Packers Activate Sternberger from IR

The Green Bay Packers have activated rookie tight end Jace Sternberger from injured reserve, filling the 53rd roster in time for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Sternberger is going to contribute against the Chargers or any time soon, though.

A third-round pick out of Texas A&M, he missed a big chunk of training camp due to a concussion suffered during a joint practice against Houston on Aug. 6. That injury kept Sternberger out for two weeks. Nine days later, in the preseason finale against Kansas City, he sustained an ankle injury that landed him on IR.

Sternberger returned to practice on Oct. 16.

At this point, the one-year star at Texas A&M just needs to string together a stretch of practices – something that didn’t happen in training camp – so he can improve and the Packers can get a feel on whether he can help the team this season or beyond.

“Everybody needs to always practice as much as possible,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said on Saturday. “That just helps you get better, so I think especially as a young player the more looks you can see, the more people you can go against, the more competition you can create, it’s just going to make everyone better.”

The Packers have relied heavily upon the veteran duo of Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis. Until suffering a hip injury in Week 5 at Dallas, Robert Tonyan was averaging about 20 snaps per game. Tonyan practiced all week and could be active against the Chargers, presumably making Sternberger fourth on the pecking order.

“I think any time you’re dealing with a rookie, you never know until there are 80,000 people in the stands and it’s actually crunch time and you’ve got a lot of things going on at truly full speed,” Hackett said. “Even in practice, you try to simulate it as much as you can but it’s never going to be like that on game day. I would say until his opportunity comes, just like some of the other guys that have had great opportunities and taken advantage of them, it’s probably at some point going to be the same for him.”

Green Bay could have promoted veteran safety Ibraheim Campbell from the physically unable to perform list. Campbell could fill the dime linebacker role; he played that spot briefly for the Packers last season until suffering a torn ACL. The team has until Tuesday to add him to the 53-man roster, place him on injured reserve or release him.

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