There will be even more pressure than usual on Aaron Rodgers and the offense Sunday night. They best score on every possession and go for two after every touchdown because as of this writing, Thursday night, the Packers may have no idea who will handle the punting duties and placements on field goals and PAT’s. Not to mention their top kick and punt returner is among the still more than dozen players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list only days away from the rematch with the Minnesota Vikings.
There’s still a chance Corey Bojorquez and Amari Rodgers could be in uniform if they clear protocols now that asymptomatic players can return in five rather than 10 days.
Special Teams coordinator Maurice Drayton was evasive after practice about who will handle the duties if those two can’t. Rather than have Mason Crosby pull double kicking duty, the Packers might bring a punter in off the street from their emergency list. One with holding experience would help but as many as 8 different players took reps at holding during the summer training camp with wide receiver Allen Lazard the most likely candidate. Chandon Sullivan has volunteered his services in the return game. Another possibility would be David Moore, a five year veteran who spent most of his career with the Seattle Seahawks and did field a few punts. Moore was signed to the practice squad today.
The wide receiver room got a few familiar faces back on the practice field.
Randall Cobb ready to run routes for Kurt Benkert and Jordan Love.
Only weeks removed from core muscle surgery, Randall Cobb was back in pads for the first time. He’s still officially on the team’s injured reserve list but it doesn’t appear it will be long before activated after his rapid recovery.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling was officially taken off the Reserve/COVID-19 list and resumed practicing as was Kevin King. King went on the list Saturday morning before the Cleveland Browns game and is the first to come out of protocol in only five days.
Reinforcements along the offensive line may be coming soon as well. Maybe not All Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari who still has not returned to practice since his arthroscopic procedure on his surgical knee last month. Two others not seen in a while however were back.
Billy Turner (77) and Josh Myers working on the side.
Rookie center Josh Myers has been out since October with a knee injury while Turner suffered a sprained knee three weeks ago. Head Coach Matt LaFleur is holding out hope both can return before the post-season begins.
The rest of the Thursday injury report had Jaire Alexander and Dominique Dafney listed as limited participants. Alexander was just brought back onto the 53 man roster following his October shoulder injury. Dafney has an ankle injury. Tyler Lancaster did not practice with a sore back and Aaron Rodgers had another day off his feet because of the broken pinkie toe.
The bum toe certainly hasn’t hurt his play. The now front runner for the NFL MVP, which would make it two years in a row and four for his career, is picking up momentum as Rodgers today was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for December. In leading the Packers to wins in all three December games, Rodgers completed 74.5% of his passes, for 811 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. It’s the 10th time in his career Rodgers has been the offensive player of the month and December seems to be his favorite, winning it four times.
One more honor and hopefully the third time will be the charm for LeRoy Butler. The former Packer safety was named one of 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame again. It’s the third year in a row Butler has been a finalist. He helped revolutionize the safety position as a play making ball hawk at the back end of a defense but a determined tackler and effective blitzer at the line of scrimmage. Butler is the only member of the All Decade Team of the 1990’s that has not been elected to the Hall. Fellow safeties John Lynch and Steve Atwater were elected last year and Butler is the only safety up for the Class of 2022.
First year eligible finalists include kick returner Devin Hester, wide receiver Andre Johnson and defensive end DeMarcus Ware. The other finalists are defensive end Jared Allen, offensive tackles Tony Boselli and Willie Anderson, wide receivers Reggie Wayne and Tory Holt, linebackers Patrick Willis, Sam Mills and Zach Thomas, defensive linemen Bryant Young and Richard Seymour, cornerback Ronde Barber.
