The Green Bay Packers announced their injury report for Week 4 on Friday, which has some encouraging news for one critical defensive player. It appears that Clay Matthews is expected to play after being limited in practice this week with a groin injury that kept him out in the fourth quarter against the Lions last week.
With the 52 men on the active roster all at least participating in practice this week, it's likely to be business as usual for the Packers on both sides of the ball. Here's the team's injury report for this week.
Probable
T Bryan Bulaga (knee)
CB Davon House (knee)
OLB Clay Matthews (groin)
OLB Nick Perry (wrist)
Questionable
WR Jarrett Boykin (knee/groin)
ILB Brad Jones (quad)
"So far so good" was Mike McCarthy's assessment on Clay Matthews' progress this week with his groin injury. He said "the medical report today was good," which led to Matthews' designation as Probable on the injury report.
McCarthy is not concerned about Julius Peppers being distracted by any outside influences in his return to Chicago, describing the pass-rusher as "The ultimate pro." The coach brought up the week's preparation for the Bears and Peppers' work ethic in particular, saying "he's totally invested into our football team."
McCarthy did say that Boykin injured himself in practice this week (presumably the groin injury that was just added to the report). If Boykin can't go on Sunday, expect to see a lot of Davante Adams in the Packers' preferred three-wide sets, and Jeff Janis would almost certainly be active for the first time.
Though Richard Rodgers missed a key block that helped lead to a safety, McCarthy did not call him out publicly when asked about his blocking, saying only that he is young and "getting better every week." He said of the group as a whole, "I'm very confident in all of our tight ends."
Don't expect McCarthy to tip his hand early on whether Jamari Lattimore has earned the starting inside linebacker job even when Brad Jones is fully healthy. McCarthy called Lattimore "definitely a playmaker (with) his ability to run and hit," while mentioning attitude and energy as positives that he brings to the game. As for the old adage that a player shouldn't lose his job to injury, McCarthy was his usual vague self: "I don't believe in absolutes ... you have to look at the whole situation."
Keep it here for more on the Packers and Bears as kickoff is about 48 hours away.
UPDATE: Here's the injury report for the Chicago Bears.
Probable
S Ryan Mundy (shoulder)
DE Trevor Scott (foot)
Questionable
DE Jared Allen (illness)
S Chris Conte (shoulder)
WR Brandon Marshall (ankle)
Out
C Roberto Garza (ankle)
OLB Shea McClellin (hand)
CB Sherrick McManis (quad)
DT Jay Ratliff (concussion)
G Matt Slauson (ankle)
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