The Green Bay Packers are doing some shuffling to their roster as training camp begins to wind down.
Today marks the penultimate practice that is open to the public, and unfortunately for one member of the team, it was his final day with them.
Jarveon Howard, the undrafted free agent running back who had a nice debut in Cleveland was released to make room for the re-signing of Henry Pearson.
Pearson spent time on the roster last year as a fullback/tight end hybrid type of player that holds some value in Matt LaFleur’s offense.
Pearson was released in late July to make room to get some depth in their secondary that was ailing at the time.
His value to the roster will likely come on special teams more than offense.
Pearson was a core special teamer in his limited appearances last season. He played 22 special teams snaps between two games against Detroit and Kansas City.
He was instrumental in snuffing out a fake punt by Dan Campbell in the first half of Green Bay’s 29-22 upset win over the Detroit Lions.
“Henry’s a guy, he always busts his butt,” said LaFleur after a spring practice
“I think there’s a great opportunity for everybody here, quite frankly. And that’s one of the things that we talked to the team about.”
Pearson’s opportunity rising, unfortunately comes at the expense of Howard.
Howard tallied 44 yards on eight carries, including a 16-yard run that showed off some of his explosiveness.
Unfortunately, Howard suffered an ankle injury in the game that kept him on the sideline during Green Bay’s ugly 27-2 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Howard was a longshot to make the roster and likely got caught up in a numbers game with some of the other backs on the roster.
Emanuel Wilson figures to get a bulk of the carries in Saturday’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Ellis Merriweather was the next man up after Wilson in Denver, with Nate McCrary also in camp.
This move gives the Packers some opportunity to add competition to their special teams, while also potentially rediscovering the fullback/h-back role in LaFleur’s offense.
