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Packers-Lions Inactives: Eye-Opening Moves at Guard But Who’s Starting?

Here are the inactives for the Green Bay Packers for Sunday’s game at the Detroit Lions.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers guard Aaron Banks is active after missing the last four games.
Green Bay Packers guard Aaron Banks is active after missing the last four games. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Green Bay Packers

DETROIT – Kevin Zeitler won’t be making his starting debut against his former team.

In fact, Zeitler won’t be playing at all.

The veteran right guard is inactive for the Green Bay Packers’ game at the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Instead, Travis Glover will make his fourth consecutive start.

On the other hand, Aaron Banks, who had been expected to be the starting left guard this season, is active for the first time since Week 2 against the Jets – his only game of the season. Is Banks back on the gameday roster or will he replace Laken Tomlinson in the starting lineup?

That question was answered once warmups begin, with Tomlinson staying in the starting lineup. He and Travis Glover will make their fourth consecutive start together.

Six Inactives for Packers

The Packers’ inactives are:

RG Kevin Zeitler signed a one-year, $4.05 million contract after the offensive line imploded in the blowout Week 3 loss against Atlanta. It included a $1.22 million signing bonus. He played on special teams the last two weeks.

In his first 14 seasons, he started 213 of 214 appearances. From 2015 with Cincinnati through 2025 with Tennessee, Zeitler played in and started all but seven games.

“Hey, it’s just part of it,” Zeitler said this week. “It’s a big shoutout to Glove doing a great job out there as well as the group who’s been out there and kind of getting into a groove. Right now the only thing that matters is winning and right now they’re getting the job done. It’s a blessing. It obviously gives me time to keep learning the offense, keep getting back in the swing of things and I’ll be ready when I’m called upon, whenever that is. It is what it is.

G/C Donovan Jennings, who started for Banks in Week 1 and replaced Banks after halftime in Week 2, will be on the sideline for a third consecutive game.

C/G Jager Burton will miss his third consecutive game since his horrendous start against Atlanta in Week 3.

RB Kaleb Johnson is the odd man out with Josh Jacobs active.

CB Benjamin St-Juste will miss his second consecutive game with a hamstring injury, though he at least practiced this week.

LB Zaire Franklin, who was ruled out on Friday by coach Matt LaFleur after suffering an injured shin at practice on Thursday. With Edgerrin Cooper on injured reserve, the starting linebackers will be Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper.

Josh Jacobs Is Active

As expected, after six weeks on the exempt list and following one week of practice, running back Josh Jacobs is active.

“My goal is to play,” Jacobs said on Wednesday. “I don’t know how much they’re going to allow me to play, honestly, especially with having a walkthrough today, I didn’t really get too many reps – real reps. I don’t know what their mindset is. If it’s up to me, I’m going to try to play.”

Also as expected, the odd man out in the backfield is Kaleb Johnson. Pierre Strong and MarShawn Lloyd carried the load the last two weeks with Johnson playing limited snaps. He got seven carries toward the end of the blowout win against Chicago two weeks ago and just one rush for minus-2 yards last week against Dallas.

The return of Jacobs should improve the Packers’ putrid rushing attack.

“Honestly, it’s a positive feedback loop. We’re going to make up for him, he’s going to make up for us,” center Sean Rhyan said. “We’re going to keep rolling and that’s going to open up 9 (Christian Watson), 0 (Matthew Golden), everybody. So, it’s just going to kind of open up the team a little bit more.”

Jordon Riley Is Active, Too

Defensive tackle Jordon Riley will make his season debut after missing the first six games following last year’s torn Achilles. He’ll provide a run-stopping presence against premier running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

“Body’s feeling great, man,” he said this week. “The body’s feeling surprisingly where I thought it was going to be. It’s just every day getting better and better. As close as you get it’s feeling better and better. I’m in a good spot.”

Lions Inactives

Coming off a bye and with a healthy roster, the Lions’ inactives are all bottom-of-the-depth-chart players. The big news is Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch (Achilles) and center Cade Mays (wrist) ready to make their season debuts.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.