The big news for the Green Bay Packers were the injuries that will keep RB Ryan Grant and RT Bryan Bulaga out this week. Grant will be replaced by James Starks, and FB John Kuhn will be given an expanded role. The Packers should be fine without Grant for one week. I'd have been worried about the loss of Bulaga, but RT Marshall Newhouse played well as his replacement last week.
They were also without four linebackers in practice on Friday. While Matthews was one of them, he did practice on Thursday and is expected to start. Zombo has been out for several weeks, and backups Jones and Lattimore haven't contributed much except on special teams. I'm not surprised Mike McCarthy isn't concerned about it.
Collins and Neal are out again, but everyone else should play. Lattimore, Jones, and Lee are probably game time decisions, but the Packers have enough depth to weather their absence.
The injury report is looking better for the Broncos. It's been expected all week that CB Champ Bailey and DE Elvis Dumervil would play, but the official injury report has them listed as questionable (which would indicate they're a game time decision). Eddie Royal and Demaryius Thomas are both out, which doesn't give them a lot of depth at wide receiver. It was so thin a couple weeks ago that Tim Tebow had to make a cameo as a receiver.
The complete injury report from Packers.com. The Packers complete injury report is after the jump.
| Player | Pos. | Injury | Friday Participation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Bulaga | T | Knee | Did not participate | Out |
| Chad Clifton | T | Knee | Did not participate | Probable |
| Nick Collins | S | Neck | Out | Out |
| Jermichael Finley | TE | Ankle | Limited participation | Probable |
| Ryan Grant | RB | Kidney | Did not participate | Out |
| Brad Jones | LB | Hamstring | Limited participation | Questionable |
| Jamari Lattimore | LB | Shoulder | Did not participate | Questionable |
| Pat Lee | CB | Back | Full participation | Questionable |
| Clay Matthews | LB | Quadricep | Did not participate | Probable |
| Mike Neal | DE | Knee | Out | Out |
| Ryan Pickett | DE | Foot | Full participation | Probable |
| Vic So'oto | LB | Back | Full participation | Probable |
| Tramon Williams | CB | Shoulder | Limited participation | Probable |
| Charles Woodson | CB | Foot/Knee | Limited participation | Probable |
| Frank Zombo | LB | Shoulder | Out | Out |