It’s Bear week.
No extra motivation is required as the Green Bay Packers welcome another division rival to Lambeau Field for their home opener this Sunday night. Not just any rival, THE rival, the Chicago Bears. It’ll be the 205th all-time meeting and the Packers badly need to continue their recent dominance just to get the 2022 season back on even ground.
The team padded up for their return to the practice field today. The offense got a boost with Allen Lazard getting back into the swing.
Allen Lazard jogs out to practice.
The successor to Davante Adams as wide receiver number one in the offense has been out for two weeks with an ankle injury. He got stepped on during the first of two post-roster cut workouts before the Labor Day weekend off for the NFL. He’s optimistic but not certain he’ll made his debut against the Bears, that decision will come from the training staff at week’s end.
It was the rest of the wide receivers, especially the rookies that kept Aaron Rodgers busy during his once a week post-practice media session. He covered a lot of ground about the opening day performances of Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs against the Vikings, discussing how he senses the pro game isn’t too big for the youngsters, acknowledging they’ll make mistakes, managing his frustrations if any and building up their confidence.
Other practice observations saw both veteran tackles David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins back in pads, at least for the individual drills reporters were allowed to watch. Two players who suffered shoulder injuries against the Vikings also returned in Quay Walker and Keisean Nixon. The only player not taking part was guard Jon Runyan who is in the concussion protocol.
The official injury report listed Runyan as a DNP, Bakhtiari, Jenkins and Lazard as limited with Walker, Nixon and guard Jake Hanson (shoulder) as full participants.
Some roster moves were made over the past 24 hours as linebacker Krys Barnes was placed on injured reserve. Barnes had to be carted off the US Bank Stadium Field with a high ankle sprain. Barnes has the ankle in a walking boot and is using a kneel down stroller to make his way around the locker room. The Packers elevated rookie free agent tackle Caleb Jones off the practice squad to the 53 man roster. If he takes a snap against the Bears, he would become the largest Packer ever to dress at 6-9 and 340 pounds, a great story in and of itself.
The open practice squad spot was filled by the signing of Mike Brown, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Miami (Ohio). The 6-2, 220 safety spent this year’s training camp with the Vikings before getting released on August 30.
One more off the field note came from the Wisconsin State Historical Society. The Society’s Board of Curators has awarded team historian Cliff Christl with it’s Book of Merit Award for his four volume history of the Packer franchise, “The Greatest Story in Sports”. The award is given to a work that is factually accurate, research methodology, quality of writing, design and it’s impact on the reading public and the overall contribution to the printed record of Wisconsin history. A ceremony will take place Thursday morning at 9:30, open to the public, at the Lambeau Field Atrium featuring Christl, Packers President Mark Murphy and the Historical Society’s Christian Overland to present him with the honor.
