The Green Bay Packers have elevated running back Ellis Merriweather from practice squad for gameday ahead of the regular season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday, in Brazil. The move happened because rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd is out with a hamstring injury.
Emanuel Wilson has a hip issue and was also listed as questionable to play, but he is active. How many carries he can get is still a question. Tight end Tucker Kraft is also available.
Previous decision paying off
Without AJ Dillon for the season and potentially without another of their top running backs, the Packers will certainly have to rely more on starter Josh Jacobs. It’s yet to be seen how many snaps and touches he will have, but one of the main reasons why Green Bay moved on from Aaron Jones to sign Jacobs in the first place was his ability to carry a heavier workload.
Stronger, Jacobs has had more touches than Jones in the NFL even though the former Packer has been in the league for two more years.
On Thursday, right after Green Bay’s only practice in São Paulo ahead of the game, quarterback Jordan Love showed how excited he was to play alongside Josh Jacobs.
"We're very ready. Josh has been working so hard since he's got here," Love said.. "We know the kind of player he is, the career he's had so far. Just to be around and see what type of worker he is, what type of leader he is in the locker room. I'm very excited, I know he's gonna have a huge impact for the team this year. Excited to be able to hand him the ball and watch him go to work."
QB situation
The Packers did not elevate quarterback Sean Clifford from the practice squad, meaning that Malik Willis, acquired last week from the Tennessee Titans, is the immediate backup to Jordan Love.
Packers inactives
- WR Malik Heath
- RB MarShawn Lloyd
- DE Arron Mosby
- DE Brenton Cox Jr.
- T Kadeem Telfort
- T Travis Glover
