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The Joe Show is back.
The Green Bay Packers have a gimpy starting quarterback right now, as Aaron Rodgers is fighting through injuries to his left hamstring and right calf. Rodgers did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. Brett Hundley will be ready to go as Rodgers’ backup, but the Packers have decided to make a move to further insure themselves against any catastrophic injury situations.
That’s right, folks: Joe Callahan is getting called up to the active roster. At least, that’s the report out of Green Bay today, courtesy of NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo:
Aaron Rodgers is expected to play tomorrow but the Packers promoted QB Joe Callahan to the active roster, source said.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 17, 2016
This is no huge surprise - in the past, the Packers have carried two quarterbacks on the active roster through the season before adding a third late in the year, specifically doing so with Graham Harrell in 2010 and 2011. It’s a sure thing that Callahan’s promotion is solely for insurance behind Rodgers at this point.
The big question now is which player will be released off the 53-man roster to make room for Callahan. For once, the bulk of the active roster is healthy or close to healthy, so there are no immediate candidates for Injured Reserve who come to mind. Perhaps the team would waive a player like Jordan Tripp, who was just signed this week, or fullback Joe Kerridge, who was added from the practice squad a few weeks back. Those names are purely speculation at this point, however.
Stay tuned to find out what the corresponding roster move will be.
UPDATE: The Packers have made Callahan’s promotion official as of Saturday afternoon. They also announced that inside linebacker Carl Bradford is the player who has been released to make room for Callahan.