Packers elevate DL Brian Price and CB KeiVarae Russell for Divisional Round

When the Green Bay Packers take the field against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday afternoon, look for defensive lineman Brian Price to be active and in the team’s rotation. On Friday, the Packers made their two practice squad elevations official, as Price and cornerback KeiVarae Russell will come up from the practice squad and will be eligible to play.

Price, who spent his 2016 rookie season with Green Bay has been on and off practice squads for most of his NFL career. His most action with an NFL team came in 2018, when he played in 13 games for the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders. After spending all of 2019 on the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad and much of 2020 rehabbing an injury he suffered in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Packers signed him to their practice squad and elevated him to the active roster for the final two regular season games.

Assuming he is active on Saturday — a strong likelihood since Kingsley Keke is expected to be inactive — Price will make his postseason debut. Joining him in that respect is Russell, who was also a rookie in 2016 and spent 2019 on practice squads. Russell, a third-round draft pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016, was waived after being inactive for the Chiefs’ first game his rookie season.

Russell then landed with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he spent the next three seasons going up and down to and from the practice squad. He played a total of 20 games from 2016 to 2018, recording 22 total tackles and one interception. The Packers signed Russell to their practice squad in late October this year and activated him for one game in the regular season: their 24-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Expect both players to suit up on Saturday, as the Packers have not left a single player elevated from the practice squad as inactive on gameday.

The Packers also made one other roster transaction on Friday, signing Bronson Kaufusi to a reserve/futures contract. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound Kaufusi showed excellent lateral movement skills at the 2016 NFL Combine, ranking above the 80th percentile in the short shuttle and cone drills among defensive ends. He recorded 25.5 sacks in college at BYU, where he spent time as both a defensive end and a linebacker before earning a third-round selection by the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Draft.

After missing his entire rookie season to injury, Kaufusi played in nine NFL games in his career, three in each of the last three seasons. In those nine games, he recorded eight total tackles and a half-sack. Kaufusi reportedly worked as a tight end in the New York Jets’ training camp, however, and the Packers announced him as a tight end in the press release announcing his signing.