Packers place LB Krys Barnes on IR with high-ankle sprain, calf injury

Carted off the field in the Packers’ Week 1 game in Minnesota, Krys Barnes landed on injured reserve Tuesday, per a team announcement. The Packers will be without the two-year linebacker starter for at least four games.

Although a cart and an aircast were necessary, Barnes is not expected to miss the rest of the season. He suffered a high-ankle sprain and a calf injury during the Packers’ season-opening loss, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. The team promoted tackle Caleb Jones from its practice squad to take Barnes’ roster spot.

The Packers’ Barnes plans changed this offseason, when they re-signed 2021 All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell and used a first-round pick on Quay Walker. Campbell and Walker are Green Bay’s top linebackers, but Barnes supplies quality depth. He played nine defensive snaps during his abbreviated Sunday of work.

An undrafted free agent out of UCLA, Barnes became a starter fairly quickly as a pro. The Packers’ Week 1 Minnesota tilt two years ago introduced Barnes as a starter, and he trotted out with the team’s first-stringers 22 more times between the 2020 and ’21 seasons. Pro Football Focus rated Barnes just inside the top 50 at the linebacker spot last season. Barnes should be back as a Green Bay second-stringer at some point this year.

The NFL adjusted its IR rule this offseason. After allowing teams to make unlimited IR-return transactions over the past two seasons, the league capped those moves at eight this year.