The Green Bay Packers enter Week 16 with major questions surrounding their health as they prepare for a pivotal NFC North matchup against the Chicago Bears. The situation worsened with the season-ending injury to star pass rusher Micah Parsons, while Josh Jacobs and Christian Watson are also dealing with injuries. With first place in the division at stake, Green Bay will be racing the clock to get as many starters on the field as possible.
Can the Packers Overcome Mounting Injuries Ahead of Bears Showdown?
Perhaps Packers head coach Matt LaFleur summed it up best when asked about his team’s health going into Saturday’s showdown with the Bears.
“This injury list is pretty substantial, so we’ve got a lot of things to figure out over these next couple of days,” LaFleur said.
LaFleur is right: the Packers not only lost the battle against the Denver Broncos, but may also have lost the war by losing their star pass rusher, Micah Parsons, in the process.
As LaFleur noted following Sunday’s loss to the Broncos, the NFL does not stop for anyone, and nobody will feel sorry that the Packers are missing some of their best players.
That’s notably true of the Bears, with whom the Packers are jockeying for first place in the NFC North.
When they last met 10 days ago, Green Bay stole a win in the final seconds on the heels of Keisean Nixon’s game-saving interception.
This Saturday’s game will look different. It is at Soldier Field, and the Packers are going to have a lot of guys fighting to suit up on Sunday.
Micah Parsons’ ACL Tear Headlines Growing Packers Injury Concerns
The big story coming out of Green Bay’s loss to the Denver Broncos was the end of Parsons’ season. Parsons was chasing Bo Nix when he tried to change direction and pulled up lame.
He fell to the turf, held his knee, and the whole stadium appeared to know immediately to expect the worst. That was true. Parsons was confirmed to have torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
READ MORE: Packers Star Micah Parsons Breaks Silence After Suffering Season-Ending Injury vs. Broncos
Parsons has grown quickly into one of Green Bay’s best players and has piled up 12.5 sacks in just 14 games. The Packers will now need to find a way to replace his production, as he is scheduled to undergo surgery at a later date.
Christian Watson
While some of the news from Sunday’s game was tragic, it could have been much worse. Watson was injured before Parsons, and given how he was writhing in pain on the field, the initial thought was that his injury would be long-term.
Those fears only worsened when it was unclear whether Watson would be able to travel home with the team or would require an overnight hospitalization.
It appears the Packers have dodged a major bullet, as reported first by the Packers on SI.
“Yeah, he’s another guy that we’re not quite sure. We’ll give him up to gametime to see if he can go, and I know every one of these guys is going to be fighting to make it by gametime,” LaFleur said in his Tuesday press conference.
“There’s some function there as well. Certainly, the pain’s a big part of it, but functionality, he’s got to prove that throughout the course of the week.”
Josh Jacobs
Jacobs reaggravated a knee injury that kept him out of Green Bay’s 23-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 23. Jacobs has been battling through that injury ever since, but has not missed a game.
Jacobs told Packers media that he reaggravated it in the first quarter against the Broncos on Sunday, but fought through the rest of the game. That included a 40-yard touchdown run, which was his longest as a Packer.
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“I just know he knows my mindset. It’s been a couple times since I’ve been here where we kind of clashed on if they was going to allow me to play or not and every time I had a pretty good game,” Jacobs said.
“I think he’s probably to the point where he’s like, ‘Man, I’m just going to trust you. If you say you can do it and you believe that you can do, then I’m going to let you go.”
Jacobs would not have participated if the Packers held a formal practice on Tuesday.
Zach Tom
Lost in the shuffle of Green Bay losing both Parsons and Watson during the game was the knee injury suffered by Zach Tom late in the first half.
Tom left the game after Josh Jacobs’ 14-yard touchdown reception. Green Bay’s offense moved the ball mostly at will in the first half against Denver, but was snowed under by the Broncos’ pass rush in the second half as Darian Kinnard struggled later in the game.
Tom would not have participated in Tuesday’s practice, but will be given up to game time. The Packers need him with rookie Anthony Belton making just his fourth start on Saturday.
Evan Williams
Evan Williams left Sunday’s game with a knee injury that would have kept him out of Tuesday’s practice.
Williams is the team leader in interceptions, but more importantly, he has become one of the team’s best run defenders.
Chicago has one of the best run games in football, and the Packers were able to hold their own against them the first time these two teams met. Chicago’s longest individual run in the first meeting was only for nine yards.
Williams told The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman that the knee injury he suffered wasn’t as bad as the one he had in college that kept him out of four games.
If he can play Sunday, he’ll be an essential piece as the Packers try to build another run wall.
