The big news is the massive injury report from the Cleveland Browns. 24 players are listed on it, mostly due to the swine flu outbreak in their locker room. Although CB Eric Wright is listed on it because of his serious car crash. The good news is that only 2 players are listed as doubtful (TE Steve Heiden and K Phil Dawson), so they should have nearly everyone available.
While the injury list is shorter than it was last week, the Packers are certainly going to miss some players. From Packers.com:
Player | Pos. | Injury | Friday Participation | Friday Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brandon Chillar | LB | Neck | Limited Participation | Questionable |
Chad Clifton | T | Ankle | Did Not Participate | Doubtful |
Korey Hall | FB | Calf | Out | Out |
Greg Jennings | WR | Hip | Limited Participation | Probable |
Quinn Johnson | FB | Ankle | Full Participation | Probable |
Jordy Nelson | WR | Knee | Out | Out |
B.J. Raji | NT | Ankle | Full Participation | Probable |
Aaron Rodgers | QB | Foot | Full Participation | Probable |
Jason Spitz | C/G | Back | Did Not Participate | Doubtful |
Mark Tauscher | T | Knee | Limited Participation | Out |
Jarius Wynn | DE | Hamstring | Did Not Participate | Out |
Some big names are listed, Rodgers especially. But he should play, along with Chillar, Jennings, Johnson, and Raji.
Clifton's loss is no surprise because it looked bad when he reinjured his ankle last week. Rookie 4th round pick LT T.J. Lang will start in his place. I don't expect he'll be great, but LG Daryn Colledge was so bad in Minnesota, and even Clifton struggled with penalties last week, that he might not seem so bad. But we should expect the rookie to have some struggles.
Hall has been out for a couple weeks, but Nelson was hurt last game when he took a shot to the knee. He's having a slightly better season than WR James Jones (Nelson has caught 58% of the passes thrown his way, while Jones only has caught 42%) but for almost the same yardage and 1 TD apiece. Jones has looked lost at times, but neither has been used much this season. CB Tramon Williams will replace Nelson on special teams as the return man.
Spitz has a bad back, and he's day-to-day. C Scott Wells will replace him, start at center for the 4th game in a row, and he's probably just as good.
I'm not sure what's up with Wynn, but the rookie has barely played this season so he shouldn't be missed. Tauscher is out again as the recently resigned veteran is still rehabbing from his ACL surgery. I'm surprised RB Ahman Green is not listed, apparently he's not hurt but still in questionable football shape. The Packers have never had more than 2 RBs active for a game this season, so Green should be inactive with RB Brandon Jackson as the backup to RB Ryan Grant.