The Saints haven’t officially ruled quarterback Derek Carr or running back Alvin Kamara out for Monday night’s game yet, but it looks like things are moving in that direction.
Carr and Kamara missed practice for the second straight day. Carr remains sidelined by the left hand injury he suffered in the team’s Week 14 win over the Giants and Kamara has a groin injury that interim head coach Darren Rizzi said may bring an end to his season.
Rookie Spencer Rattler will start if Carr can’t go and Kendre Miller would be in line for more work at running back.
Wide receivers Bub Means (ankle) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (chest, illness) made it four offensive players out of practice. Defensive end Chase Young (illness) has also been out both days this week.
Tight end Juwan Johnson (foot) and wide receiver Chris Olave (head) were limited participants. Olave returned to practice this week and would need to be activated from injured reserve in order to play on Monday.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday that the team will give linebacker Quay Walker the entire week to see if he can play through an ankle injury, but things aren’t moving in the right direction for Green Bay.
Walker missed practice for the second straight day on Friday. The Packers will practice again on Saturday and issue injury designations for Monday night’s game against the Saints.
Safety Javon Bullard is also dealing with an ankle injury and he’s the only other member of the team to miss both days of practice.
Cornerback Corey Ballentine (knee) and tight end Luke Musgrave (ankle) were limited participants for the Packers. Musgrave will need to be activated from injured reserve in order to play.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith took a low hit from a Packers defender on Sunday night. Even though no flag was thrown, Smith suffered a knee injury.
Asked about the play that caused the injury, Smith told reporters this on Thursday, “There is a lot to be thought of. Honestly, they didn’t call a flag so I’m not complaining. It is what it is.”
As NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay said during the broadcast, one or both feet must be on the ground to trigger a foul. Smith was jumping as he was hit.
It seems that the injury had less to do with the hit and more to do with the effort to avoid the hit.
Regardless, Smith has fully participated in practice, both on Wednesday and Thursday. He said Thursday that he expects to play, even if he’s not 100 percent.
“Yeah, a lot of guys are less than 100 percent,” he said. “I’ve been that way pretty much the majority of the season. That’s just the way the NFL goes. But no excuses. Got to go out there and perform.”
The Seahawks need it. They’re tied with the Rams atop the NFC West. And the Rams have a better draw this week; they play the 4-10 Jets. The Seahawks host the 12-2 Vikings.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love hurt his knee in the season opener and he hurt his groin in midseason, but he’s been at full health in recent weeks and his play has reflected that change in circumstances.
Love has gone four straight games without throwing an interception and Love has thrown seven touchdowns in those contests. He’s also posted passer ratings over 100 in each of the last five games, which has helped the Packers put themselves in position to clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Saints on Monday night.
Love closed out last season on the same kind of hot streak, but head coach Matt LaFleur said on Thursday that he thinks the quarterback has played at an even higher level than he did in the past.
“This is the best ball he’s played,” LaFleur said, via the team’s website. “Just when I look at all the little things.”
Love said he thinks he’s been playing at a “decent level” before adding that he believes there is “definitely some stuff I can clean up” in order to boost his performance even more. If he’s able to do that, the Packers are going to be a very tough team to deal with in the postseason.
Starting quarterback Derek Carr did not practice again Thursday as he works his way back from a left hand injury. It seems likely he will miss a second consecutive game with his injury, but the Saints have not ruled him out this week.
Interim coach Darren Rizzi said Thursday that Spencer Rattler will start if Carr can’t play.
Rattler started the three games Carr missed earlier in the season when the starter had an oblique injury.
But Jake Haener got the start Sunday against the Commanders. Rattler replaced him after Haener went 4-of-10 for 49 yards and an interception in the first half.
Rattler was 10-of-21 for 135 yards and a touchdown in the second half of the 20-19 loss to Washington.
In four games this season, the fifth-round draft pick has 706 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The 49ers have suspended linebacker De’Vondre Campbell for the rest of the season after he refused to play on Thursday night, and coach Kyle Shanahan is acknowledging that in hindsight he wishes he’d never brought Campbell to San Francisco in the first place.
Playing for the Packers last year, Campbell seemed disgruntled, and when Green Bay cut him this offseason he badmouthed the team. Shanahan was asked today if the 49ers thought about those issues before signing him. Shanahan said the 49ers knew about the red flags with Campbell but were desperate to sign a linebacker after Dre Greenlaw had torn his Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl.
“Yeah, of course,” Shanahan answered. “We look into all that. It was tough losing Dre. We knew we were going to need a starting-caliber linebacker. We had two guys that we thought we had committed that we lost in free agency. Then another guy got cut after that and became available.”
Shanahan said his own experience with Campbell on the Falcons and conversations he had with others in the league who knew Campbell made him think things would be OK.
“I was with De’Vondre his rookie year in Atlanta, so I knew what he was capable of,” Shanahan said. “Not that I was real close with the defensive guys, being the offensive coordinator there, but I know we liked him in that building. I know a lot of guys who have coached him who have been good. And we obviously made a mistake. It’s not something that we didn’t look into. We look into everything. You weigh the risk-reward of stuff. You weigh the situation that you have and what decision you can make in terms of the options. By no means was it our first option. But at the time, with what went down, we thought it was our best option. And it didn’t work out.”
It certainly didn’t work out for the 49ers, and it may serve as a cautionary tale for every team when considering signing a player who has worn out his welcome in his last stop.
Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper had another strong performance in Sunday’s victory over the Seahawks.
On Wednesday, the NFL named Cooper defensive player of the week.
Cooper recorded two tackles for loss, two passes defensed, a sack, and an interception in the 30-13 win. According to the league, Cooper is the first rookie linebacker to record multiple TFLs and passes defensed since 2016.
This is Cooper’s second defensive player of the week award, making him the first Packers rookie to ever win multiple DPOW awards. He’s only the fifth rookie to ever win multiple defensive player of the week awards. He’s also the first former Texas A&M player to win multiple DPOW awards as a rookie.
In 11 games this season, Cooper has totaled 59 tackles, seven tackles fro loss, six QB hits, 3.5 sacks, four passes defensed, and one interception.
The number of available spots in the NFL’s postseason tournament are disappearing quickly and we could be down to two by the time Week 16 is over.
The NFL released this week’s playoff scenarios on Tuesday and five teams are in position to sew up their spots this weekend. The Packers will be the third NFC North team to assure themselves a berth by beating the Saints on Monday night. If the Falcons lose to the Giants on Sunday, the Packers can also get in with losses by either the Rams or Seahawks.
Washington is the other NFC team that can clinch this weekend. They need to beat the Eagles and get one of the same combinations that would help out the Packers.
If the Commanders lose to the Eagles, the Eagles will be the NFC East champs.
As noted earlier on Tuesday, the entire AFC field could be set by the end of this week’s games. The Ravens and Broncos are in with wins and the Broncos can also clinch if they lose to the Chargers. They would need the Dolphins, Colts, and Bengals to lose or tie and that scenario would also assure the Chargers a spot in the tournament.
The Chiefs will wrap up the top seed in the conference if they beat the Texans on Saturday and the Bills lose to or tie with the Patriots on Sunday.
The Steelers will clinch the AFC North by beating the Ravens in Saturday’s other game. Should that happen, Baltimore would still nab a playoff berth if the Dolphins and Colts lose on Sunday.
Coming off of Sunday’s victory over the Seahawks, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur had updates on a couple of defensive players in his Tuesday press conference.
Linebacker Quay Walker is considered week-to-week after suffering an ankle injury during Sunday’s contest. LaFleur noted that the team will give Walker the week to see if he can play in Week 16.
LaFleur also noted that safety Javon Bullard is moving around better after missing the Week 15 contest with an ankle injury. Bullard did not practice last week before he was ruled out before the contest.
Playing the Saints on Monday night, the Packers’ first injury report of the week will be issued on Thursday.
There’s some new reporting pouring cold water on Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi’s assertion that it’s not “a reach” to think Derek Carr will be cleared by the end of the season.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Carr is considered “very unlikely” to return this season.
Carr’s left hand is fractured in two places. Rapoport notes the quarterback recently underwent further examination, which determined he’s at least a few weeks away from withstanding contact.
Given that there are only three weeks remaining in the season, Carr isn’t likely to return.
In his second season with the Saints, Carr has completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 2,145 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 games.
