These are unusual situations involving the Green Bay Packers and the return of CB Al Harris, SS Atari Bigby, and RB James Starks to practice (I believe they technically remain on the PUP list, but they're now eligible to practice and could be added to the 53-man roster), and the trade to bring back S Anthony Smith. What role might these four play on Sunday? From Mike McCarthy:
I think
Al Harris and Atari, what’s nice about their week is you see them more and more comfortable as the week went on. Whether they’ll go this week or not, that’s something to be determined. But I thought they clearly were getting more comfortable as the week went on.
That didn't rule either of them out, but it doesn't sound too promising. I've got no expectation of either guy playing, but I wouldn't be shocked if they both did. Rookie James Starks is so far behind that he just worked on the basics with the coaches this week. Bringing back any of them for Sunday would require removing someone from the 53-man roster, maybe by placing LB Brady Poppinga on I.R., so there will have to be some planning if any of them are to play.
But Smith will play immediately. From Mike McCarthy:
Anthony has jumped right in. He’s really picked up where he left off. He still has excellent recall of the defense. Special teams, him and Shawn Slocum have spent a lot of extra time together. Anthony will be part of our 45 on Sunday.
This is what I expected from him: he's effectively replacing S Derrick Martin, who's lost for the season. He's backing up S Charlie Peprah, who himself has gone from a weak backup in 2008 to a decent starter in 2010, but Smith's primary role will be on special teams.