Packer Central

Packers Sign All-American Receiver to Practice Squad

The Green Bay Packers signed an All-American receiver, Malik Knowles, to the practice squad. Plus, they’ve added a lineman after losing one to the Patriots.

Bill Huber

Packers practice squad receiver Malik Knowles was an All-American at Kansas State.
Packers practice squad receiver Malik Knowles was an All-American at Kansas State. / Ben Queen-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will have a couple fresh faces on the field for the start of the practice week on Wednesday.

The Packers signed receiver Malik Knowles and offensive tackle Spencer Rolland to the practice squad. Rolland fills the spot held by center Lecitus Smith, who was signed to the Patriots’ 53-man roster on Tuesday.

Knowles (6-foot-2, 196 pounds) was a two-time All-America at Kansas State. In 2021, he made it as a returner, when he averaged 33.1 yards per kickoff return and ranked second in the nation with two kickoff-return touchdowns. In 2022, he made it as an all-purpose player after catching 48 passes for 725 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 25.7 yards per kickoff return.

He went undrafted in 2023 and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. He spent last season on the reserve/non-football injury list due to a knee injury and was cut at the end of training camp this summer after catching one pass for 1 yard and returning two kickoffs for a total of 43 yards.

Luther takes the practice-squad spot of first-year player TJ Luther, who was placed on practice squad injured reserve due to a hamstring injury.

In high school, he shot up from 5-foot-6 to 6-foot-2.

“One day I was like, ‘I guess I have to focus on receiver now,’” Knowles said. “Technique-wise, I had to learn a bunch of different stuff. My footwork was a lot different than it was as a running back.”

Injuries and the passing of his mother from cancer were obstacles on the way to stardom.

“The grieving process is hard, because you get so many people telling you, ‘I’m so sorry.’ It’s nice, but at the same time your mom is gone and there’s nothing anyone can say,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who’s now with the Miami Dolphins.

“I just told him, ‘There are better days to come. And even though she’s not here, she still sees you.’ That’s the connection we have. We know our moms are up there looking down over us. Their hands are on our shoulders. I always tell him, ‘Let’s go be special and do something great for them.’”

Knowles will have at least one familiar face in the Packers’ locker room. Rolland also spent training camp with the Vikings.

Rolland played six collegiate seasons – 2018 through 2021 at Harvard and 2022 and 2023 at North Carolina. He was an honorable mention on the all-ACC team last year as a right tackle. Pro Football Focus charged him with just one sack last year, a big improvement over six in 2022.

At North Carolina, he was a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy – aka the Academic Heisman.

For the Vikings, he played left guard during the preseason and gave up one pressure in 32 pass-protecting snaps, according to PFF.

“I think I’m a very versatile guy,” he told KSTP-TV before the draft. “In the past three years, I’ve learned three different offenses and playbooks. I feel like I keep on improving and I’m going to take the next step at the next level.”

At 6-foot-6 and 306 pounds, his Relative Athletic Score was 7.15.

Rolland grew up in Minnesota, so playing for the Vikings was a dream come true.

“It’s a childhood dream of mine,” Rolland told The Star-Tribune. “It’s amazing to actually have the purple and gold on.”

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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.