With a broken thumb, could AJ Dillon still play? Packers believe there’s a…..

With a broken thumb, could AJ Dillon still play? Packers believe there’s a possibility

GREEN BAY — With a broken right thumb, AJ Dillon was listed as questionable on the injury report from last week, but coach Matt LaFleur was pretty certain the Green Bay Packers running back wouldn’t play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Following “Monday Night Football,” there was little opportunity for in-practice contact to assess Dillon’s ability to protect the football and fracture from potential tacklers. As a result, LaFleur admitted on Wednesday that Dillon didn’t get much of a chance to play in last Sunday’s 34-20 loss.

But the away game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday? Well, that’s another story.

After practice on Wednesday, LaFleur stated, “There weren’t many live reps (last week) to get the work in to see where he was at — his ability to handle the ball, pass protect and catch the ball.” This week, I believe we’ll have a more accurate gauge. We truly experienced a few live moments as well as the individual drills, which are quite instructive.

Dillon did not predict whether he would play against the Panthers, but he did admit after practice that he struggled with being inactive against the Buccaneers.

While No. 1 running back Aaron Jones has struggled with hamstring and knee injuries, Dillon, who leads the team in rushing this season (574 yards), has scored three touchdowns in total (two rushing, one receiving). “That was a really, really not fun experience,” Dillon said.

I approach every game, including Connect Four and Chutes and Ladders, with the mindset of a competitor: I want to be involved and I want to be playing.

It was really annoying not to be out there with the team. However, I’m doing everything I can, the training staff is doing everything they can, and we’re all doing everything we can to position me to be as helpful to the team as possible— whenever that happens.

Ben Sirmans, the running backs coach, stated that he has never had a player play with a broken thumb and that ball security is “without a doubt” the most important problem. He added that any decision about Dillon playing will also take his pain threshold into account.

“Obviously, having both hands is pretty important in the running back position,” Sirmans remarked. “The key is to see how much he can do with the injury and what he can do overall to see if he can play on Sunday.”

However, the Packers could definitely use Dillon as Jones is unable to handle a full workload while recovering from a knee injury that kept him out of action for three games before he played again against Tampa Bay. After Jones, the practice squad’s veteran Kenyan Drake and Patrick Taylor are the next available players.