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Will Sheppard #82 of the Green Bay Packers was released this week amid speculation that the team will get Jayden Reed or Matthew Golden back.
It was a brief and, in the end, uneventful foray onto the Packers‘ 53-man roster for rookie wide receiver Will Sheppard, the undrafted playmaker from Colorado. But the Packers made a move on Sheppard this week, cutting him from the roster as the team is preparing for at least one, and perhaps two, wide-receiver moves.
Sheppard was called up from the practice squad as an emergency fill-in for the Thanksgiving game against the Lions, and could yet return to the practice squad. But that appears unlikely because the Packers also cut another receiver, Michael Woods, from the practice squad on Tuesday.
Green Bay also signed a new cornerback, Shemar Bartholomew, to the practice squad while letting corner Tyron Herring go. Of course, the fringes of the roster are not the real story, though, as the Packers are hopeful that they will be getting a pair of prime playmakers back in the fold before this weekend’s big showdown with the Bears, the first-place team in the NFC North.
Packers Ready to Get Jayden Reed or Matthew Golden Back?
The move on Sheppard indicates that the Packers feel they will have one of their young receivers, Jayden Reed or rookie Matthew Golden, healthy and ready to go on Sunday. Nothing has been decided on them yet. Reed has not played since Week 2 as he recovers from surgery on his foot and collarbone. Golden has been out since Week 11 with a wrist injury.
The Packers could use them back, certainly. The team’s passing attack looked better on Thanksgiving against the Lions, with Jordan Love throwing for 234 yards. But that was the first 200-yard game Love had in the previous four weeks. The Packers have done well with the rushing game, but it’s clear that Love and the offense are still finding their way since the season-ending knee injury to Tucker Kraft.
Packers Have a Crowded WR Room
In the Week 13 win over Detroit, Love found three different receivers for more than four completions–Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks, who had six catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
Adding Reed and Golden to the mix might be something of an overload, but in a receivers room like that of the Packers, without a headline WR1, coming at the Bears with a variety of options is the best policy.
There’s still no certainty that both Golden and Reed will be active. Coach Matt LaFleur said that the team will see how Reed progresses this week before determining whether to activate him. He was designated for a return from IR on November 21.
Asked about Golden playing in Week 14, LaFleur said, “Potentially, yeah.”
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)Matthew Golden #0 of the Green Bay Packers
Tough Schedule Looms
Should both be back, it will be a challenge to take advantage of the talent on hand, but the Packers had better make the adjustment quickly. Not only are the Bears next up on the docket, but the 10-2 Broncos come after that–in Denver–and Green Bay then must travel to Chicago for another date with their oldest rivals.
“It could go a lot of different ways in regards to how these guys are feeling or how they’re performing,” Matt LaFleur said.
“But when you have a ton of guys in that room that you have a lot of confidence in, you’d rather have that than not have just enough guys to go out there and get the job done. So I think it can be a challenge, obviously, to try to feed everybody and get them the touches that they deserve, but I do think there’s an unknown for the defense when you’re not quite sure who’s going to be the heavy-share target guy. So we’ll have to do a good job of managing that as an offensive staff.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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