Packers: Kevin King active, Bucs without key defensive player

The Green Bay Packers will be almost at full strength in this afternoon’s NFC Championship Game as cornerback Kevin King is active.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without a key part of their secondary as talented first-year safety Antoine Winfield Jr. has been ruled out.

Winfield started all 16 games for the Buccaneers in the regular season and was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team this year. That’s a big loss for Tampa Bay ahead of this game.

The Packers must be confident that King is close to 100 percent as cornerback Josh Jackson is inactive. Jackson replaced King when he was out injured earlier in the season, including in the first game against the Buccaneers in Week 6.

Green Bay’s secondary will have some additional depth today with the return of Tramon Williams, who will make his third debut with the team. Just last week, Williams was featuring in the playoffs for the Baltimore Ravens. A week on, he’s back home with the Packers with the possibility of advancing to the Super Bowl.

The other inactives for the Packers are cornerback Ka’dar Hollman, quarterback Jordan Love, tight end Jace Sternberger, defensive tackle Kingsley Keke, safety Vernon Scott, and linebacker Jonathan Garvin.

Tampa Bay won’t just be without Winfield but also wide receiver Antonio Brown, who head coach Bruce Arians ruled out earlier in the week.

But other than a couple of important players missing for both teams due to injury, the Packers and Bucs enter the NFC title game relatively healthy ahead of what promises to be an exciting game at Lambeau Field.

We’re just over an hour away from kickoff. There has been snow in Green Bay today although there’s a chance it will have cleared before the game gets underway. Even so, it’s going to be a cold day at Lambeau Field, the perfect setting for the NFC Championship Game.