The Indianapolis Colts will have their hands full this weekend with the Green Bay Packers.
Finally Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers will have all three of his starting WRs on the field; this will be the first time since Week 2.
Of immediate interest is the activation of WR Allen Lazard from IR.
Allen Lazard
UDFA Allen Lazard.
• 6 Rec
• 146 yds
• TDThink teams are rethinking not drafting this guy? Yes, yes they are. @AllenLazard | #GoPackGo
— GBP Daily (@GBPdaily) September 28, 2020
Lazard is an Iowa State alumnus who was a UDFA in the 2018 NFL Draft.
The Jacksonville Jaguars signed him, and he had a brief stint on the Jags practice squad before joining the Packers late in 2018.
Lazard’s Injury
In Week 3’s game against the New Orleans Saints, Lazard injured his core muscle but managed to finish the game.
Asked about how he racked up his career-best stats (6 catches for 146 yards) while injured Lazard said:
“Yeah, so obviously it wasn’t too big. It happened in the second half when I was running. I just felt kind of a tightness in my lower body and just kind of played through it. Once the game was over and everything, I kind of realized – when the adrenaline wore of – there was something wrong. So I went to the doctor, and they examined it and realized they needed to go back in there and fix some things up.”
Surgery and rehab were necessary, and his return had been rumored prior to this week.
He suffered from lingering soreness which kept him off the field longer than anyone hoped.
#Packers WR Allen Lazard, who did not practice today as he tries to come back from core muscle surgery, is still dealing with soreness, I’m told. No setback. But sounds like the team will be cautious and this may not be week he returns. If not, expect him back next week.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 13, 2020
But the good news is that he has been activated for this week’s game.
Potential Problem
While it is promising that Lazard is activated, the timing of his activation makes people wonder how game-ready he will be.
He was activated at the end of his 21 day activation window.
The Packers either had to activate him now, or he would be out for the season.
Hopefully, the team was just being overly cautious with his return.
Coach Matt LaFleur’s comments on Wednesday did not provide any additional information.
“We’re certainly going to have to ease him back in. We’re hopeful to have him back for Sunday, but we’ll see how his body reacts.”
Look for an indication of his true status when the Friday injury report comes out.
Packers Upcoming Schedule
The Packers are 7-2 and in first place in the AFC North division.
They have a two game lead over the 5-5 Chicago Bears but have not played the Bears yet this season.
The Bears games are in Week 12 and Week 17.
Given the Bears situation at QB with Trubisky and Foles both suffering from injuries, the Packers definitely have and should maintain the upper hand in the division.
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