Shoulder Injury Likely Ends Greene’s Season

Raven Greene was in the midst of the most productive stretch of his three-year career.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The shoulder injury sustained by Raven Greene during the fourth quarter of the Green Bay Packers’ victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday has likely ended his season.

Greene was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday along with running back Tyler Ervin and Billy Winn. While those two could return this season, a source said Greene’s third NFL season likely will end the way his first two did – on injured reserve.

While not officially a starter as the team’s dime linebacker, the injury is a big one for the Packers’ defense. In his 10 games, he played at least 47 percent of the defensive snaps in seven of them. Greene had been delivering his most-impactful games of his career. In 41 snaps at Indianapolis, he recorded a career-high nine tackles and a forced fumble. In 51 snaps against Chicago, he provided seven tackles. In 32 snaps against Philadelphia, he delivered two tackles, a half-sack and two quarterback hits.

In 10 games, Greene contributed 44 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and five passes defensed. He’s sixth on the team in tackles, sixth with 1.5 sacks and third in passes defensed.

He was injured while making a diving tackle attempt on Jalen Reagor's punt-return touchdown on Sunday.

“That’s a tough one,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He did a lot for us, not only as a dime linebacker or safety but also on special teams. That’s a tough one for us. Certainly, his presence will be missed. I feel terrible for him. He’s battled through a bunch of injuries. You never want to see go out like that.”

A determination on whether he will need surgery has not been made.

The Packers have no obvious replacements for Greene, who played 324 snaps. Safety Will Redmond has played 240 snaps but lacks the physical presence of Greene. The injury might force defensive coordinator Mike Pettine to play more with two inside linebackers. The last four weeks, rookie inside linebacker Kamal Martin has played 61 snaps alongside starter Christian Kirksey. Greene played 163 snaps during that same period.

An undrafted free agent in 2018, Greene had just found a role on defense before suffering a season-ending ankle injury and missing the final six weeks of the season. That injury allowed Greene to build a powerful physique for his return in 2019. After an excellent performance at Chicago in the 2019 opener, Greene missed the final 14 games with an ankle injury.