Packer Central

Packers-Lions Thursday Injury Report: Key Player Returns to Practice

Micah Parsons practiced again for the Green Bay Packers on Thursday and one of the team’s most important players returned to the field. Fresh off the practice field, here’s the latest injury news.
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Jayden Reed gets ready to catch a pass at Packers practice on Thursday.
Jayden Reed gets ready to catch a pass at Packers practice on Thursday. | Bill Huber/Packers On SI

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – As expected, Green Bay Packers receiver Jayden Reed returned to practice on Thursday as he deals with an injured foot.

In fact, with the team getting ready for the Week 1 showdown against the Lions, all 53 players on the active roster practiced, including cornerback Nate Hobbs, who has been out more than a month following knee surgery.

Reed, who was the Packers’ leading receiver during each of his first two seasons in the league, sustained a Jones fracture early in training camp. After watching most of camp from the sideline in a boot, he is opting to play through the injury rather than have surgery.

After sitting out the preseason, he returned to practice last week.

“I think you do need to get out there and get some reps in,” Reed said after practice on Wednesday. “Just to get that feel, chemistry with everybody. I think that is important.”

That Reed practiced on Thursday, which was the plan, would be a good sign that he should be available for the big season-opening showdown

“We’ll just see how he’s feeling,” coach Matt LaFleur said after practice.

Pain management will be the key going forward.

“Once my adrenaline’s running, I’m fine most of the time, but probably afterwards where I feel it the most,” he said. “While I’m out there running during the play, my adrenaline’s running pretty well, so I don’t feel it as much.”

Defensive end Micah Parsons, who was limited participation on Wednesday due to a back injury, practiced again on Thursday. Every moment on the practice field will be important for the former All-Pro, who barely participated in the Cowboys’ offseason program and didn’t practice during training camp.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Thursday said Parsons is expected to play, which has been the expectation all along.

“We’ve got to get through a couple practices to see how he responds, to see how he does,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Wednesday. “But certainly hopeful.”

Parsons passed his physical before signing his contract.

“I think we feel fairly confident that that’s certainly not a long-term problem,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the time. “It’s something that he’ll work through pretty quickly, we would think.”

Quarterback Jordan Love practiced with some protection for his surgically repaired left thumb. On Wednesday, he said he wore tape and a brace, which was not limiting.

While he said he’ll be able to do handoffs again – he had been doing everything right-handed – he’s not sure what will happen when he’s knocked to the ground.

“That’s a good question. I haven’t hit the ground at all yet, so I think that’s one of those things that you’ve just got to figure out on game time,” Love said.

“Obviously, try and stay up as much as possible to try to keep myself protected, but we know it’s football, there are going to be instances when I get tackled or go to the ground, things like that. I don’t know. We’ll see how it is. The brace does a good job of just protecting my thumb and things like that, but I haven’t been hit yet. Sunday will be my first opportunity to see what it feels like.”

Center Elgton Jenkins, who didn’t practice on Monday and was limited participation on Wednesday by a hip injury, practiced again. Left guard Aaron Banks, who missed the start and end of training camp with a back injury, isn’t on the injury report.

“I’m good now,” Jenkins said on Wednesday.

Going back to Hobbs, this was his first practice since late July. Having missed Family Night, the three preseason games and last week’s practices, he probably will not play on Sunday, though LaFleur would not rule it out.

“You try to do it a little bit at a time and try to get him ingrained back into it,” LaFleur said after practice. “He’s done a really good job I would say when he's not been playing, of being intentional, paying attention obviously in the meetings, but also being locked in and doing those mental reps when he's off to the side.”

Hobbs thought he could get ready with minimal reps.

“Honestly, I feel like I’ve had all the practice that I really need,” he said last week. “Of course, we practice to be better every day. Any day and anything in practice you can get an edge on your opponent, that’s great, but I feel like I’m different. This is part of being different. Sometimes you may have to come back on less reps, and I’ve did that before. It’s not the first time I did and probably won’t be the last.”

Packers-Lions Thursday Injury Report

Packers

Did not participate: None.

Limited participation: WR Jayden Reed (foot), CB Nate Hobbs (knee), S Zayne Anderson (knee), C Elgton Jenkins (hip), DE Micah Parsons (back), DE Barryn Sorrell (knee), WR Dontayvion Wicks (calf), WR Savion Williams (hamstring).

Full participation: QB Jordan Love (left thumb).

Lions

Did not participate: LB Trevor Nowaske (elbow), RB Sione Vaki (hamstring).

Limited participation: WR Isaac TeSlaa (illness), T Jamarco Jones (ankle).

Full participation: G Kayode Awosika (shoulder).

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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.