Bojorquez, Keke Among Latest Placed on Packers’ COVID List

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers added four more players to their COVID-reserve list on Tuesday.

With defensive tackle Kingsley Keke, punter Corey Bojorquez, dime defensive back Henry Black and reserve tight end Tyler Davis added to the list on Wednesday, and receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling activated, the Packers have 16 players out due to the virus.

A source said Bojorquez tested positive on Tuesday so he’d be eligible to return for Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Keke was inactive for Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Browns but his absence had nothing to do with COVID.

Valdes-Scantling missed the victory over Cleveland. He had perhaps his best game of the season the previous week against Baltimore with his five receptions for 98 yards and one touchdown. His biggest game of the season came at Minnesota, which the Packers will host on Sunday, with his four grabs for 123 yards and a 75-yard touchdown.

The Packers also made official the activation from injured reserve of cornerback Jaire Alexander and announced that rookie offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen would be a COVID elevation from the practice squad this week.

To add healthy bodies to get through the week, the team signed outside linebacker Aaron Adeoye, offensive tackle Adrian Ealy, cornerback Jayson Stanley and running back Kerrith Whyte to the practice squad.

This is the second stint on the practice squad for Adeoye and Whyte.

Adeoye (6-6, 260) has quite a background. A native of Marion, Ill., his collegiate career began as a basketball player at Ball State. During the 2011-12 season, he earned Mid-American Conference all-freshman honors by averaging 3.5 points and 4.2 rebounds. Despite the success, he transferred to John A. Logan Community College in Carterville, Ill. In his one season there, he averaged 14.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game to earn third-team All-American honors. That got him a shot at Western Kentucky, where he played sparingly as a junior, and he finished his career at Southeast Missouri State.

Not ready to give up on athletics, he decided to play football.

Whyte brings a dose of speed to the practice squad. At Florida Atlantic’s pro day before the 2019 draft, Whyte (5-10, 204) ran his 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds. That would have ranked second among the backs who tested at the Scouting Combine. Thus, the three-year backup to current Buffalo Bills standout Devin Singletary was drafted in the seventh round by the Chicago Bears. During his rookie season, he was signed off the Bears’ practice squad by the Pittsburgh Steelers and rushed 24 times for 122 yards (5.1 average), caught one pass for 9 yards and averaged 18.9 yards on 14 kickoff returns.

Ealy (6-4, 321) is an undrafted rookie from Oklahoma. He was signed after the draft by the Baltimore Ravens, and had practice-squad stints with the Ravens, Broncos and Rams. He was a 23-game starter, at right tackle in 2009 and mostly at left tackle in 2020. He served a six-game suspension earlier this season for violating the league’s policy on substances of abuse.

Stanley (6-2, 209) was a teammate of Eric Stokes at Georgia, where he caught three passes and rushed four times in four seasons as a backup receiver. He went undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Atlanta Falcons, who moved him to defense. Following practice-squad stints with Miami and Jacksonville, he played eight games for the Seattle Seahawks in 2020.

Stanley immediately landed on the team’s COVID list.

Packers on COVID Lists

Here was the COVID list as of Wednesday afternoon.

Receivers: Amari Rodgers.

Tight end: Marcedes Lewis, Tyler Davis.

Offensive line: Ben Braden.

Defensive line: Kingsley Keke, R.J. McIntosh (practice squad).

Inside linebackers: Oren Burks, Ty Summers.

Outside linebackers: Tipa Galeai, Chauncey Rivers (injured reserve), La’Darius Hamilton (practice squad).

Cornerbacks: Kevin King, Shemar Jean-Charles, Jayson Stanley (practice squad).

Safety: Henry Black.

Punter: Corey Bojorquez.