Thursday’s Injury Report Brought Good and Bad News for the Packers Ahead of Week 8
Josh Frey
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For the first time this season, the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings will meet for an NFC North showdown.
However, the Packers are dealing with a litany of injuries ahead of this game as indicated by there being 10 players on their Wednesday injury report.
Thursday’s report brought a mix of good and bad news for Green Bay heading into the weekend. While a few of their key players were able to return to practice, they had another brought onto the list, and CB Jaire Alexander was downgraded to a DNP.
Thursday’s Injury Report Brought Good and Bad for the Packers
Here is a look at the full report for the Packers from Thursday:
- CB Jaire Alexander (Back, DNP)
- TE Luke Musgrave (Ankle, DNP)
- OLB Preston Smith (Illness, DNP)
- LB De’Vondre Campbell (Ankle, Limited)
- LG Elgton Jenkins (Knee, Limited)
- RB Aaron Jones (Hamstring, Limited)
- C Josh Myers (Ankle, Limited)
- OT Yosh Nijman (Knee, Limited)
- DT Devonte Wyatt (Knee, Limited)
- S Zayne Anderson (Hamstring, Full)
- WR Christian Watson (Knee, Full)
Of course, the bad news for Green Bay involves Alexander’s status as DNP after being limited with his knee injury on Wednesday. The cornerback has only played three games this season and has been out since the Packers loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5.
Alexander has been a crucial part of Green Bay’s success over the past few years, recording 10 interceptions over his first five seasons in the NFL. He had 5 of them last season and was named a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro.
Preston Smith was also added to the injury report as a DNP because of an illness. He has come on strong over the past couple weeks despite Green Bay’s losses, recording sacks in each of the past two games. Since joining the Packers in 2019, he has put together 35.5 sacks over 71 games.
With the Vikings offensive line playing at the highest level that it has in years, Green Bay will need to garner a strong effort to put any sort of pass rush on Kirk Cousins, and Smith should be a big part of that. Tomorrow will provide a clearer picture as to how serious the illness is.
For positives, Green Bay got RB Aaron Jones back in limited fashion on Thursday. The running back has been dealing with a hamstring injury for virtually the entire season, and it has limited him to just three games this season.
Jones was able to return to the field in Week 7 against the Denver Broncos, but he had just 8 carries in the game. His workload has been far lower than usual this year, having yet to reach 10 carries in a game yet this season.
As a result, the bulk of the carries have gone to A.J. Dillon, who has carried the ball 79 times, resulting in 255 yards and a touchdown. Dillon’s average of 3.2 yards per carry is far below his career average of 4.2, and he hasn’t been his usual self in the passing game either. He has caught just 5 passes for 59 yards to this point.
Historically, Jones has dominated the Vikings when he’s been able to play. In 9 career games against Minnesota, he has 122 carries for 698 yards and 5 TDs, averaging over 5.7 yards per carry.
Green Bay will release their final injury report on Friday with initial game designations for their team. Kickoff is then scheduled for 12 PM Central on Sunday, October 29th at Lambeau Field.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.