GREEN BAY — With his team locked into the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff picture but needing to get back on the winning track after three straight losses, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is working through what he wants to do in the regular-season finale at Minnesota.

The matchup between the Packers (9-6-1) and the eliminated-from-playoff-contention Vikings (8-8) will be played Sunday at noon at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The game will be telecast on CBS.

Having seen game-breaking wide receiver Christian Watson tear the ACL in his right knee in last year’s regular-season finale against the Chicago Bears — and quarterback Jordan Love leave that game with a right (throwing) elbow injury — LaFleur is mulling whether the risk of playing key players is worth the reward of getting off the schneid following back-to-back-to-back losses to the Denver Broncos, the Bears and the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night.

“I would say we’ve had some early discussions in regards to what route we’re going to go,” LaFleur said Sunday afternoon during his usual day-after-the-game Q&A session with reporters following Saturday night’s 41-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. “But, despite what has been reported potentially, nothing’s been decided.

“Certainly, I’d like to talk with our players before I put anything out publicly.”

Starting quarterback Jordan Love, who sustained a concussion during the second quarter of the Packers’ Dec. 20 loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field and did not play against the Ravens, has not yet cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol and it’s unclear if and when that’ll happen.

“It’ll be sometime this week,” LaFleur replied when asked if Love would be tested.

LaFleur said No. 2 quarterback Malik Willis, who left Saturday night’s game with pain in his right (throwing) shoulder, should be available to face the Vikings. LaFleur said Willis could have returned to the game after he came back from the locker room.

The Packers could start Love, Willis or third-stringer Clayton Tune if they don’t’ want to risk Love or Willis in a game with no ramifications for the playoff picture.

It’s hard to imagine the Packers playing No. 1 running back Josh Jacobs, who has battling a knee injury since mid-November and played only 13 of the Packers’ 47 offensive snaps against the Ravens.

That was by design, as the coaches and medical staff went into the game intending to limit Jacobs’ action. He carried just four times for 3 net yards.

“I knew I wasn’t going to really play,” Jacobs said after the game. “They told me earlier [in the day] that I would be very limited, so I think I played maybe 12 15 snaps in general.”

Said LaFleur: “I don’t know if it was the plan [for him] to be that limited, but I thought just with the way the game was flowing, there weren’t a lot of opportunities.”

LaFleur wouldn’t speculate on any other players he might be considering resting.

“Certainly it was a tough lesson a year ago in regards to what we lost going into the wild-card round,” said LaFleur, whose team lost its NFC wild card game to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. “Absolutely, you lean into those [experiences] — and the state of the team as well.

“There’s a lot of variables that get thrown into play. I know a lot of people have a difference of opinions on what is the best route. Ultimately, we’ve got to make what the best decision is for us.”

Health watch

LaFleur said two of the four significant injuries — cornerback Kamal Hadden’s lower leg injury and defensive tackle Jordon Riley’s ruptured Achilles’ tendon — would be season-ending.

The medical staff was “still going through” the injuries to cornerback Nate Hobbs (knee) and safety Zayne Anderson (ankle), so it remains to be seen if they can make it back for the final game of the regular season.

With Hadden done for the season, if Hobbs cannot play, the Packers have only three cornerbacks left on their 53-man roster: Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and hybrid receiver/cornerback Bo Melton, who has yet to play a single snap on defense this season.

They have three defensive backs on their practice squad: Shemar Bartholomew, Jaylin Simpson and Johnathan Baldwin.

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