Getty Cornerback Josh Jackson #37 of the Green Bay Packers warms up against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on December 15, 2019 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The Green Bay Packers could now be without as many as five players when they take the field for their first postseason game in nearly three years.
The Packers added backup cornerback Josh Jackson to the injury report on Saturday, making him the fourth player to be battling an illness heading into Sunday night’s NFC divisional playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field. He joins defensive lineman Tyler Lancaster, fullback Danny Vitale and rookie running back Dexter Williams, who are all listed as questionable to play.
Starting nose tackle Kenny Clark round out the group of five injured Packers as the only one of them with an actual injury, listed as questionable with a back problem that kept him out of Wednesday’s practice and limited him the rest of the week.
Several others — including wide receiver Allen Lazard and starting offensive linemen Elgton Jenkins and David Bakhtiari — have also missed time in the past few weeks as the flu bug has gone through the locker room. Head coach Matt LaFleur admitted at the beginning of the week the Packers “had a little bit of sickness going around.”
“It’s been going around here,” LaFleur said. “Just trying to remind the guys to practice good hygiene so they don’t get sick. We need everyone at their best this weekend in order to advance.”
While not ideal for depth, the Packers can survive Sunday’s game even if all four of their sick players aren’t able to perform. Williams and Vitale are secondary rushing options with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams — if you could even call Williams that — while Jackson has been more of a special teams factor than in the secondary. The bigger concern is making sure the bug doesn’t spread any further through the Packers’ ranks before Sunday’s 5:40 p.m. CT kickoff.
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