The Green Bay Packers have no time to feel frustrated after their loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 7, as they get the Carolina Panthers up next on Thursday Night Football.
Injuries are again an issue for this team. The Packers need a new starting center for Week 8, having lost Sean Rhyan and Jacob Monk in consecutive series on Sunday. Fun times.
With the next game only two days away, it's the perfect time for a fresh Packers news roundup. There are updates on Rhyan, Monk, and Zaire Franklin, a call-up to the 53-man roster for Mekhi Becton, and a baffling explanation for one of the worst penalties (of many) from Sunday's game. Let's dive in.
- Injury updates on Sean Rhyan, Zaire Franklin, Jacob Monk
- Packers promote Mekhi Becton to 53-man roster
- NFL's explanation for Packers penalty makes it even worse
- Week 7 Packers superlatives
- This day in Packers history
Injury updates on Sean Rhyan, Zaire Franklin, Jacob Monk
The Packers lost centers Sean Rhyan and Jacob Monk in Week 7, while linebacker Zaire Franklin didn't play due to a shin injury he suffered in practice. There are updates on all three.
Rhyan and Monk face a spell on the sidelines. Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Rhyan is believed to have suffered a high-ankle sprain, which could keep him out for 4-6 weeks. Meanwhile, the Packers have placed Monk on injured reserve due to a quad injury. He will miss a minimum of four games.
Franklin could play sooner, but his status for Thursday Night Football is in jeopardy. Per Rapoport, Franklin suffered a "hairline fracture in his leg" after being accidentally kicked during a practice last week. Rapoport notes that the Packers believe he could return soon, which is why he hasn't gone to injured reserve.
Packers promote Mekhi Becton to 53-man roster
With Monk heading to injured reserve (and potentially Rhyan, too), the Packers have promoted Mekhi Becton to the 53-man roster. He had initially signed to the practice squad.
Will we see Becton make his Packers debut in the near future? He has the versatility to play guard and tackle, and the Packers may need to make another change at right guard after Travis Glover's awful performance against the Lions. Glover is also on the injury report for Week 8. Kevin Zeitler would presumably be the next up, but Becton can play there too.
Becton can also play at tackle, giving Green Bay another experienced option. We'll see.
NFL's explanation for Packers penalty makes it even worse
If you didn't watch Packers-Lions, you missed one of the most egregious penalties you'll see all season.
Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was tackled, the play seemingly over. Yet there was no whistle, so St. Brown got back on his feet and kept running, forcing Devonte Wyatt to tackle him again. In the process, St. Brown unintentionally kicked an official in the abdomen.
The referee, now lying on his back, tosses a yellow flag ... on the Packers ... costing them 15 yards. So, to summarize: St. Brown was the one who continued the play. It was St. Brown's boot that sent the referee flying. But it was Wyatt who drew the penalty. Make it make sense.
Here's an update from ESPN's Rob Demovsky:
"Checked in with the NFL today to see if it had anything to add to yesterday’s pool report. They’re standing by referee Alex Moore’s explanation.
On the unnecessary roughness penalty on Devonte Wyatt, was told sometimes officials do not blow the whistle immediately if they do not see the ball as they are moving in to work the dead-ball action, and that when a player is down on the ground for that long and is making no effort to get up while being wrapped up by another defensive [player], it should be clear and obvious to the players that he is down.
By my count, St. Brown completely stopped ALL movement for about 1.5 seconds. Yes, he was down for longer than that but he was still moving."
You have to laugh. Players are always told to play to the whistle, but now they're apparently supposed to know when a play is over. But what if St. Brown had run in for a touchdown and, because there was no whistle, it stood? What is Wyatt supposed to do?
Ridiculous. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. And just one of several embarrassing calls from the refs in this game.
Week 7 Packers superlatives
Award | Player |
|---|---|
MVP of the Week | Jordan Love |
Unsung Hero | Anthony Campbell |
Biggest Disappointment | Trey Smack |
Best PFF Grade | Laken Tomlinson (81.3) |
Where would the Packers be without Jordan Love? Seriously.
Does anybody want to help him out? This sums it up: Per ESPN Insights, the Packers rank last in the NFL in pass-block win rate and rush yards per game, lead the NFL in drops, and tie for first place in missed kicks with seven.
In short, the Packers can't protect the quarterback. They can't run the ball. They can't catch the ball. And they can't make kicks.
Yet Love still keeps it all together. Had Josh Jacobs not dropped a beautiful pass in the end zone, Love might have another game-winning drive on his resume.
And as we see every week, some of those throws were just ridiculous. Take his 20-yard completion to Savion Williams on 3rd-and-9 in the second quarter. Love faces almost instant pressure, forcing him to lean on his back foot and rely on his arm strength to sling the pass, which loops perfectly over Skyler Gill-Howard's outstretched arm and into Williams' hands. Perfection.
Now, imagine how good Love would be if the rest of the team actually, you know, helped him out.
Anthony Campbell deserves praise. He's missed time due to injury this season but finally got a real opportunity to build on his preseason momentum, and he took it.
Campbell made his first career sack, forced a fumble, had two tackles for loss, and broke up a pass. Not a bad day's work. Campbell broke up passes all the time at training camp, so it's no surprise to see him swat away one of Goff's in this game.
Unfortunately, Trey Smack wins our Biggest Disappointment award for the second time in three weeks. What more is there to say? An NFL kicker can't miss a 26-yard field goal indoors. Or a 35-yarder, for that matter, even if it was partially blocked. That shouldn't even be possible on a chip shot. Smack never should've kicked it low enough for that to happen.
It's a concerning run of form for the Packers' rookie kicker, whom the team traded away two picks to acquire. It's tough to cut a player you effectively burned three picks to draft (the two they traded plus the selection they used on Smack). But it might be even tougher to keep him if things don't improve fast.
Credit to Laken Tomlinson for another solid performance, this time against the team that drafted him.
It's probably not even a compliment to call him the Packers' best offensive lineman, but it's higher praise to say he received the team's top PFF grade. Tomlinson has allowed six pressures but zero hits or sacks in four games with the Packers, and his run-blocking grade is the best among Green Bay's offensive linemen this season.
This day in Packers history
October 27, 2013: Packers dominate Vikings in memorable 44-31 road win
How good was Aaron Rodgers? How about throwing a pass so accurately it almost skims a defender's ear en route to Jordy Nelson? That's what happened on this day in 2013, as Rodgers tore apart the Minnesota Vikings' defense in a 44-31 victory at the Metrodome.
The game began with some chaos, as Cordarrelle Patterson returned Tim Masthay's kickoff for a 109-yard touchdown. But that's about all the Vikings had to celebrate.
Rodgers connected with Nelson seven times for 123 yards and two touchdowns, while Eddie Lacy led a Green Bay rushing attack that piled up 182 yards and two scores on the ground. Those were the days, right?
That offense was truly unstoppable. The Packers boasted an elite run game behind a dominant offensive line. We'd love some of that this season.
The win saw Green Bay improve to 5-2, but unfortunately, Rodgers broke his collarbone a week later against the Chicago Bears. They'd go 2-5-1 without him, but those Matt Flynn-inspired wins were enough to keep the Packers alive once Rodgers returned, and he led his team to the NFC North crown in Week 17.
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