Green Bay Packers head coach/lead play-caller Matt LaFleur is not getting the necessary returns he's looking for in an offense that Brian Gutekunst invested heavily into. The biggest culprit is the running back room, which is currently ravaged with injuries.
Josh Jacobs has been out, but he should return sooner rather than later; if not against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field this coming Sunday, then on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
Without Jacobs, the team has had to rely on Emanuel Wilson. The third-year RB out of Fort Valley State has been a solid story so far, but he wasn't the original plan. The original plan was for MarShawn Lloyd, who remains absent. As LaFleur revealed on Thursday, though, Lloyd isn't coming back this week, and probably won't be back for the Thanksgiving game on a short week.
“Generally speaking, you would open that window early in the week so we get the full benefit [of practice],” LaFleur said via The Leap’s Jason B. Hirschhorn.
LaFleur sounds further and further from announcing Lloyd's return these days. It feels like a Grand Theft Auto VI situation, and Packer fans deserve better than to continue trying to decipher these updates.
The worst part? Hints of hope keep getting dropped. Yesterday, it was Packers RB coach Ben Sirmans refusing to give a timeline on Lloyd's return, but talking about how "fired up" he is.
Fans and cheerleaders are also fired up. From the sideline. Where Lloyd seems destined to remain indefinitely.
Aaron Jones Gives Emanuel Wilson Given Strong Endorsement
Packer fans would rather have a former South Carolina Gamecocks and USC Trojans running back than a Division II option. Lloyd hasn't been there all year and barely got action last year, though. Wilson has.
Vikings RB Aaron Jones, who shared the room with Wilson in 2023, was complimentary of the Huntersville, North Carolina, native ahead of the NFC North divisional showdown this coming Sunday.
"Just his work ethic," Jones said, via the team's official YouTube page. "When he would get his opportunities, what he would do with the ball, he'd always make the most of every opportunity he got whether it was one carry in a game, one carry in practice, or five or 10, whatever it may be. He would make the most of it, and you can tell that he was very hungry, always finding ways to get better."
Wilson has earned his opportunity to show what he can do with Jacobs at far less than 100% healthy. It's nice that he's respected by his peers, but his true value will be determined by what he can, and can't, do on the field.
Despite Wilson's emergence as an option in the backfield, Lloyd needs to get in the huddle sooner rather than later as the Packers look to remain relevant during a season they should be dominating.