Packers Send St. Brown to IR, Elevate Previlon, Lovett

The elevations of Lovett and Previlon ahead of Sunday’s home game against the Detroit Lions were no surprise.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers placed receiver Equanimeous St. Brown on Saturday and elevated two practice-squad players, tight end John Lovett and defensive lineman Willington Previlon, to the gameday roster.

St. Brown was not listed on last week’s injury report but was inactive for the season-opening game against Minnesota. He was limited on Wednesday, did not practice on Thursday and Friday, and was ruled out on Friday.

As part of the NFL’s new injured reserve rules, St. Brown could return in three weeks.

The elevations of Lovett and Previlon ahead of Sunday’s home game against the Detroit Lions were no surprise.

Lovett played one snap on offense and 14 snaps on special teams against the Vikings. With rookie Josiah Deguara (shin/ankle) questionable, Lovett potentially could step into a much larger role. Against the Vikings, Deguara played 24 snaps: 16 at fullback, five as a traditional tight end and three as a slot receiver, according to Pro Football Focus.

Lovett went undrafted in 2019 after starring at quarterback for Princeton.

“Coming into my pro day, I actually did everything,” Lovett said during training camp. “I threw at my pro day. I also ran routes from the tight end position, from the backfield. So, I was going in with an open mind. My coach from college was telling me that a lot of teams expressed interest as that H-back position. My goal from when I was a little kid was to have a good NFL career. So, whatever the coaches were asking me to do, I was ready to go full-bore.”

Previlon, an undrafted free agent who fell short of a roster spot in training camp, was the obvious option to add depth on the defensive line. Standout Kenny Clark (groin) has been ruled out and Montravius Adams, who was out last week with an injured toe, is questionable. Those injuries left only Dean Lowry, Tyler Lancaster and Kingsley Keke as healthy bodies up front, so Previlon could get a decent amount of playing time.

As a senior at Rutgers, Previlon won team MVP honors and was an honorable mention on the all-Big Ten team after posting a team-high 7.5 tackles for losses. In four seasons, he recorded four sacks and 12.5 tackles for losses. Half of those sacks came in 2018. A three-star recruit, he redshirted in 2015 and didn’t see any action in 2016 but played in all 36 games the final three seasons.

Lovett (finger) and cornerback Jaire Alexander (hand) were added to the injury report but without injury designations, so they should be good to go for Sunday.