Packers-Bucs Injury Report: Reinforcements Needed Through Performance, Pain

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It’s a good thing the Green Bay Packers signed three veteran guards this week.

The Packers listed four players on their initial injury report of the week on Wednesday, their first practice before Sunday’s game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Four players didn’t practice, including the preferred starting guards at the end of training camp, Aaron Banks and Jacob Monk.

Banks, whose playing time this season has been limited to the first half of the Jets game in Week 2, was out again due to knee and toe injuries. Monk, who started the first three games at right guard, missed the end of Thursday’s loss to Atlanta with an injured quad.

Their injuries increase the possibility that two of the newcomers, left guard Laken Tomlinson and right guard Kevin Zeitler, will start – or at least play – against the Buccaneers.

Neither player was in a training camp this summer, though Tomlinson spent three weeks on the Cowboys’ practice squad before the Packers signed him. He will have to learn the playbook. Zeitler will have to learn the playbook, as well. Plus, he’ll have to get into football shape after “training and getting ready for any opportunity that came along” in Nashville.

“The best part about playing for all these teams over the years is I’ve had access to almost every type of offense here and there,” Zeitler said. “So, right now, it’s just learning the terminology, but all the concepts I’ve done in some way, shape or form. Now it’s just learning how the guys talk, how they space themselves, how it all works out. For Day 1, it went pretty darn smoothly, I’d say.”

The other players who didn’t practice for the Packers were defensive tackles Karl Brooks (illness) and Anthony Campbell (ankle). However, fellow defensive tackle Warren Brinson, who injured a calf before the second preseason game at Denver, returned to practice as limited participation.

Also limited were linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (shoulder/concussion) and edge player Lukas Van Ness (shoulder).

Receiver and “energy guy” Jayden Reed was placed on injured reserve, horrible news for the offense.

Quarterback Jordan Love, who has taken a pounding to start the season, is not on the injury report.

“I’ve definitely taken a lot of hits through the first three weeks,” he said. “It’s football. You’re going to take hits. It’s part of the process of going through the game, feeling out how your body feels. We have a great process of trying to get my body back right physically, feeling 100 percent. We all know you’re never going to feel 100 percent week to week, especially as the season goes on. It’s a physical sport, it’s a physical game.

“So, definitely we’ve got to clean up. I don’t want to take this many hits. We’ve got to be better in some areas. But I’m fine. I’ll be good.”

Buccaneers Injury News

For the Buccaneers, quarterback Baker Mayfield is out because of the dislocated thumb sustained late in the loss to the Vikings. Jalon Daniels is about to become the first undrafted rookie quarterback to start a game in the 52-year history of the Buccaneers.

“He simply put it as, 'You've been dreaming of this opportunity,’” Daniels told reporters. “Just stay composed, play as yourself, don't try to be anybody else besides yourself, and just go out there and go make football plays.’”

Daniels is inexperienced, obviously, as a passer, but he was a big-time running threat at Kansas. He called the opportunity a “dream come true.”

“Obviously, you get one first start; you don't do it twice,” he said. “So, living in the moment, I think that's everything. Being able to live in the moment, being able to take every single emotion in, to go through every emotion.

“I think that's something that somebody told me before: Every high, every low, every good, every bad … go through every single emotion because it builds you into who you're going to be and it builds character for every situation you're going to come through down the line.”

Also, receiver Jalen McMillan, who caught 37 passes for 461 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie in 2024, was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday with a knee injury.

Two of the Bucs’ top pass rushers, rookie Rueben Bain and Yaya Diaby, did not practice. Bain, the 15th pick of this year’s draft, was inactive last week. Diaby had 19 sacks and 38 tackles for losses during his first three seasons.

Packers Wednesday Injury Report

Did not participate: LG Aaron Banks (knee/toe), DT Karl Brooks (illness), DT Anthony Campbell (ankle), RG Jacob Monk (quad).

Limited participation: DT Warren Brinson (calf), LB Edgerrin Cooper (shoulder/concussion), edge Lukas Van Ness (shoulder).

Buccaneers Wednesday Injury Report

Did not participate: OLB Rueben Bain (groin/shoulder), OLB Yaya Diaby (calf/shoulder), WR Chris Godwin (ankle), TE Ko Kleft (elbow), QB Baker Mayfield (right thumb), DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches (ankle/foot), CB Jacob Parrish (personal).

Limited: LB SirVocea Dennis (calf), RB Bucky Irving (glute), DB Keionte Scott (toe), LB Josiah Trotter (shoulder).

I talked to a scout after the Packers were crushed by the Falcons. Here's what he said about the state of the team ...

And why there's reason for optimism. ⬇️https://t.co/MkSrZ56enT
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 30, 2026

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