Welcome back to your daily Injury Report update!
On today's edition of Will Jordan Love Play Against The Lions This Weekend, the answer seems to be moving towards a cautiously-optimistic yes. Love returned to practice on Thursday, going through drills for the first time since hurting his groin in the first half of the Packers' Week 8 win over the Jaguars.
He sat out of practice on Wednesday, but was a 'limited participant' in Thursday's routine (which is kind of funny considering the weather and field conditions were awful). Typically, if a guy is practicing in any way on Thursday, the likelihood of him being active on Sunday is pretty good.
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Setbacks are entirely possible, but right now, things look pretty good. Just don't try to get Matt LaFleur to say that.
Jordan Love returned to practice ahead of Packers' Week 9 game vs. Lions
Here is the updated Packers injury report for Week 9:
Player | Position | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jaire Alexander | CB | Knee | DNP | DNP |
Corey Ballentine | CB | Ankle | LP | LP |
Kenny Clark | DL | Toe/Shoulder | LP | LP |
Josh Jacobs | RB | Ankle | DNP | LP |
Elgton Jenkins | G/T | Glute | DNP | LP |
Jordan Love | QB | Groin | DNP | LP |
Josh Myers | C | Wrist | DNP | DNP |
Quay Walker | LB | Concussion | FP | FP |
Rasheed Walker | T | Knee | DNP | LP |
Evan Williams | S | Hamstring | DNP | DNP |
Devonte Wyatt | DL | Ankle | LP | LP |
Note: DNP = Did Not Participate; LP = Limited Participation
In perhaps the least surprising news you'll hear all day, LaFleur was asked immediately – it was quite literally the first question of his press conference – about whether it was a good sign that Love was outside practicing in bad conditions.
"Yeah, we'll see," he told reporters. "He was limited today ... Limited means limited. To me, what factors is can you protect yourself or not? Can you function at a high level? A winning level? So we'll see where he's at."
In a way, LaFleur's attempts to be coy backfire here. Even if Love hadn't come out on Wednesday and told reporters that it was realistic to expect him to play against the Lions, LaFleur tries way too hard to hide the fact that Love's going to be out there.
Saying "limited means limited" a bunch of times, even when that's not the question, kinda feels like a tell. The wry smile doesn't help his case either, though it is a nice touch.
At this point, Alexander is the much bigger concern. Two straight DNPs with a knee injury is bad news, especially against an offense as prolific as Detroit's. Friday's injury report will be the most telling, but it sure feels like the Packers are going to have to play one of the best passing offenses in football without their only above-average cornerback. But, you know, other than that, they should be fine!