GREEN BAY, WI (WSAU) – Despite several player’s optimism about Packers running back Aaron Jones being active tomorrow night against the Detroit Lions, head coach Matt LaFleur is feeling a little more cautious.
“We’ll see how he’s feeling tomorrow, but cautiously optimistic,” LaFleur said Tuesday.
Jones injured his hamstring on a score in Week 1 in Chicago, missing the next two games: a defeat at Atlanta and a victory against New Orleans.
“I don’t want to sacrifice one game for a longer period of time,” LaFleur said. “Until he’s cleared…we all want him out there, we know how valuable he is to our football team in so many aspects, but we want to make sure he’s able to protect himself and not be at further risk of injury.”
In Jones’ absence the last two weeks, A.J. Dillon carried 26 times for 88 yards and caught one pass for eight yards. Dillon has a 2.7-yard per-carry average through three games in 2023. Meanwhile, Jones averaged 4.6 yards per carry on nine attempts in Week 1 and has a career average of 5.1 yards.
Christian Watson told reporters that he is planning to play Thursday night, but LaFleur said he also needs to be cleared medically first.
