The offense won’t be at full strength once again for the Green Bay Packers. On Friday, the team ruled out running back AJ Dillon because of a stinger, so he won’t be available against the Chicago Bears in the regular season finale on Sunday.
Without Dillon, the Packers active running backs on the 53-man roster are Aaron Jones and Patrick Taylor. The team will still have options. They can activate Emanuel Wilson from injured reserve — he’s off the injury report, which means the rookie is fully healthy now — or elevate veteran Kenyan Drake or even rookie Ellis Merriweather from practice squad for gameday.
Watson’s situation
After practicing on Wednesday and Thursday, wide receiver Christian Watson raised eyebrows with a DNP designation on Friday. But Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said it was part of the plan. After missing four games, he’s listed as questionable to play.
“We just felt he had two good days of practice and wanted to give him today. We’ll see where he’s at on Sunday,” LaFleur mentioned. “Just how he’s feeling. We’ll test him out and we’ll see where he’s at.”
Injury report
Besides running back AJ Dillon, safety Rudy Ford has also been ruled out because of a hamstring injury. Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie is doubtful with a concussion and a neck injury — no Packers player listed as doubtful has played since 2019, so it’s truly unlikely that he plays on Sunday.
The good news is that De’Vondre Campbell is off the injury report after missing the last two games with a neck injury, so he’s good to go and will start alongside Quay Walker.
Wide receivers Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks practiced throughout the week, but are still listed as questionable, just like tight end Luke Musgrave — he has a shot at coming back from injured reserve. Offensive tackle Luke Tenuta is also questionable.
Two positive pieces of news were returns to practice. Offensive guard Elgton Jenkins and edge defender Preston Smith participated in the team’s activities and are questionable as well.
Good to go
These are the players off the injury report and who will be available on Sunday against the Bears:
CB Jaire Alexander (shoulder)
S Zayne Anderson (knee)
LB De’Vondre Campbell (neck)
RB Aaron Jones (knee/finger)
C Josh Myers (neck)
CB Keisean Nixon (quadricep)
S Jonathan Owens (knee)
S Darnell Savage (shoulder)
DT TJ Slaton (knee/foot)
LB Quay Walker (shoulder)
RB Emanuel Wilson (shoulder, IR)
Other side
The Bears injury report has two big notes. Wide receiver Darnell Mooney is out with a concussion, and cornerback Jaylon Johnson is listed as doubtful because of a shoulder issue.
Kyler Gordon, Khalil Herbert, Cole Kmet, Lucas Patrick, and Patrick Scales are all questionable — Scales and Kmet had a full practice on Friday.
