Packer Central

Saturday’s Packers Transactions: What They Mean for Sunday vs. Bears

The Green Bay Packers placed first-round pick Jordan Morgan on injured reserve and signed Robert Rochell. Here's what the moves that were made (and not made) mean for Sunday at the Bears.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers cornerback Robert Rochell
Green Bay Packers cornerback Robert Rochell / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Before hopping on a plane for a short flight to Chicago on Saturday, the Green Bay Packers placed offensive lineman Jordan Morgan on injured reserve and signed cornerback Robert Rochell from the practice squad for Sunday’s game at the Bears.

Here’s what the transactions that were made – and the moves that were not made – mean for Sunday.

Injured Reserve: OL Jordan Morgan

The Packers placed first-round pick Jordan Morgan on injured reserve due to an ongoing shoulder issue that he aggravated at Thursday’s practice.

“Unfortunate,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Friday, “and so we’re kind of going through that process right now of what’s next. So, we’re just working through it right now.”

Morgan played in six games this season, including his first career start against Detroit before the bye. He played in 186 snaps on offense. PFF charged him with zero sacks and seven pressures allowed in 104 pass-protecting snaps.

Morgan dealt with a shoulder injury during training camp, then missed three consecutive games early in the season after aggravating the injury.

Promoted: CB Robert Rochell

The Packers promoted cornerback Robert Rochell from the practice squad to the active roster. Adding Rochell, who was out of practice-squad elevations, is interesting in light of starting cornerback Jaire Alexander being questionable with a knee injury.

Alexander practiced all week as limited participation and was questionable on Friday’s injury report.

A fourth-round pick by the Rams in 2021, Rochell has played in four games for the Packers this season. All 49 snaps have come on special teams.

Not Elevated: DT Jonathan Ford

In the 2022 draft, the Packers used a seventh-round pick on defensive tackle Jonathan Ford.

Ford has fallen short of a roster spot in all three training camps and has not played in a regular-season game in his career.

With Colby Wooden doubtful with a shoulder injury that prevented him from practicing all week, would Ford get his first opportunity against the Bears?

Nope.

Instead, the Packers will go with Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks in a four-man rotation. That’s exactly how the Packers started the season against the Eagles in Week 1. 

“I think J-Ford continues to get better, and would have no reservations with that, and no hesitation to put him in a game,” coach Matt LaFleur said this week. “I think he’s really attacked it the right way and has shown a lot of improvement.”

Not Elevated: S Omar Brown

For the Detroit game, rookie safety Evan Williams did not practice all week and was inactive. This week, Williams was limited participation all three days and is questionable for the game.

That the Packers didn’t elevate Brown doesn’t necessarily mean Williams is good to go; the Packers didn’t elevate Brown against Detroit.

However, if Jaire Alexander and Williams are ready for Sunday, the Packers would have their preferred secondary of Alexander and Keisean Nixon at corner, Javon Bullard in the slot and Xavier McKinney and Williams at safety.

That would be huge against the Bears’ Caleb Williams. Evan Williams knows Caleb Williams well. Last year while at Oregon, Williams had nine tackles and one sack against Caleb Williams and USC.

“He’s a great player, for sure,” Evan Williams said. “Definitely a guy who’s going to create on his own, get out of the pocket, just a really good improviser.

“You’ve seen a couple times this season that that can be his downfall, as well. We just got to be disciplined on the back end, stick to our coverage and get ready to plaster, because we know he’s going to be running around the field and we’re going to have opps to make plays.”

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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.