Packers Provide Worrying Update on Key Injury on Thanksgiving

The Green Bay Packers' Week 13 matchup with the Miami Dolphins started to look really good, really early in the game. But before they began to get out to a huge lead, there was some bad news.

The opening kickoff was a huge play—a 43-yard return by Keisean Nixon—but it also saw special teams starter Corey Ballentine suffer a knee injury. He was originally announced as questionable to return, but to begin the second half he was officially ruled out.

Typically, it's not good news when a team announces a player as "out" during the game.

Time and time again, we see injuries happen that players are clearly not going to be able to return from only for them to be called "questionable" with no further updates coming until after the game. Ballentine being officially declared as out suggests he underwent some tests on his knee and got worrying results on them.

Even with the Packers thin in the secondary, Ballentine hasn't been able to get much run as a cornerback this year. He played 37 defensive snaps back in Week 4, but otherwise has not played more than 2 defensive snaps in any single game this season.

He's a staple on most of the special teams units though, having played 63% of the available special teams snaps in his 10 games this season. That's in stark comparison to 2023, when he played 55% of the team's defensive snaps but just 33% on special teams.

Ballentine is only on a one-year deal with the Packers, and if this injury proves to be significant it could create some uncertainty around his future with the team overall, let alone just for this season. Special teams contributors can be valuable, but they're also not so valuable that you necessarily want to risk one returning from a serious knee injury.

For now, though, Packers fans will have their fingers crossed hoping the injury proves to be a minor one and that we see Ballentine back on the field soon.

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