Wide receiver Matthew Golden moved up to a limited listing on Wednesday’s injury report and the Packers are hoping to have him in the lineup on Thursday night as well.
Golden is listed as questionable to face the Panthers because of shoulder and foot injuries. His participation level was an estimation as the Packers never held more than a walkthrough this week and three defensive players join Golden with questionable tags.
Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (ankle), defensive tackle Anthony Campbell (ankle), and defensive end Brenton Cox (quad) are also in that category. All three of them were listed as limited practice participants as well.
Linebacker Zaire Franklin (shin), offensive lineman Travis Glover (knee), and center Sean Rhyan (ankle) have been ruled out for this week.
Panthers Clips
The Panthers will be shorthanded on defense in Green Bay on Thursday night.
Linebacker Jaelan Phillips was one of two defensive players ruled out on the team’s final injury report of the week. Phillips also missed last Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers with a hamstring injury. Phillips has 2.5 sacks and six quarterback hits in his five appearances this season.
Cornerback Akayleb Evans (triceps, knee) is also out and that leaves the Panthers with two healthy cornerbacks on the 53-man roster Will Lee and Chau Smith-Wade will likely be joined by reinforcements from the practice squad before Thursday’s game gets underway.
The offense will be missing left guard Damien Lewis (knee) and reserve lineman Torricelli Simpkins (ankle).
Defensive tackle Bobby Brown (hand) is the only player listed as questionable. Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald was added to the report with an illness on Wednesday, but he has no injury designation.
Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin will miss another game. It’s not a surprise given the Packers play on Thursday night.
Coach Matt LaFleur announced Tuesday that Franklin will not play against the Panthers.
Franklin missed last week’s game after getting accidentally kicked in Thursday’s practice. He was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his leg.
The Packers did not place him on injured reserve, believing he can return after missing fewer than four games.
Franklin ranks third on the team in tackles (41) and has two quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Ty’Ron Hopper took Franklin’s spot in the lineup on Sunday, and Isaiah McDuffie wore the green dot in Franklin’s stead.
The Panthers have the worst run defense in the NFL, and head coach Dave Canales knows what that means for opposing teams game planning against them.
Up next for the Panthers is a game on Thursday night against the Packers, who have the most pass-heavy offense in the NFL. Canales said today that after giving up 258 rushing yards on Sunday against the Buccaneers, he knows that the Packers will be excited by the opportunity to play against them. That means both trying to run the ball with Josh Jacobs, and trying to have Jordan Love beat them deep if the Panthers overcompensate for their run defense struggles by stacking the box.
“Collectively, as a group, we have to be locked in to what they’re going to try to do and how they’re going to attack us,” Canales said. “I’m sure they’re watching the game and they’re seeing 250 yards on the ground, and that’s got to be appealing. For me, as an offensive-minded coach, I think about that and say, ‘We can set some things up down the field by making sure we have a run game going.’ That would be my approach, so I do expect them to run the ball, and we do expect Jordan to heave the ball down the field just like he does, and challenge the back half of our defense as well.”
The Packers, who have only had Jacobs for one game this season, have not run the ball well. Having the Panthers’ defense come to town could be just the thing to fix that.
The Packers turned in their second estimated injury report of the week on Tuesday and it showed no change in status for wide receiver Matthew Golden.
Golden was listed as out of practice for the second straight day. He is dealing with shoulder and foot injuries as the Packers move toward Thursday night’s game against the Panthers.
Golden leads the Packers with 36 catches and is second on the team with 540 receiving yards.
Linebacker Zaire Franklin (shin), offensive lineman Travis Glover (knee), and center Sean Rhyan (ankle) were also listed as out of practice for the second straight day. Defensive tackles Anthony Campbell (ankle) and Devonte Wyatt (ankle) were bumped up to limited participation.
Defensive end Brenton Cox (quad) and guard Aaron Banks (knee, toe) were also listed as limited while cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (hamstring) was listed as a full participant.
The Panthers held another walk-through practice on Tuesday.
They estimated two changes to their practice report, but four players are still listed as non-participants.
Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips (hamstring), guards Damien Lewis (knee ) Torricelli Simpkins III (ankle) and cornerback Akayleb (triceps/knee) were listed as not practicing.
Defensive tackle Bobby Brown III, listed as a non-participant on Monday with a hand injury, returned to full participation on Tuesday.
Wide receiver Jalen Coker (shoulder) was also a full participant after being limited Monday.
Quarterback Bryce Young (knee) was a full participant again.
The team will release its final report of the week with game statuses on Wednesday.
No defense in the NFL is as bad at stopping the run as the Carolina Panthers.
Only one team in the league is allowing more than 150 rushing yards a game, and that’s the Panthers at 153.2. Only one team in the league is allowing more than five yards per carry, and that’s also the Panthers at 5.2.
In Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers, the Panthers’ run defense was particularly inept. Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving had 24 carries for 106 yards, Kenny Gainwell had 14 carries for 88 yards, and Sean Tucker had seven carries for 52 yards. The Bucs’ running backs steamrolling the Panthers’ defense is why Tampa Bay won 43-13 even though quarterback Baker Mayfield passed for just 64 yards.
The Buccaneers started the game with a 14-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, and Panthers linebacker Bobby Okereke admitted that set the tone.
“Obviously they found something today, and it’s a copycat league, so we got to stop the bleeding because teams are going to watch this film and try to exploit any weaknesses in our defense,” Okereke said, via Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com.
But it’s not just the film of the loss to the Buccaneers that the Panthers’ opponents will be watching. It’s also the Week 1 game when the Panthers allowed the Bears to rush for 291 yards. Those two games are the only games this season when any NFL team has allowed 250 or more rushing yards. The Panthers’ defense has struggled to stop the run since the start of the season, and those struggles haven’t gone away.
At 3-3, the Panthers are in first place in the NFC South. They might be a playoff team, but they won’t do much in the postseason if they can’t stop the run.
The Packers had quarterback Jordan Love and wide receiver Christian Watson on their injury report last week.
Watson was limited in all three practices last week, while Love was limited on Wednesday and a full participant the rest of the week. Love played all 67 snaps in the loss to the Lions on Sunday, and Watson played 54 snaps.
Both players are off Monday’s estimated report.
That’s good news for the Packers, who have a quick turnaround with a game against the Panthers on Thursday night.
The Packers estimate defensive tackle Anthony Campbell (ankle), linebacker Zaire Franklin (shin), offensive lineman Travis Glover (knee), wide receiver Matthew Golden (shoulder/foot), center Sean Rhyan (ankle) and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (ankle) as non-participants.
Offensive guard Aaron Banks (knee/toe) was listed as limited.
Cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (hamstring) was a full participant.
The Panthers did not practice on Monday, but they still had to submit an injury report for Thursday night’s game.
They estimate five players out of practice.
Defensive tackle Bobby Brown (hand), cornerback Akayeb Evans (triceps/knee), offensive guard Damien Lewis (knee), outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips (hamstring) and offensive lineman Torricelli Simpkins III (ankle) were listed as DNP. Brown, Evans, Lewis and Phillips are starters.
Wide receiver Jalen Coker (shoulder) was limited.
Quarterback Bryce Young (knee) was listed as a full participant again. This is the third week he has been on the report, but Young has fully participated in every practice.
Veteran right tackle Taylor Moton’s return to the Panthers lineup turned out to be a short-lived one.
Moton was placed on injured reserve on Monday due to the fractured fibula he suffered in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Buccaneers. Moton was playing in his second game since being activated from a stint on the non-football injury list that was necessitated by blood clots in his lung during the offseason.
First-round pick Monroe Freeling started at right tackle while Moton was out for the first four games of the year and took over after his injury on Sunday.
Linebacker Nick Hampton was signed off the practice squad to fill the empty roster spot. Hampton had five tackles on Sunday as a temporary elevation.
