Report: Packers RB Aaron Jones Not Expected to Play vs. Giants; Now What?

Packers running back Aaron Jones was questionable on the injury report following a knee injury sustained against the Chargers. Who will be the third running back?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Desperate times call for desperate measures. For the Green Bay Packers, who have won three consecutive games, these are not desperate times. Thus, running back Aaron Jones is not expected to play on Monday night against the New York Giants.

The news, first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, is not a surprise. Three weeks ago, he suffered a sprained MCL against the Chargers that led to him being carted off the field in tears. Jones and the Packers dodged a bullet that the injury was not more significant, but an MCL injury is a big deal for a running back.

So, after the Packers beat the Chargers, Lions and Chiefs the last three weeks, Jones will get one more week off with the hope that he’ll be ready to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the grass surface of Lambeau Field on Sunday.

Jones was limited participation at all three practices this week and questionable on the final injury report.

“I’ve played at 70 [percent] and less before,” he said. “So, as long as everything’s fine, I’m stable and I can go out there and take a hit and I’m able to get up to a decent amount of speed, I can play through pain and things like that.”

But Jones will not play; the line SI Sportsbook moved from Packers by 6.5 to Packers by 5.5 on the news.

The Packers are 3-2 without Jones. Of their four games of 24-plus points, three have been without him. But he’s still one of their premier playmakers. With the playoffs an increasingly realistic possibility, the Packers will want him at his best for the stretch run.

So, where will the Packers turn on Monday night? Obviously, AJ Dillon and Patrick Taylor will be the leading men for a third consecutive game. Against the Lions and Chiefs, veteran James Robinson was the third man in the backfield.

With the release of Robinson, that role is expected to fall upon veteran Kenyan Drake, who was signed to the practice squad on Tuesday, rather than rookie Ellis Merriweather, who has been on the practice squad since Nov. 6.

(Indeed, that was the transaction.)

Without Jones the last two games, the handoff count has been 32 for Dillon and five for Taylor.

“I think a lot of that is what’s the situation,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “PT’s gone in there in some of those known passing situations whether it’s two-minute, whether it’s some of the third downs to give AJ a break. So, it’s more situationally based.”

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