Here’s What Packers Roster Moves Mean for Sunday at Broncos

The Green Bay Packers made one roster move before lifting off for Denver for Sunday’s game at the Broncos. Here’s a look at the roster moves that were made and not made.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is questionable for Sunday at the Broncos with a knee injury. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers made one roster move for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos. Here’s the weekly breakdown of the transactions that were made and not made.

Elevated: RB Pierre Strong

For the third time this season, the Packers on Saturday elevated running back Pierre Strong from the active roster.

This was the no-brainer move of the week. Starter and Pro Bowler Josh Jacobs has been battling a knee injury that flared up on him against the Bears last week. He didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week but was limited participation on Friday.

That practice schedule was the plan all along, with the training staff needing to convince Jacobs to take a couple days off.

“Yeah, Doc was like, ‘Man, just chill,’” Jacobs said this week.

That he progressed enough to actually get on the field on Friday is probably a sign that he’ll be good enough to play on Sunday.

Here's the final #Packers-Broncos injury report, with a setback in the backfield for Green Bay, four players who are questionable and a key addition for Denver. ⬇️https://t.co/M5vew7YzO6

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 12, 2025

“I always plan to play,” Jacobs said. “They got to tell me I can’t play for me not to play, so I mean for me, that’s where my head is at, but I’m also realistically just day-to-day right now.”

Given the stakes of next week’s rematch at the Bears, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jacobs on some sort of snap count against the Broncos.

Sunday’s game at Denver is vital for the Packers’ place in the race for the No. 1 seed, a first-round bye and homefield advantage in the NFC playoffs. However, a victory over Denver on Sunday would be almost irrelevant if the Packers were to lose at Chicago on Saturday, because the Bears would be back in control of the NFC North race.

Thus, the health of Jacobs is critically important from a short- and long-term perspective.

“I think right now, where we’re at, we’re not looking any further than the game in front of our face,” coach Matt LaFleur said before Friday’s practice. “That’s where we’ll continue to keep the focus on this game.”

Regardless of whether it’s Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson, Chris Brooks or Strong in the backfield, the running game will be incredibly important vs. Denver but running it successfully will be incredibly difficult. The Broncos are first in the NFL in yards allowed per carry, which feeds into ranking first in the NFL in sacks.

“Ooh, really good defense, really good defense,” Jacobs said. “Probably the best defense we’ve played all year or are even going to play all year, honestly. A lot of turnovers. The front five is really good, back end probably (has) the best corner in football, you’ve got two really good safeties and, obviously, the linebackers are pretty good, too.

“This is going to be a real test for our offense and really a real test for our team. They’re playing at a high level and, even in games where you think they didn’t play as great they still find a way to win, and that’s what the good teams tend to do. I’ve got the utmost respect for that team.”

Added to Injury Report: Emanuel Wilson

Complicating matters in the backfield, the Packers added Josh Jacobs’ primary backup, Emanuel Wilson, as questionable due to illness.

In the one game that Jacobs missed this season due to the knee, Wilson carried 28 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings.

Starting with that game by Wilson, followed by Jacobs’ having back-to-back productive games against the Lions and Bears, Green Bay’s running game might have found its stride at just the right time.

The key?

Green Bay Packers running back Emanuel Wilson collects his thoughts before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

“Us just being on our details, the linemen getting to their blocks and receivers getting to their blocks, as well, and pressing our aiming points and reading the gaps,” Wilson said.

Getting back to the elevation of Pierre Strong, this is the third and final time he can be elevated to the gameday roster before he has to be signed to the 53. He didn’t play in either game.

That could change this week, obviously, depending on how Jacobs and Wilson are feeling and how much of a workload they can handle.

A fourth-round pick in 2022 by the Patriots, Strong in 46 career games has carried 99 times for 499 yards (5.0 average) and two touchdowns. The last time he got the ball in a game that mattered was Week 17 of last season, when he carried five times for 33 yards and caught three passes for 15 yards in the Browns’ loss to Miami.

Not Elevated: Receiver

The Packers are in good shape at receiver. Matthew Golden (wrist) and Dontayvion Wicks (ankle), who barely played last season, are off the injury report.

So, the Packers will have a quintet of Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Wicks and Golden, regardless of whether rookie Savion Williams (foot) is ready to go after missing the last two games.

“They have about five guys at the receiver position that can really hurt you and they are all different,” Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph told reporters this week. “They have undersized guys for quickness, and they have big guys for long speed. They have guys who are great route runners.

“Their tight end, (Luke) Musgrave, is a big guy who can stretch the field vertically and he’s a good in-line blocker. They have good backs that can run the football and can also catch the ball in the pass game. It’s a good combination. It’s probably the best overall skill [group] that we’ve played all year.”

Not Elevated: Linebacker

The Packers finished last week’s game with only four linebackers after special-teams standout Kristian Welch suffered a concussion. While Welch was in the concussion protocol as of Friday morning, he practiced all and presumably is good to go, which is why they didn’t elevate Jamon Johnson.

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