Packers Lose Rookie to Potential Season-Ending Medical Setback

Green Bay Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd has experienced another medical setback amid an unfortunate 2024 rookie season filled with injuries — and this time, it could force the team to shut him down for the rest of the year.

The latest trouble for Lloyd began on the morning of November 15 ahead of the Packers’ final practice for Week 11’s matchup with the Chicago Bears. According to head coach Matt LaFleur, Lloyd felt pain in his abdomen before Friday’s practice, and the team’s training staff determined he had appendicitis — which will sideline him indefinitely.

As of November 15, LaFleur did not know whether Lloyd had undergone surgery yet.

“You can’t make this stuff up,” LaFleur told reporters last Friday. “It’s a shame because he was making progress [with his previous ankle injury], but he’ll rebound. I’m confident in that. That’s what I told him. But it is a shame, certainly.”

Lloyd — a 2024 third-round pick — has not played for the Packers since making his NFL debut on September 15 in Week 2’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. He rushed six times for 15 yards but sprained his ankle in the 16-10 win, landing him on the injured reserve list. He had only just returned to practice for the first time on November 11.

According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, there is also fear that Lloyd might have to miss the rest of the season with his new issue — unless the NFL is willing to grant leniency.

“Since Lloyd’s 21-day practice window [to return from IR] opened already and an appendectomy usually requires several weeks recovery, the Packers are talking to the NFL to see if there’s a way he can still play later on,” Demovsky wrote on X on Friday.

MarShawn Lloyd Cursed With Rookie Injury Troubles

The Packers selected Lloyd in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft thinking he could help them right away on offense and plug into their system as a complementary back to 2024 free agent signing and former NFL rushing leader Josh Jacobs. Since the summer, though, several injury issues have made it difficult for Lloyd to stay on the practice field.

Lloyd missed portions of his first NFL training camp with hip and hamstring injuries, the latter of which held him out of the Packers’ season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil on September 6. While Lloyd returned and played his first career snaps in Week 2 against the Colts, he suffered a high-ankle sprain in the game that forced the team to place him on injured reserve on September 17.

On the bright side, the Packers should have an avenue for keeping Lloyd in play for the later portion of the 2024 season despite his newest medical issue with his appendix.

Since NFL teams are allowed to designate an individual player to return from injured reserve twice in a given season, the Packers could clear Lloyd of his ankle injury and activate him from the injured reserve list to the 53-man roster. They could then place him back on IR to give him more time to recover from his appendicitis, shutting him down until at least Week 16 but keeping the window open for him to play again in 2024.

Officially, the Packers did activate Lloyd from injured reserve on November 18, but it is uncertain whether they will place him back on the injured list, as theorized above.

With MarShawn Lloyd Out, Emanuel Wilson Remains RB2

With Lloyd out indefinitely, the Packers should continue to rely on second-year running back Emanuel Wilson as their No. 2 option in the backfield for the foreseeable future.

Wilson’s workload has been on the lighter side with Jacobs averaging 17.6 carries per game over the first 11 weeks of the regular season, but he has been relatively effective when the Packers have called upon him. Wilson has averaged 4.8 yards per attempt on 57 carries and caught nine of 12 passing targets for 47 yards over the first 10 games. He has also scored the first two touchdowns of his career, one rushing and one receiving.

While Jacobs remains the clear-cut No. 1 option in the backfield with 838 rushing yards — third-most in the NFL — Wilson’s emergence has allowed the Packers to stay rolling out of the backfield without Lloyd. They are also playing without veteran A.J. Dillon, whom they expected to have in the mix but lost to a season-ending injury in August.