King Returns from Packers’ COVID List

Most of the players league-wide who have tested positive for COVID, especially those during the massive Omicron wave, have been asymptomatic. Not Kenny Clark.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Veteran cornerback Kevin King, who landed on the Green Bay Packers’ COVID-19 list just a couple hours before kickoff on Saturday, returned to practice on Thursday.

Cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles also was activated from the COVID list. Offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins and outside linebacker Randy Ramsey, both of whom are on injured reserve, were the additions.

Despite the increasing case numbers, the Packers thus far have been fortunate. The only starter on their COVID list is veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis. That doesn’t mean coach Matt LaFleur can afford to exhale for even a moment given the state of the pandemic and surging numbers throughout the NFL and across the country in general.

“It’s still out there and it’s still ongoing,” he said. “So, we’ve got to make sure we take every necessary precaution that we can.”

One player who landed on the COVID list on Wednesday was punter Corey Bojorquez. Because he tested positive on Tuesday, he’ll be eligible to return on Sunday under the league’s new COVID rules. Eligible to play and actually doing so, of course, are two different things. What’s Plan B if Bojorquez can’t punt or hold?

“We have a couple contingency plans,” LaFleur said without elaborating.

Most of the players league-wide who have tested positive for COVID, especially those during the massive Omicron wave, have been asymptomatic or felt only a little ill. Not so for defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Had the new protocols been in place, he would have been eligible to play at Baltimore a couple weeks ago. That probably wouldn’t have happened, though. Clark returned for last week’s game against Cleveland and said he was running on fumes in the second half.

“The first three days, it hit me pretty hard,” he said. “I lost some weight. My chest, my throat, everything was hurting. I had a bad cough. I had everything besides the chills. I would have wanted to play, but they would have seen me and they probably would have been like, ‘Naw, there’s no way we’re going to throw you out there looking like this or feeling like this.’”

Packers on COVID-Reserve Lists

Here was the COVID lists as of Thursday afternoon.

Receiver: Amari Rodgers.

Tight ends: 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: Shemar Jean-Charles, Jayson Stanley (practice squad).

Safety: Henry Black.

Punter: Corey Bojorquez.