Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that “nothing has been decided” about whether the team will rest its starters in Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings, despite the Packers having nothing to gain — in terms of playoff seeding — with a win in the final week of the regular season. When pressed about why, LaFleur stated, “There’s a lot of variables that get thrown into play.”
“You’re kind of limited, especially with our situation right now, with the number of injuries that occurred. Guys are going to have to play ball. So they better approach it in such a way that they’re getting their mind ready to go play ball.”
First of all, teams have 53-man rosters, with the possibility of calling up two players from the practice squad, which they have to choose from to make a 48-man gameday roster. At best, you can only rest five to seven players for a game. Every injured player on the 53-man roster shaves away another player you could theoretically rest, and the Packers are banged up.