Packers TE Jace Sternberger began road back from concussion protocol Tuesday

On Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers finally got some good news regarding one of the team’s early 2019 NFL Draft picks. Third-round pick Jace Sternberger, who has been out of practice for about two weeks, returned to the field on Tuesday as the team prepares for its third preseason game this week.

Sternberger suffered an injury in the team’s first joint practice with the Houston Texans on August 5th. he took a big hit from rookie Texans cornerback Lonnie Johnson, Jr., and was initially diagnosed with a jaw injury. However, he was quickly put in the concussion protocol and had been held out of on-field work until Tuesday.

The team’s medical staff has not cleared Sternberger from the protocol yet, however; he will need to be free of concussion symptoms following physical exertion before he will be fully cleared from the protocol to return to full contact action.

This is a good sign for Sternberger of course, and although he is not fully cleared, the hope is that he will get a full week of practice next week, leading up to a hefty workload in the final preseason game against the Chiefs on August 30th. However, because he remains in the protocol for the time being, it appears that he will not play in this Thursday’s game against the Oakland Raiders in Manitoba.