Brandon

Saine

He’s taking Alex Green’s (knee) roster spot after the third-round pick officially landed on injured reserve Monday. An undrafted free agent out of Ohio State, Saine had a quiet preseason. He won’t come into any fantasy value.

We didn’t see the hit, and Saine was able to walk to the locker room under his own power late in the middle of the second quarter. He’ll have to pass the concussion testing protocol to play at Kansas City in Week 15.

That’s two months and 55 carries without an explosive run. With John Kuhn as the primary goal-line back, Grant has also failed to score this season. He’s averaging just 5.5 carries per over the past four games, and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel suggests Brandon Saine could be “blended into the rotation” to pick up Grant’s slack.

The missed practice indicates that Saine has yet to pass the NFL’s protocol concussion testing. He won’t be a fantasy option in Week 15 against the Chiefs.

Saine’s status for Week 15 remains up in the air, but it’s not looking good at this point. Expect Ryan Grant and John Kuhn to garner the majority of the carries against the Chiefs.

Starks originally sustained the minor ankle sprain in Week 11, but still played four days later against the Lions. He didn’t make it out of that game and couldn’t finish yesterday’s game either. “It’s not a high ankle sprain, I don’t think,” Starks said yesterday. “I’ll be fine. It’ll just take a little rest.” Ryan Grant and Brandon Saine will share the load if the Packers do the smart thing and sit Starks down for a game or two.

With James Starks’ ankle acting up again, Saine was ready to handle the entire playbook. He ended up with 10 touches compared to 14 for Ryan Grant. “I was ready to go,” Saine said. “The coaches did a great job getting me prepared.” Thanks to his skills as a pass-catcher, the undrafted rookie should be on fantasy radars heading into Week 14. Starks likely needs at least one week off.

Ryan Grant will start and handle most of the early-down work as a flex play. John Kuhn will play on a lot of third downs and get all the goal-line work, making him a desperation option in deeper formats. The rest of the Packers’ inactives: QB Graham Harrell, WR Greg Jennings, T Chad Clifton, DE Ryan Pickett and LB Desmond Bishop.

Saine is not expected to play Sunday against the Chiefs.

Packers coaches have been threatening to work Saine into the backfield mix, and he saw six targets in relief of James Starks. As the passing-down back in Aaron Rodgers’ offense, Saine would be a better waiver pickup than Ryan Grant if Starks’ injury threatens to sideline him for Week 14 versus the Raiders.