GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers enter Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings with their longest injury report of the season. What did the team do to compensate? Here’s a look at the roster moves that were made and not made on Saturday.
The big question headed into Sunday is the status of running back Josh Jacobs, who missed most of the final three quarters of last week’s game with a knee contusion.
Jacobs practiced on Thursday and Friday as limited participation. If this were a normal schedule, it’d be practically an expectation that the tough-as-nails Jacobs would play. But with a short turnaround to Thursday’s game at the Detroit Lions on the artificial surface of Ford Field, Jacobs’ questionable status on the injury report made sense.
“It’s one of those things, it’s like, OK, you play and potentially re-aggravate it and get more swelling and then you miss that next week and maybe even potentially the next week, or do you just rest and go Thursday?” Jacobs said this week.
Jacobs was a game-time decision at Arizona, having to go through a pregame workout before starting. It might be the same story on Sunday, meaning the elevation of Pierre Strong might be only to provide some insurance.
Strong is the running back on Green Bay’s practice squad, having joined the unit at the start of the regular season. A fourth-round pick by New England in 2022, he played in 46 games with the Patriots in 2022 and Browns in 2023 and 2024.
Pierre Strong Jr. was drafted with pick 127 of round 4 in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.35 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 107 out of 1632 RB from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/aiXYuKPIDV #RAS #Patriots pic.twitter.com/UZZW7Dk242
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 30, 2022
For his career, he’s carried 99 times for 499 yards (5.0 average) and caught 26 passes for 193 yards (7.4 average). His role would be more centered on special teams, where his 17 tackles include eight in 2023.
Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks are the next men up. Both are three-down backs, with Wilson the more accomplished runner and Brooks the more accomplished pass protector but neither relegated to one role or the other.
With Quay Walker doubtful following last year’s stinger, he almost certainly will be inactive on Sunday. That would leave the Packers with Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper and Kristian Welch.
Enter Jamon Johnson, who will make his NFL debut.
Johnson was one of the team’s high-priced undrafted signings, with $15,000 signing bonus and $100,000 guaranteed. He didn’t make the roster – he had no chance with so much of training camp dedicated to the Isaiah Simmons Project.
At Georgia in 2022, Johnson was a finalist for the Butkus Award, which goes to the nation’s top linebacker, and was a key part of the Bulldogs’ national championship defense. He transferred to Kentucky for his final season. In 11 starts, he had 3.5 sacks and 7.5 TFLs among 67 tackles.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson is a LB prospect in the 2025 draft class. He scored a 8.98 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 324 out of 3182 LB from 1987 to 2025.https://t.co/BK4GFx8xOi pic.twitter.com/jU9uOgSQXh
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 2, 2025
He went by “Pops” at Georgia and still does with the Packers.
“My mom gave it to me,”he told Rivals. “I’ve seen some videos going around, people got their own saying what my nickname is, but my mom gave it to me. Mom said it was a commercial, and when it came on, I left. But I like ‘Pops’ now.”
Three receivers were questionable on the final injury report: Matthew Golden (shoulder), Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and Savion Williams (foot).
Coach Matt LaFleur is hoping to ease Golden and Williams through nagging injuries. Williams, who has done a nice job as the kickoff returner with four consecutive games with a return of 30-plus yards, only practiced on Thursday this week.
“I don’t want to say the rest of the year, but I would say just in the very term, absolutely,” LaFleur said.
The limited practice time hasn’t helped Golden get untracked. In the last five games, including when he was inactive against Philadelphia, he has caught only 10 passes for 74 yards, though he did have a 24-yard catch and a 35-yard gain on pass interference last week.
“I think he’s done a great job,” LaFleur said of Golden handling challenging circumstances. “It’s important to him. When he goes out there he’s doing a great job of executing and owning his responsibilities. I haven’t foreseen it being a problem.”
Packers starter Jordan Love suffered an injured left shoulder against the Giants. The practiced all week with no issues and wasn’t given an injury designation on Saturday, so not surprisingly, the Packers did not pull Clayton Tune up from the practice squad to serve as the emergency third quarterback.
In Minnesota, the Vikings activated veteran starting center Ryan Kelly from injured reserve. They will have their No. 1 offensive line together for the first time this season.
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