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The Green Bay Packers are quickly losing depth at inside linebacker.
The Packers were forced to finish their 23-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings without two of their top three inside linebackers after both first-round rookie Quay Walker (shoulder) and Krys Barnes (ankle) were sidelined with injuries.
In the case of Barnes, the Packers needed to bring out the injury cart for him and immediately put an air cast on his lower right leg before hauling him into the locker room. It only took a few minutes for the Packers to announce that he had been ruled out for the remainder of the game with an ankle injury, casting doubt on his status moving forward as well as the health of the Packers’ linebacker corps as a whole.
The Packers also had two other players exit Sunday’s loss with injuries. Starting left guard Jon Runyan Jr. sustained a concussion in the second half and did not return, while cornerback Keisean Nixon went down with a shoulder injury later on that also kept him on the sideline for the remainder of the night.
Isaiah McDuffie Only Healthy ILB Next to Campbell
The Packers are always concerned about players who drop out of games with injuries, especially when one of those players is their top draft pick from this year’s draft, but losing two of the four inside linebackers on their roster added an extra layer of anxiety to the situation in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.
When Barnes was carted off the field, the Packers were left with second-year Isaiah McDuffie as the only other linebacker to play next to All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell on the inside. He finished with one tackle and didn’t give up anything in his half-quarter of play that was glaring, but he was also exclusively a special teams player as a rookie and only took his first regular-season defensive snaps on Sunday. That could be a major problem for the Packers if Barnes — or Walker — have to miss some time.
One thing that could help alleviate the depth issue would be signing Ray Wilborn up from the practice squad. It would be a bandaid at best to pad the back end of the depth chart, but it would at least offer some insurance in the event that they were missing one or both of their injured linebackers in Week 2. Wilborn is also familiar with Joe Barry’s defensive scheme after spending all of 2021 on their practice squad.
Packers Defense Took Lumps Against Vikings Offense
The Packers had a rough game against the Vikings offense, particularly in the secondary where star wide receiver Justin Jefferson absolutely gouged them for nine catches, 184 yards and two touchdowns. On the afternoon, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 23 of his 32 passes and averaged 8.7 yards per attempt despite facing a reasonable amount of pressure (eight hits, one sack) from the Packers defense.
“We have to coach so much better,” Packers head coach LaFleur said. “This is two years in a row where we’ve come out Week 1 and not looked prepared, so I think all of us will look inward and make the necessary corrections because there’s no time to feel sorry for yourself in this league and we know we’re going to battle a Chicago Bears team that’s going to be coming in flying high off a big-time upset of the 49ers.”
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