Cornerback Kevin King and wide receiver Malik Taylor are both trending in the right direction on the injury front as Sunday’s showdown with the Chicago Bears approaches. Both King and Taylor were upgraded from limited participants on Wednesday to full participants at Thursday’s practice, a clear sign both are on track to return after missing games recently.
King, who is battling both hip and knee injuries, sat out the Packers’ Week 12 win over the Los Angeles Rams. He’s appeared in only six total games this season but has started all six. It will be interesting to see how the Packers deploy their cornerbacks if King is back and ready to play on Sunday, especially after Rasul Douglas – the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week – played so well against the Rams. King could be relegated to a backup role, or used in the slot with Chandon Sullivan.
Taylor has missed the last two games with an abdominal injury. While rarely used on offense, Taylor was operating as the team’s primary kickoff returner after rookie Kylin Hill went down with a season-ending knee injury. Rookie Amari Rodgers has been filling in returning kicks over the last two games.
The Packers were still without quarterback Aaron Rodgers (toe), left tackle David Bakhtiari (knee) and receiver Randall Cobb (core) on Thursday. Tight end Marcedes Lewis got his veteran’s rest day, and receiver Davante Adams was still limited with a hamstring issue.
With Rodgers out and Jordan Love on the COVID-19 reserve list, Kurt Benkert has taken all the first-team reps during the first two days of practice. Rodgers is still expected to start on Sunday against the Bears.
Bakhtiari isn’t likely to return this week, and Cobb is dealing with a significant core injury.
Matt LaFleur’s team will practice again Friday. The Packers will provide official designations on the final injury report after practice on Friday.
The Bears returned running back David Montgomery to practice on Thursday. He’s dealing with shoulder, groin and glute injuries. Backup quarterback Andy Dalton (left hand) did not participate again, but starter Justin Fields was a full participant.
[lawrence-related id=72653,72649,72632,72616]