128.6 against Chicago in those games. Over the last four games, Love has thrown nine touchdowns vs. zero interceptions; over the last eight games, Love has 18 touchdowns vs. one interception.
With tight end Luke Musgrave back after missing the previous six games with a kidney injury and the returns of receiver Dontayvion Wicks (played one-half vs. Carolina and was inactive vs. Minnesota with a chest injury) and receiver Jayden Reed (inactive with a toe injury vs. Carolina and played one-half vs. Minnesota due to a chest injury), Love was 27-of-32 passing in the victory over the Bears.
“It’s been a good problem in that we’ve really been able to develop other guys,” LaFleur said of game-planning and thriving through injuries.
The Cowboys will be in good shape physically, as well. Of their 10 players on the injury report, five were for veteran rest.
Cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in the Week 18 victory against Washington, did not practice but is hopeful he’ll be available on Sunday.
“He’s making really good progress,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy told reporters before practice. “The goal is to give him what he needs here Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then line him up Saturday and cut him loose, but we need to see how the week goes.”
