What Packers’ Roster Moves Mean

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers activated linebacker Christian Kirksey, but not receiver Allen Lazard, from injured reserve on Saturday amid a flurry of roster moves before Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Here’s what those moves mean.

Activated

LB Christian Kirksey: Kirksey suffered a pectoral injury in the Week 3 game against New Orleans and missed the last five games. With rookie Krys Barnes on the COVID-19 reserve list, the Packers figure to go with Kirksey and rookie Kamal Martin as their primary tandem. Even though he’s only played in two-and-a-half games, Kirksey’s tied for fifth on the team with 27 tackles.

Kirksey’s had three weeks of practice to knock off the rust.

“Playing linebacker, it’s probably one of the harder positions [to come back and play], to be honest with you,” inside linebackers coach Kirk Olivadotti said this week. “When you take four to five weeks off, you need some time to get your eyes, your hands, your feet, to get all that stuff back in sync.”

Elevated

S Henry Black: For Black, this will be his fourth elevation – including the past two weeks as a COVID-19 elevation. Players can be elevated from the practice squad only twice; a third one results in a promotion to the 53-man roster. However, COVID elevations don’t count toward that total. Even though he’s played in only three games, Black is tied for third with three special-teams tackles. He also forced a fumble on defense against Houston.

“I thought Henry Black stepped up in a couple of big plays for us, especially in the Houston game then he came back last week and did a great job against San Francisco,” secondary coach Jerry Gray said this week.

Safeties Will Redmond (shoulder) and Vernon Scott (shoulder) are questionable.

WR Juwann Winfree: Winfree was signed to the practice squad on Oct. 1. A sixth-round draft pick by Denver in 2019, he played 14 snaps on offense and 49 snaps on special teams as a rookie.

Winfree started his career at Maryland, catching 11 passes as a freshman in 2014. He got kicked off the team following a third suspension, spent 2015 at junior college and landed at Colorado for 2016. He missed the 2016 season with a torn ACL, caught 21 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns in 2017 and 28 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns in 2018, when he was a team captain. That gave him a career total of 60 receptions for 807 yards (13.5 average) and six touchdowns.

Receivers Darrius Shepherd (shoulder) and Equanimeous St. Brown (knee) are questionable; Shepherd didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday and was limited on Friday. And Lazard’s return to the roster will have to wait until next week. He did not practice on Friday.

Interestingly, Winfree got the call ahead of CFL import Reggie Begelton, who spent all of training camp with the team. Veteran Seth Roberts signed to the practice squad two weeks ago.

CBs KeiVarae Russell and Stanford Samuels: At the least, elevating a pair of cornerbacks does not bode well for the availability of star cornerback Jaire Alexander, who is doubtful following last week’s concussion. With fellow starter Kevin King questionable after missing the last four games with an injured quad, the Packers could have some serious issues in the secondary.

Russell, a third-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs out of Notre Dame in 2016, was signed to the practice squad on Oct. 29. In an unusual move for such an early draft pick, the Chiefs released him midway through his rookie season after he fell to last on the six-man cornerback depth chart. The Bengals claimed him on waivers. In 20 games (one start) with the Bengals from 2016 through 2018, he broke up two passes. His lone interception came in his only coverage snap in 2016. He did not play in any games last season and spent training camp this summer with the Giants.

Samuels, an undrafted free agent with NFL pedigree, was elevated last week and had two tackles (and one personal foul) after allowing a pair of short catches in his NFL debut.

Injured Reserve

The Packers placed tight end John Lovett on injured reserve following a torn ACL sustained at Thursday’s practice.

“What an unfortunate circumstance and just something you don’t really see very often, obviously in practice,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “It’s like the stars were aligned, man, in order for that to happen, and it’s really unfortunate because you talk about a guy that will do anything for the football team. The intensity that he brings, the effort, the energy, he is all about the team. I feel just sick about it. You’re talking about a four-core starter on special teams. And those types of players are really tough to replace.”

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