Dillon Faces Uncertain Future After Going on Injured Reserve

As part of the Green Bay Packers’ roster cuts on Tuesday, they placed running back AJ Dillon on injured reserve. What’s next is a mystery.

Green Bay Packers RB AJ Dillon is shown at the June minicamp. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With AJ Dillon landing on injured reserve as part of the Green Bay Packers’ roster cuts on Tuesday, the running back known for his big quads and big personality probably has played his final game for the team.

The Packers re-signed Dillon to a one-year contract in free agency. By placing him on injured reserve without listing him as designated to return – that’s how they handled defensive tackle Jonathan Ford, meaning he can return after Week 4 – the Packers will be unable to activate Dillon once he’s healthy.

The big question going forward is if the 26-year-old Dillon will ever be healthy to resume his NFL career.

Dillon missed the final three games of last season with a stinger. This year, he was healthy for the entire offseason program and the start of training camp until suffering another stinger during the joint practice at Denver on Aug. 16.

The injury kept him out of the preseason game against the Broncos on Aug. 18, the preseason finale against the Ravens on Aug. 24 and the practice week in between.

Given how his season ended last year and as he waited for answers about this injury, Dillon admitted he was worried.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s human nature,” he said on Aug. 21, “but there is nothing you can do about it. I’m not a doctor, so it’s kind of on their time to let me know what their thoughts are. Our trainers, I think above everything, we want to be safe and smart.

“You only get one body. So, thinking about how we can be out there and be as protected but also go out there and play care-free and go play football the way I want to play football.”

A day later, coach Matt LaFleur said the team was “waiting for a couple more (medical) opinions.”

In most cases, the symptoms of a stinger – a burning sensation, pain and numbness in the arm – go away quickly. However, repeated stingers with lingering symptoms can be a cause for concern.

As the University of Virginia’s David J. Hryvniak, a physical medicine and rehab specialist at the University of Virginia said:

“A series of stingers or stingers in both arms are always a cause for concern and would require expert medical evaluation. There is some concern of cervical spine involvement with these cases.”

It’s possible those “couple more opinions” referenced by LaFleur pertained to checking Dillon’s spine, but that would be speculation. It also would be speculation the Packers were ready to go younger and cheaper and used the injury as a reason to move on.

Dillon’s camp has been understandably tight-lipped throughout.

A study conducted between 2015 and 2019 found that there were 691 stingers sustained during NFL games, with running backs and linebackers the positions most frequently impacted. According to the study, 76.4 percent of players did not miss time. For those who did miss time, the average time out of action was just 4.8 days.

Dillon, who didn’t miss a game due to injury in his career until suffering a broken thumb against the Giants last year, missed the final regular-season game and both playoff contests with a stinger. And now, he’s out indefinitely.

Stingers “definitely (are) not all alike,” Dillon said.

“Some are a lot common, like a lot of guys reference getting a stinger at some point,” he said. “I’ve had stingers in the past before the incident last year. As you know, certain things happen. Some are more severe than others. You kind of look at it differently but, like I said, we’re waiting to get opinions back (and) see all the information before we make any statements that are untrue.”

Dillon would have been a key reserve for the Packers behind Josh Jacobs, no different than the previous three years behind Aaron Jones.

While Dillon averaged a career-low 3.4 yards per carry last season, he caught 22 passes for 223 yards. Among all players who were targeted at least 25 times last season, Dillon’s 10.8 yards after the catch per catch ranked third in the league.

Moreover, he fumbled only three times in 683 career touches, including zero in 200 touches last year. Pro Football Focus charged him with one sack in 165 pass-protecting snaps in four seasons.

With a new build, Dillon was filled with optimism last week.

“I think my camp’s been great,” he said. “I had a goal in mind to come out here and be as healthy and as in shape as I possibly could be, and touching weights that I’ve never been at before.

“I’m having a good time just kind of flying around and trying to be a leader – another leader in the room, in the offense. I have a really good grasp of what we do on offense. I think doing that and having that knowledge, I’ve really been able to just kind of slow the game down. So, in practices and in situations we’ve been in, I’ve been pretty relaxed and having a ton of fun just playing football.” 

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