Packer Central

Packers-Vikings Inactives: Two Captains Out for NFC North Showdown

The Green Bay Packers will be without two critical starters for Sunday’s game while the Minnesota Vikings will line up without a premier pass rusher.
Bill Huber|
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) dives for yardage against Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman.
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) dives for yardage against Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman. | Dan Powers / USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will face the Minnesota Vikings without two of their premier players, with running back Josh Jacobs and linebacker Quay Walker among the team’s inactives.

Jacobs is a captain on offense. He ranks among the NFL’s rushing leaders and is by far the team’s leader in total yards. Walker is a captain on defense. He ranks among the NFL’s tackle leaders and also is third on the team in tackles for losses, quarterback hits and passes defensed.

The Vikings will be without one of the top players, as well, with outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard their only starter out of the lineup. He has only two sacks this season but had 12 sacks and a third-ranked 80 pressures last year.

For the Packers, their other inactives are:

One of the team’s rookie receivers, Matthew Golden, who was questionable with shoulder and wrist injuries. During the portions of practice open to reporters this week, he didn’t catch passes.

Cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee) will miss a third consecutive game.

Kicker Lucas Havisik (healthy scratch) is out with Brandon McManus no longer on the injury report and having a good week of practice.

Linebacker Jamon Johnson, who was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday, is inactive even with Walker’s absence, as is guard Donovan Jennings (healthy scratch).

Key Players Who Are Active

Noteworthy players who are active for the Packers:

Defensive end Lukas Van Ness is back after missing the last five games with a foot injury.

“It’s a big [addition], but I’m not going to expect too much out of him,” defensive end Micah Parsons said. “This is one of them games, like I understand he’s missed five weeks. His conditioning, his body, getting ready, he’s got to transition back to the game of football.

“Not to look ahead, but it’s kind of a short week next week, so we’re not going to try to run him into the ground, you know what I mean, knowing we want him for this longevity. We’ve got seven [more] games. So, we’ve got some fast turnarounds, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the coaches use him. But me personally, just having him back is everything. He gives us more depth, more room to play with, bringing bigger packages out there on the field. It just helps the team in every which way.”

Defensive tackle Karl Brooks didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday with an ankle injury and was questionable.

The other rookie receiver, Savion Williams, who was questionable with a foot injury and only practiced on Thursday. He has played sparingly but has grown into an effective kickoff returner.

Major Blow for Packers

Including playoffs, Jacobs had played in all 28 games since signing with the Packers last offseason.

The Packers will hope he’s back for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

“I would say the only reason why I’m thinking about it [not playing], not necessarily the seven games, more necessarily the quick turnaround Thursday,” Jacobs said this week. “It’s one of those things, it’s like, OK, you play and potentially re-aggravate it and get more swelling and then you miss that next week and maybe even potentially the next week or do you just rest and go Thursday?

“That’s honestly something that I’ve been thinking about, contemplating more and more as we getting closer. But what I can say and what I can guarantee is I’m going to put my best foot forward and if I feel like I can go and it’s not going to hinder the team then I’m going to go. But it’s going to truly be a game-time decision.”

While Wilson is averaging more yards per carry than Jacobs, 4.2 to 3.8, Jacobs has broken 32 out of 169 carries and Wilson has two in 53, according to Pro Football Focus. Plus, Jacobs ranks among the NFL leaders in yards after the catch per catch.

“I love the guy, man,” Jacobs said of Wilson. “I always try to tell him, ‘Man, just be who you are. Keep running how you running. Make sure you’re running hard and just be who you are and have fun. At the end of the day, you wouldn’t be able to be here in this position if you couldn’t ball and if you wasn’t one of those guys.’

“I think the biggest thing for him is just having that confidence. Making sure he’s 100 percent in the playbook with everything that he needs to do to get his job. He’s going to do his thing. He’s a good back.”

Without Walker, Isaiah McDuffie presumably will move into the every-down role alongside Edgerrin Cooper and Ty’Ron Hopper might play more snaps than he has in his first two seasons combined (38).

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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.