{"id":659254,"date":"2026-01-06T20:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/659254\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T20:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:03:11","slug":"matt-lafleur-gives-updates-on-packers-injuries-playoff-practice-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/659254\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt LaFleur gives updates on Packers\u2019 injuries, playoff practice plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Green Bay Packers will have a walkthrough practice on Tuesday, as the team prepares for its short turnaround to play the Chicago Bears. Because of the nature of playing a Saturday road game, the Packers will have to end up traveling on Friday, meaning that all of their on-field work will need to be done by Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Below is what Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur said about the team\u2019s practice schedule this week, during his Tuesday press conference:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">[Tuesday will] be primarily a walkthrough, jog-through tempo. Just with the number of guys we had playing in and having the short week. Definitely wanted to do a little bit more, but following the advice of our medical staff. Then we\u2019ll have two really good days coming up here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">LaFleur added that the team will have a padded practice on Wednesday, which wasn\u2019t a given. Under the current rules, NFL teams are only allowed to have 11 total padded practices over the first 11 weeks of the regular season, with just 3 padded practices allowed in the final 7 weeks. Clubs are permitted to have one padded practice each week of the playoffs, but not every team takes advantage of that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">On the injury front, LaFleur gave us some updates on key injuries, too. In total, the Packers were out three players in Week 18, guys who were held out completely with injuries, and also had two more drop out during the regular-season finale\u2019s action. Let\u2019s take you through them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">On the subject of quarterback Malik Willis (shoulder\/hamstring, out in Week 18), LaFleur said that he \u201canticipates\u201d that Willis will be the backup. If that\u2019s the case, the Packers could move off third quarterback Clayton Tune, which would free up a roster spot on the 53-man roster. If that happens, the most likely player to come up is linebacker Nick Neimann, a special teams ace who has been designated to return from the injured reserve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks hasn\u2019t completely cleared the concussion protocol after suffering his injury in Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens. Right tackle Zach Tom (knee\/back), who hasn\u2019t played since midway through the Denver Broncos game in Week 15, is expected to play this week, per LaFleur. Jordan Morgan had subbed in for Tom as an injury replacement over the last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">If Bullard weren\u2019t able to go, the Packers would likely use Kitan Oladapo (who is the team\u2019s fifth preferred safety when everyone is healthy) to play in the slot this week. If you want a full breakdown of Green Bay\u2019s depth chart, you can find that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acmepackingcompany.com\/green-bay-packers-roster\/77725\/packers-playoffs-how-green-bays-depth-chart-stacks-going-into-the-postseason\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Green Bay Packers will have a walkthrough practice on Tuesday, as the team prepares for its short&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,2703,26258,2702,2704,2514,2513,6,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-659254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-green-bay-packers-depth-chart","12":"tag-green-bay-packers-injuries","13":"tag-green-bay-packers-news","14":"tag-green-bay-packers-roster","15":"tag-greenbay","16":"tag-greenbaypackers","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-packers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115849947211150584","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}