Packers Get Good News as They Quickly Turn Page to Dolphins

The Green Bay Packers should be at close to full strength for a Christmas Day showdown at the Miami Dolphins.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Dec 21, 2022 8:00 AM EST

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Christmas came a bit early for the Green Bay Packers. Running back AJ Dillon should be ready to rumble for the team’s must-win game at the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Dillon ran for a pair of touchdowns during Monday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Rams before jogging into the locker room – exchanging some high-fives with fans along the way – to be examined for a concussion. Dillon did not return to the game but will be ready for the Christmas showdown.

“He cleared. He cleared last night, cleared today,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday.

The importance of Dillon getting through the concussion so quickly can’t be understated. The Packers don’t have much time to relish, recuperate and rejuvenate given the abbreviated Monday-to-Sunday turnaround.

In his last three games, he’s scored four of his five touchdowns and had five of his 13 10-yard runs. Over the last five games, he’s forced eight missed tackles compared to five in the previous seven games, according to Pro Football Focus.

Moreover, his backfield sidekick, Aaron Jones, has been dealing with an ankle injury the past few weeks. Last week’s bye wasn’t enough to get him fully healed. Thus, on the final drive, Patrick Taylor carried four times to help the Packers drain the final 9 minutes.

“It’ll be a day-to-day thing,” LaFleur said of Jones. “We’ve just got to make sure that he is healthy come gametime. He is a guy that is going to battle through everything. The intention was – and I talked to him about this during the game – to try to limit his snaps once we got AJ going and all that, and then AJ comes out of the game. It’s like, ‘Can you go?’ He said he could go the whole time, but I wanted to limit the hits on him because he is so valuable to us unless we absolutely needed him. It turns out we absolutely needed him, and he came through once again for us.”

They’ll need them both on Christmas in Miami. The Dolphins, their 8-6 record notwithstanding, are one of the better teams in the NFL. They beat Baltimore and Buffalo early in the season, and their current three-game losing streak came on the road against the 49ers, Chargers and Bills – three projected playoff participants with a combined record of 29-13. Having played on Saturday night, they will have a 48-hour rest advantage and their home turf in their favor.

The Dolphins are a juggernaut at home with a 6-1 record. Defensively, they’re allowing 15.3 points per game at home, second-best in the NFL. Running the ball will be key to staying away from a legit pass rush that features Jaelan Phillips (seven sacks), Bradley Chubb (2.5 sacks with Miami; 8.0 overall) and Melvin Ingram (6.0).

Meanwhile, the Packers are a dreadful 1-6 in games against teams with winning records. That includes 0-5 away from Lambeau Field.

“Whenever you go out on the field and you do well, typically that leads to a little bit more confidence,” LaFleur said. “We’re going to have to play better collectively in all three phases going down to Miami in order to get a win. There were moments of really good stuff, but I would say throughout the course of the game, for every unit, we have to play consistently at a high level when you’re going against a really good football team like we are in the Miami Dolphins.”