AJ Dillon’s availability for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is in jeopardy after he missed his second straight practice with a thumb injury.
Dillon suffered the thumb injury on the Packers final drive against the New York Giants. At his locker on Thursday, Dillon was wearing a brace and did confirm the thumb is broken, according to Tom Silverstein.
“I got hit,” said Dillon. “Just a routine play, football, that’s how it goes. Got hit with a helmet, lined up the right way, hit it just right enough, whatever, we called another run play after that.
“We’re just taking it day by day. Just trying to see how I’m feeling as it’s going, stuff like that moving forward.”
Along with Dillon’s status being up in the air, Aaron Jones is still working his way back from an MCL sprain. Jones was a limited participant in all three practices last week and was listed as questionable before being inactive for Monday’s game. He has practiced in a limited capacity both days this week.
“We’ll see,” said Matt LaFleur about Jones’ availability. “That’s something we are working through. I know it’s a little bit more challenging working through that considering how we practiced today. We did have did have a 15-minute individual and the rest was more jog through. I think we will have a bette indication tomorrow as we have our normal Friday practice and where we are at.”
Even if Jones is available for Sunday’s game, we don’t know what his workload will look like in his first game back from injury. The same goes for Dillon as he navigates a broken thumb. Given the injuries that Jones and Dillon are both working through, as of now, it looks like Patrick Taylor will have a larger role and possibly Kenyan Drake as well.
Taylor has been used often the last three games as a pass-blocker or a pass-catcher out of the backfield, totaling 79 snaps during that span. On the ground, he has nine carries for 70 yards and three receptions for 26 yards.
“Every week is the same,” said Taylor at his locker. “I’ve preparing like a starter since Week 1 when I was on practice squad here. So I continue to prepare the same way I do every week.”
Drake was just added to the practice squad last week and was elevated for the game against the Giants to provide depth as the third running back option. He did not see any snaps on offense.
“We got confidence in those guys,” said LaFleur about Taylor and Drake. “Obviously Kenyan is relatively new to our system, but he’s a pro. He’s handled himself accordingly since the day he got here. He’s put in the time. I think he’s got a pretty good understanding. He’s been around a lot of ball. I think it’s easier to acclimate in a timely fashion for guys that have been around a lot of different places. I’ve got not reservations about him.”
An improved run game has been a key contributor to the Packers overall success on offense as of late. From Weeks 3 through 8, Green Bay as a team was averaging only 4.1 yards per carry. From Weeks 9 through 13, that figured jumped to 4.7, with Dillon being one of the catalysts behind it.
When the run game is working, every other play and aspect of the offense benefits. It keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations. It sets up play-action and opportunities downfield, where not coincidentally, Jordan Love has been much more effective, and takes away some of the bite from the pass-rush, helping out the offensive line.
Regardless of who is at running back for the Packers on Sunday, they face the difficult challenge of taking on a stout Tampa Bay run defense. Led by their front-seven, the Bucs are allowing only 3.9 yards per carry this season. Struggling to move the ball on the ground and becoming one-dimensional against an aggressive and blitz-heavy defense won’t be part of the recipe for success.
“They run,” said Taylor of the Bucs’ front. “They’re big. Vita Vea is a stump in the middle. (Lavonte) David, he’s downhill. Devin White, he’s downhill. Their entire defense is a fast flowing defense and they create turnovers.”