Green Bay

Packers

Lloyd was good to go for Wednesday’s session, so this appears to be a new issue. Chris Brooks was also limited by his ankle injury for a second-straight practice. Lloyd and Brooks — if healthy — will be the backups to Josh Jacobs for Week 9, and don’t offer much fantasy upside, if any.

It’s back-to-back limited sessions for Watson. It’ll likely be a pain-tolerance issue for the wideout, but assuming he doesn’t suffer a setback in practice, he appears to be good for Week 9 against the Patriots and deserves WR1 consideration.

Jacobs is facing additional allegations of verbal and physical abuse that could jeopardize his playing status moving forward. He told Demovsky that he is “operating under the assumption that he won’t have to sit out any more games than the six he already missed while on the NFL commissioner exempt list.” Jacobs has defended himself against the allegations after his attorneys also dismissed the claims. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier this week he expects Jacobs to remain on the roster as the league reviews this round of allegations. Jacobs has missed six games on the Commissioner’s Exempt List and will continue to play while the NFL looks into the new claims.

Watson famously left for the hospital in the middle of Week 8’s win over the Panthers, only to return after halftime like a WWE performer. The fact that they’re letting him practice in any capacity today means he should be able to play through the issue in Week 9. We’d expect him to wear a flak jacket for at least a few weeks. Barring a setback in practice, Watson will be a high-variance WR1 for his matchup with the Patriots.

Brooks is back at practice and could be officially activated from IR ahead of the Packers’ Week 9 matchup with the Patriots. He would likely take Pierre Strong’s spot in the lineup as Green Bay’s RB3.

That doesn’t mean Parsons is a “full go” for Week 9 against the Patriots, however, as the pass rusher comes back from a season-ending knee injury in 2025. Parsons could return soon for a Green Bay defense that ranks 12th in pressure rate and 16th in quick pressure rate on the season. Look for the team to ease Parsons into action to make sure he’s OK for the final stretch of the regular season.

Slovis could, unbelievably, get the start Thursday night against the Jaguars with Lamar Jackson (thumb) and Tyler Huntley (toe) out, and Joe Fagnano (ankle) iffy to suit up. If Fagnano can play, Slovis would presumably serve as Baltimore’s backup. Fagnano completed 48 percent of his passes for 91 yards and a pick last week against the Bills. Look for the Ravens to be ultra run-heavy against Jacksonville, one of the league’s best run defenses. It will be tough to trust anyone in the Ravens offense as a viable fantasy option for now.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given that NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday that Jacobs is “going to continue to play” while the league reviews this latest round of allegations. The league is not only reviewing these latest allegations, but is also looking into whether or not Jacobs was “upfront” with them about the initial allegations that led to him being placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt list. Barring an unexpected development this week, we would expect Jacobs to be on the field against the Patriots this week.

Parsons is not expected to suit up in Week 9 against the Patriots, but this is the next step in his recovery as he looks to return to the field. On Sunday, it was reported that the Packers were targeting a Week 12 return for Parsons, which would mean he plays on Thanksgiving Eve against the Rams if all goes according to plan.

The Vikings dots have been getting connected for a while now, so it’s not surprising to see something of a confirmation they are interested. The Giants and Bengals also make all the sense in the world. Green Bay would be a fit, as well, though it would be a bit surprising to see the Broncos add to their running back surplus. Taylor, of course, would blow their other backs out of the water. There’s enough smoke here to believe a fire might break out, but the Colts can probably be taken at their word that it would take an overpay to pry away what amounts to their franchise player right now.