Packer Central

New to Injury Report, Packers Starter Doesn’t Go Out For Final Practice

Meanwhile, there’s a chance that Lukas Van Ness will play against the Giants after going out for practice for a second consecutive day. Here’s the latest from the Don Hutson Center on Friday.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers guard Aaron Banks (65) blocks Carolina Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown.
Green Bay Packers guard Aaron Banks (65) blocks Carolina Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers starting left guard Aaron Banks did not go out for the start of practice on Friday, seemingly putting his status for Sunday’s game at the New York Giants in some question.

The injury adds a new level of concern to Green Bay’s offensive line. Center Elgton Jenkins was placed on injured reserve this week, with Sean Rhyan moving into the starting lineup in the pivot.

During warmups, Banks rode a stationary bike in the corner of the Don Hutson Center. He continued to pedal away as his teammates went outside for the start of practice.

(Update: Banks was given a rest day and is not on the injury report.)

If Banks can’t play or is limited on Sunday, the next men up might be Jacob Monk or Donovan Jennings, neither of whom have played since the preseason and, in fact, haven’t played a regular-season snap on offense in their NFL careers.

Banks was not on this week’s injury report. In Weeks 9 and 10, he was on the injury report with a shin. In Week 8, he was listed with a groin. In Weeks 6 and 7 coming out of the bye, it was groin and knee injuries.

He’s started seven games but played only 57.3 percent of the offensive snaps.

“Especially in particular with Banks, I think he’s playing really well, but his problem is we’re having a hard time getting him to finish games, getting him dinged up with different things,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said last week. “That’s one thing that I think, we can get him in for a steady amount of time, it definitely will help, for sure.”

Meanwhile, coach Matt LaFleur said Lukas Van Ness has a chance to play against the Giants.

Van Ness returned to practice this week – he was “very limited” on a short week, LaFleur said before Friday’s practice – after missing the last four games with a foot injury.

“He did a little bit, and we’ll see how he’s feeling today, and that’ll determine just how much he does out there,” LaFleur said.

The team didn’t practice on Wednesday. Is two practices enough for Van Ness to shake a month-long layoff?

“He’s been doing things in the return-to-play process,” LaFleur said. “Yeah, certainly, you’d like to have more practices under his belt, but if he feels like he can go, then we’ll put him out there.”

The Packers are in pretty good shape physically on a short week. Only cornerback Nate Hobbs would be ruled out on the final injury report, LaFleur said before practice. It was expected that Hobbs would miss a couple games because of a knee injury; this will be his second consecutive on the sideline.

The Giants, on the other hand, have a host of injury issues.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart (concussion), receiver Darius Slayton (hamstring), outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (shoulder), defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (toe), linebacker Bobby Okereke (shoulder) and safety Tyler Dubin (neck) are starters who did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week.

Dart is not going to play, with Jameis Winston set to start in his place. Slayton is second in receiving yards, Thibodeaux was All-Rookie in 2022 and had 11.5 sacks in 2023, Nunez-Roches has two sacks in the last three games, Okereke is seventh in the NFL in tackles and Nubin is second on the team in tackles.

While LaFleur obviously monitors the injury report, the potential absence of six starters – not to mention the fact premier receiver Malik Nabers and impressive rookie running back Cam Skattebo are on injured reserve – doesn’t have him resting any easier.

With a two-game losing streak, the Packers will have to show up and beat – not just show up and play – a team that will have a nothing-to-lose mentality in the debut of interim coach Mike Kafka.

“No, not at all. I think it’s more, as you guys have seen, we have to take care of our own problems, our own business,” LaFleur said. “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.”

The teams will release their final injury reports after their Friday practices. For now, here are the reports from Thursday.

Packers Injury Report

Did not participate: CB Nate Hobbs (knee).

Limited: DE Kingsley Enagbare (knee), WR Matthew Golden (shoulder), DE Micah Parsons (pectoral), RT Zach Tom (back), DE Lukas Van Ness (foot), WR Dontayvion Wicks (calf), WR Savion Williams (foot).

Full: LB Edgerrin Cooper (foot), WR Romeo Doubs (chest), LB Quay Walker (calf), WR Christian Watson (knee/hamstring).

Giants Injury Report

Did not participate: QB Jaxson Dart (concussion), LB Chauncey Golston (neck), G Evan Neal (hamstring), S Tyler Dubin (neck), DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches (toe), LB Bobby Okereke (shoulder), WR Darius Slayton (hamstring), OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (shoulder).

Limited: CB Paulson Adebo (knee), TE Daniel Bellinger (groin), RT Jermaine Eluemunor (pectoral), TE Thomas Fidone (foot), LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (pectoral), LB Neville Hewitt (foot), LB Victor Dimukeje (shoulder), C John Michael-Schmitz (shin).

Full: None.

Placed on injured reserve: K Graham Gano (neck).

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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.