Tight ends Josiah Deguara and Marcedes Lewis were the only players who didn’t practice on Thursday as the Green Bay Packers continued their prep for Sunday night’s showdown against the Detroit Lions.
Lewis’ absence was no surprise. He hasn’t participated in a Thursday practice before a Sunday game all season.
The new name to the report was Deguara, the team’s de facto fullback. He has a calf injury, though a source didn’t expect that it would keep him out on Sunday.
While Deguara has caught only 13 passes for 114 yards, he is the underrated key to the team’s rushing attack. There haven’t been many explosive runs that didn’t include the 2020 third-round pick out front leading the charge. He also had one of the key blocks on Keisean Nixon’s 105-yard touchdown return vs. Minnesota.
“First, I’ll talk about special teams because a lot of guys across the league, they take special teams as a negative,” tight end Robert Tonyan said, “but he’s embraced that role. With the H-back stuff, he’s getting a lot more reps in the game and including him more in the offense, and he’s just so dynamic in all phases, whether it’s blocking on the perimeter, run after catch or routes or all the fullback stuff.
“Not a lot of people want to do that, not a lot of people want to go between the gaps of the line and stick their face in there. I give him a lot of credit for that. He’s like a little brother to me. He’ll probably not like the ‘little’ part but he’s amazing. I love that dude. He’s projecting in the right direction.”
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was back to work after sitting out Wednesday, and running back Aaron Jones practiced as limited participation for a second consecutive day due to knee and ankle injuries. After getting limited snaps against Miami, Jones looked like his usual, explosive self while rushing for 111 yards on only 14 snaps against Minnesota.
“I think he’s feeling a little bit better,” coach Matt LaFleur said before practice, “but we’re at Week 18 right now and I don’t know if you go into any locker room everybody’s feeling 100 percent. It’s just the wear and tear and grind of the season.”
Nixon, who didn’t think he’d play last week due to a groin injury but got through a pregame workout and had the pivotal kick-return touchdown, said he still feels like a Ferrari.
Packers-Lions Thursday Injury Report
Packers
DNP: TE Josiah Deguara (calf), TE Marcedes Lewis (rest).
Limited: LT David Bakhtiari (knee/abdomen), LG Elgton Jenkins (knee), RB Aaron Jones (knee/ankle), RT Yosh Nijman (shoulder), CB Keisean Nixon (groin), WR Christian Watson (hip).
Full: LB Krys Barnes (hand), S Rudy Ford (wrist/knee), QB Aaron Rodgers (thumb/hip).
Lions
DNP: G Kayode Awosika (ankle), DT Michael Bockers (ankle), C Frank Ragnow (foot).
Limited: RG Evan Brown (ankle), FB Jason Cabinda (knee), S DeShon Elliott (shoulder).
Full: RB Justin Jackson (hip).
Packers vs. Lions Preview
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