Packers: Avoiding injury important in third preseason game

Avoiding injury is important for the Green Bay Packers in their third preseason game.

The Green Bay Packers‘ starters, including a returning Aaron Jones, are expected to be on the field when the team plays against the Oakland Raiders in Thursday’s third preseason game.

But as is the case throughout the preseason, avoiding injury is most important. Especially with the regular-season opener just two weeks away.

Getting preseason reps is beneficial, and the Packers will likely have the starters out there for a quarter or two. But it’s so important not to lose a couple of players to injury.

Packers fans know all too well how an injury in preseason can impact the regular season. Four years ago, Jordy Nelson suffered a torn ACL in a preseason contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Oren Burks went down with an injury in the opening contest this year. Rob Demovsky of ESPN reported that the injury was believed to be a torn pectoral muscle. While Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did later add the injury wouldn’t require surgery, it could still keep Burks out for a while.

Aaron Jones is only recently coming back from a hamstring issue. Aaron Rodgers, if he plays, will be on the field only days after returning to practice after dealing with back tightness.

The Packers can’t afford to lose Rodgers, Jones, David Bakhtiari, Davante Adams, or any of the other key starters on offense or defense.

Getting preseason reps is important, and this might be the final opportunity for the starters. It’s hard to imagine the starters will be on the field against the Kansas City Chiefs next week, as it will be the team’s final preseason game and only seven days away from the regular season opener.

So Thursday’s game against Oakland is important. But more important is not getting any injuries, especially so soon to the start of the regular season.