Packers Friday Practice Update: Amazing Injury News Before Playing Broncos

The Green Bay Packers on Friday practiced for the final time before playing at the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Fresh from the Don Hutson Center, here’s the latest news.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs suffered his knee injury against the Giants. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers aren’t exactly healthy, but they’re not exactly limping into Sunday’s showdown at the Denver Broncos.

With the team getting set for its 10th consecutive week with a game and the 14th game of the season, all 53 players on the active roster practiced on Friday. That includes star running back Josh Jacobs, who sat out practices on Wednesday and Thursday due to a lingering knee injury.

“He’ll be out there,” coach Matt LaFleur said before Friday’s practice. “He’ll be out there in a limited capacity. We’ll see how he’s feeling. Just talking to him, it sounds like he’s feeling pretty good. We’ll see how he responds to the practice.”

With a potential Super Bowl preview looming, the Packers were incredibly loose, as evidenced by the video associated with this story.

This is a huge game. The Packers are a half-game in front of the Chicago Bears for first place in the NFC North and a half-game behind the Los Angeles Rams for first place in the NFC. However, there’s another big game next week – and it’s arguably a bigger one, with the Packers facing a rematch at the Bears next Saturday night.

Asked if there’s a thought of getting Jacobs ready for a game that could decide the division championship, LaFleur said his sole focus was on Denver, which is an NFL-best 11-2 and has won 10 consecutive games.

“I think right now, where we’re at, we’re not looking any further than the game in front of our face,” he said. “That’s where we’ll continue to keep the focus on this game.”

Jacobs is in day-to-day mode, as well. He suffered the injury during the first quarter of the Week 11 game at the Giants. After sitting out the Week 12 win against Minnesota, he delivered strong performances in wins against the Lions in Week 13 and Bears in Week 14.

The knee stiffened during the game against the Bears, though, leading to Jacobs having an MRI on Monday just to make sure there were no larger issues.

There weren’t.

“Just the range of motion,” Jacobs said on Thursday. “Whenever you get swelling in the joints and everything like that, it just gets really stiff. Yeah, that’s really only thing. I came out clean pretty much last week. It didn’t get hit on it or anything like that, but it kind of ballooned up on me a little bit, so they just been letting me work through that.”

Whoever is in the backfield for the Packers will face a stiff challenge. The Broncos are No. 1 in the NFL with 3.70 rushing yards allowed per carry. They’ve allowed less than 80 rushing yards in four of the last five games, including 40 against the Raiders last week.

“I just think they’re really sound,” LaFleur said on Friday. “They’re physical. They’re not the biggest bunch but they play together. Their style of play jumps off the tape, and they do a good job of calculated blitzes and they’ll load the box and play man coverage, and they’re pretty good at playing man coverage. It’s going to be a good challenge.”

Jacobs was the only player who did not practice on Wednesday, and the same was true on Thursday. That was quite a feat given Jacobs’ preference for practicing and getting a feel for the pain he’d have to deal with during a game.

“That wasn’t my call,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “That’s a decision with the trainers and all that stuff. I think he was having some issues, but I’m hopeful. As the week progresses, we’ll kind of see how it goes, to get him out there and get some reps and do all that stuff. But it’s just one of those things that he’s kind of been fighting through some stuff and, hopefully, we can get him over the hump soon.”

On Friday, the team’s injured contingent of receivers – Matthew Golden (wrist), Jayden Reed (shoulder), Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) and Savion Williams (foot) – completed 3-for-3 practice weeks. All four were limited participation to start the week.

Defensive end Lukas Van Ness, who missed seven of the last eight games with a foot injury, completed a 3-for-3 practice week, as well.

It’s 15-4 on the injury report, though Jacobs was the only player who hadn’t been practicing for the Packers and rising rookie receiver Pat Bryant was the only player who hadn’t been practicing for the Broncos. Of Bryant’s 22 receptions, a dozen came the last three weeks, but his status is in question because of a hamstring injury.

Both teams will release their final injury reports of the week after Friday’s practices. For now, here are the reports from Thursday.

Packers Injury Report

Did not participate: RB Josh Jacobs (knee).

Limited participation: S Javon Bullard (ankle), DE Brenton Cox (groin), DE Kingsley Enagbare (knee), WR Matthew Golden (wrist), RB MarShawn Lloyd (calf), DE Collin Oliver (hamstring), WR Jayden Reed (shoulder), DT Jordon Riley (knee), RT Zach Tom (back), DE Lukas Van Ness (foot), LB Kristian Welch (concussion), WR Dontayvion Wicks (ankle), WR Savion Williams (foot).

Full participation: QB Jordan Love (left shoulder).

Note: Lloyd, Oliver and Cox have been designated for return from injured reserve and are within their 21-day practice windows.

Broncos Injury Report

Did not participate: WR Pat Bryant (hamstring).

Limited participation: TE Nate Adkins (knee), G Ben Powers (biceps).

Full participation: DT D.J. Jones (ankle).

Note: Powers has been designated for return from injured reserve and is within his 21-day practice window.

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