Saturday’s Packers Transactions: What They Mean for Sunday vs. Lions

Better late than never.

The Green Bay Packers elevated rookie cornerback Micah Robinson from the practice squad on Saturday for the season-opening game against the Detroit Lions. Interestingly, they did not elevate another player. Here’s what Saturday’s transactions mean.

Elevated: CB Micah Robinson

Micah Robinson was one of the team’s seven-round picks in this year’s draft. He made the initial 53-man roster but was dropped the next day in favor of linebacker Nick Niemann.

He’ll make his NFL debut on Sunday, anyway, perhaps a sign that veteran cornerback Nate Hobbs won’t be ready after knee surgery early in training camp. He returned to practice on Thursday and Friday as limited participation, which may be a ramp-up to get him ready for Thursday night’s game against the Washington Commanders.

With Hobbs presumably out, the Packers probably will start Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine at cornerback with Javon Bullard in his customary spot in the slot.

After training camp, general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke highly of the depth at cornerback, including Robinson.

“Bo (Melton) has done an amazing job making that transition and I’m really excited about, not only right now, what he does for us as a football team, but what he’ll do in the future,” Gutekunst said. “And then certainly (Kamal) Hadden and Micah (Robinson) stepped up and did a really nice job for us, and I think those are guys that are going to continue to, not only on defense but special teams ascend to where we can really count on them.”

The Packers re-signed Robinson to the practice squad the next day.

“I feel good,” he said at the start of camp. “Starting training camp a little late, came off my injury. I ended up getting healthy and these last couple of weeks, just been trying to perform.”

If Hobbs doesn’t play, Robinson will be the fifth corner behind Nixon, Valentine, Melton and Hadden.

Robinson allowed one completion for 12 yards in two targets during the preseason, according to PFF.

The Packers signed Hobbs to a four-year, $48 million contract in free agency. He suffered a knee injury at training camp in late July and missed the rest of camp and the preseason.

When will he be ready?

“I think you just trust your eyes on the practice field,” defensive passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley said on Friday. “He's been out there in a limited capacity the last couple days. He's been running around. Showing a lot of juice. In his mind he's ready to go and we're going to trust him. He knows his body better than anybody. If he feels like he can go out there and do the job, then we'll take that into consideration.”

Not Elevated: WR Mecole Hardman

Receiver Mecole Hardman failed to make the roster coming out of training camp, but with receiver Jayden Reed nursing a foot injury and Keisean Nixon being an every-down player at cornerback, Hardman seemed like an option for an elevation as a returner.

“You guys have been at practice,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said on Thursday. “I think we have a lot of options. And we’ll see which one we use come Sunday.”

Hardman was a second-round pick by the Chiefs in 2019 and was second-team All-Pro as a rookie. Not only did he catch 26 passes for 538 yards and six touchdowns, he averaged 9.3 yards per punt return and 26.1 yards per kickoff return with a 104-yard touchdown.

That was his last season as a full-time kickoff returner – he hasn’t had double-digits kickoff returns in a season since then – but he boasts a career average of 9.2 yards per punt return with one touchdown. With the Chiefs last year, he averaged 10.2 yards per punt return with zero muffs.

“He’s got some skins on the wall in this league,” Bisaccia said during training camp.

Reed, Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and Savion Williams (hamstring) missed most of training camp and all of the preseason due to injuries. All three are questionable for Sunday. Reed and Wicks, specifically, are expected to play.