Packers-Giants Inactives: From Bad to Worse

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers receiver Matthew Golden is active and will play against the New York Giants, whose injury status took an additional turn for the worse before kickoff.

Green Bay’s inactives include kicker Brandon McManus, who was added to the injury report on Saturday, and receiver Malik Heath, who coach Matt LaFleur kept at home, presumably for disciplinary reasons.

Meanwhile, defensive end Lukas Van Ness’ return to the lineup will have to wait until next week. He will miss a fifth consecutive game with an injured foot.

The Packers’ other inactives are cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee) and lineman Donovan Jennings (healthy scratch).

While Golden will provide a lift to a Packers offense in desperate need of one, the Giants in interim coach Mike Kafka’s debut will be severely depleted. Indeed, while the Giants have only two wins, they’ve got the makings of a heck of a team on their inactives list.

The Giants ruled out five players on Friday: quarterback Jaxson Dart (concussion), receiver Darius Slayton (hamstring), outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (shoulder), defensive end Chauncey Golston (neck) and guard Evan Neal (hamstring). Dart, Slayton and Thibodeaux are starters.

Also inactive are a pair of defensive starters who were doubtful, safety Tyler Nubin (neck) and defensive linemen Rakeem Nuñez-Roches Sr. (toe).

Making matters worse, ther top cornerback, Paulso Adebo, was ruled out before kickoff. He had been questionable after a knee injury but could not get through pregame warm-ups. Adebo spent his first four seasons with the Saints and had 10 interceptions and 43 passes defensed. He has four passes defensed in seven games this season.

Combined with star receiver Malik Nabers and powerful rookie running back Cam Skattebo on injured reserve, the Giants will have a lot of firepower in street clothes.

Linebacker Bobby Okereke (shoulder), their leading tackler, is active after being listed as questionable.

With Graham Gano placed on injured reserve, veteran kicker Younghoe Koo, who had a few big-time seasons with the Falcons, was added to their 53-man roster on Saturday.

Including Adebo, Gano, Nabers and Skattebo, the Giants will line up without nine starters.

“No, not at all,” LaFleur said when asked on Friday if the absence of Thibodeaux had him breathing easier. “I think it’s more, as you guys have seen, we have to take care of our own problems, our own business.

“And it’s less about the opponent. It’s more about what we have to do to show improvement. And that’s always the mindset. And, hopefully, I think we’ve had a couple good days of practice, good days of work, and now it’s up to us to go out there and perform.”

Neal, the former first-round pick who hasn’t played a snap all season in what’s turned out to be a bust of a career, was placed on injured reserve. Elevated from the practice squad, Dalen Cambre will provide some needed depth at receiver and Elijah Chatman, who played in all 17 games with three starts last season, will make his season debut on the defensive line.

Back to Green Bay, Golden was inactive last week after missing the second half against Carolina with a shoulder injury.

“I feel pretty good,” he said this week. “I’m excited about being back on the field and being able to go out there and try to help the team as much as I can.”

The return of Christian Watson from his torn ACL corresponded with Golden’s diminished role on offense. In his last two games, he caught five passes for just 13 yards.

“Really just focusing on what I can do to help the offense,” he said. “Just overall just being a good teammate, I feel like we got a long half of the season left. I feel like for us, all we got to do is just come together, get back to the drawing board and just stick together through hard times. It’s bound to happen, so I feel like this next half of the season we all going to stick together and we going to do what we need to do.”

At receiver, the Packers will line up with Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Dontayvion Wicks, Golden, Williams and Bo Melton. Melton, who had spent the season at cornerback, played more snaps than Heath last week and out-targeted him 5-0.

Van Ness returned to practice this week but getting two days of work wasn’t enough to overcome a month-long absence. At least he’s got some momentum leading into next week’s game against the Vikings.

“I think Lukas gives us a guy that can line up and play on the outside, he can kick down to a five-technique, he can play the three-technique,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. ‘So, he gives you a really versatile piece where you can get in and out of 3-4 spacing and 4-3 spacing without substituting, and I think it gives us a lot of creativity and versatility that we’ve missed a little bit.

“Hopefully, he was out there today, he did more, so hopefully we get a chance to do that again soon.”

McManus this week proclaimed himself healthy.

“Definitely healthy now,” he said on Thursday. “I was healthy enough to play and it was our decision from the medical, how I was feeling at practice, and look forward to performing the way I know how to.”

Instead, he reported to Lambeau Field on Saturday feeling sore. The Packers added him to the injury report as doubtful. Lucas Havrisik, who made a 61-yard field goal against Arizona but has been inactive the last three games, will get another chance.

“Very unusual” to keep two kickers on the 53-man roster, he said. “I didn’t think I was going to be here this long. I just take every day for as best as I can with my work and go from there.”

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