Packer Central

Packers-Eagles Inactives: Hollins Will Make Debut

Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell will miss a fourth consecutive game for the Packers on Sunday night against the Eagles.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – What a week for Justin Hollins. Last Sunday, he played 20 snaps for the Los Angeles Rams. On Tuesday, he was released. On Wednesday, he was claimed off waivers by the Green Bay Packers. He made his practice debut on Thursday and is active for Sunday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Packers’ inactives include linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and receiver Romeo Doubs. Campbell will miss a fourth consecutive game with a knee injury. He returned to practice on Friday but was listed as doubtful. Doubs will miss a third consecutive game with an ankle injury sustained on the first offensive snap at Detroit. He hasn’t practiced since the injury and was ruled out on Friday.

The other inactives are cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles (ankle), safety Johnathan Abram, offensive tackle Rasheed Walker and defensive tackle Jonathan Ford.

The Eagles, with a healthy roster, didn’t have anyone of note on their inactives list.

Hollins arrived on Thursday, making it a memorable Thanksgiving.

“It was great today,” he said. “Airport wasn’t congested. It was way calmer. It’s nice, man. And it’s green out here, too.”

Hollins was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 draft by the Denver Broncos. He had one sack as a rookie but was released at the end of training camp in 2020 and claimed off waivers by the Rams. Playing off the bench in all 16 games in 2020, he set career highs with three sacks and five quarterback hits.

Hollins missed about half of last season with a torn pectoral but had a key stop in the Super Bowl. This year, he played in all 10 games, including five starts, and had one sack before his release.

“You can’t get your feelings involved, you know?” he said. “It’s a business, at the end of the day. So, you come in with a fresh slate, just ready to put in work and whatever happens, happens. You can only control what you can control, and you move forward with the best attitude and put your best foot forward.”

After his release, he called his agent, Frank Bauer, and discussed the possibilities should he hit free agency. The Packers weren’t part of their conversation, he said, so he was a “little surprised” that they wound up being his landing spot.

Green Bay’s been a man down at outside linebacker following Rashan Gary’s season-ending knee injury. Backup and special teams player Tipa Galeai remains on injured reserve, as well, leaving the Packers with only starters Preston Smith and Kingsley Enagbare and backup Jonathan Garvin on the 53-man roster.

The Rams and Packers run similar defensive schemes, easing Hollins’ transition. There’s a common thread, too: Joe Barry, the Packers’ defensive coordinator who served as the Rams’ linebackers coach in 2020.

“Joe B was over there in LA a couple years ago (with then-defensive coordinator Brandon) Staley when I first got there,” Hollins said. “So, I built a relationship with him. Looking over it, scheming over it, there’s a lot of carryover. Different terminology here and there. Of course, he’s going to put his own spin on things. So, I’ve just got to adapt to that and have a good handle on that. It shouldn’t be hard.”

Barry was hopeful Hollins could contribute immediately. In 2020, Hollins was released by the Broncos on Sept. 5 and played eight days later.

The turnaround’s a bit quicker this time.

“He literally got here walking out to the practice field,” Barry said on Friday. “We’ll see what happens. He was able to get a little bit of work yesterday, got a little more work today. So, we’ll see. But he’s a great kid. He’s played a lot of football. He just played in the Super Bowl. He’s played a lot of ball, and he’s been on the biggest of stages, so it’s not going to be too big for him. He’s a great kid and hopefully we can use him.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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