Good thing there are two reports in August. The first will deal with getting the season started. The second may include some football. As this season gets started more details are being revealed. Every NFL team; must allow any player to opt-out of the season, now has a COVID Reserve List, will have to be down to 80 players by August 16^th, will have to follow the same ramp up schedule, and will have NO preseason games. The things that can vary from one team to another will be allowable fan attendance at games if any and how to keep COVID out. So this report brings you up to speed on how these things affect the Packers. Usually by this time players are practicing and we are discussing the results – but not this year.

One player has chosen to opt-out – WR Devin Funchess. So this brings us back to essentially what GB had last year at the wide receiver position. This favors WR Allen Lazard and/or WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Some would also include WR Equanimeous St. Brown, but he was on injured reserve all last year. He won’t develop the necessary trust with his quarterback with missing so much time and having the practice constraints placed on him this year. Lazard was Green Bay’s number two receiver last year. Scantling seemed to have the trust of QB Aaron Rodgers but got injured and played thru it during the season. But his effectiveness as a receiver was diminished with the injury.

The Packers have five players on the COVID Reserve List. They are; TE Jace Sternberger, K Mason Crosby, DL Treyon Hester, OLB Greg Roberts, and LS Hunter Bradley. This list is for those who have been exposed to COVID-19 or those who have tested positive for COVID-19. Neither the league nor the team is divulging which for each player. There is a procedure to get off the list. But the process can take as long as 2 weeks. The Packers have installed daily testing for everyone who has any contact with the players. Everyone in the organization who works at Lambeau and players are expected to be very careful while they are away from Lambeau. If the Packers are going to win good health will be a primary contributor. To that end the Packers are hoping to be able to host about 10,000 fans at Lambeau for home games. But the final decision on that is still to be made. There is plenty of time for Sternberger, Crosby, and Bradley to get off the list. They need all three.

The Packers roster is now down to 83 players – including those on the COVID Reserve List. Expect all the releases for the August 16^th cut-down to 80 to be from the bottom of the roster. The following have now been released; FB Jordan Jones, FB Elijah Wellman, OG Cole Madison, and QB Jalen Morton. All are undrafted free agents except for Cole who was a 5^th round draft pick a couple years ago and skipped his rookie year because of emotional issues. As I said, expect the others to also be undrafted free agents. It isn’t fair to them, but that is the kind of year this has been.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, until we know more the preferred Packer fantasy players are; QB Aaron Rodgers, RB Aaron Jones, WR Davante Adams, TE Jace Sternberger if you need a tight end, – and depending on how you view it, K Mason Crosby, and the Packer Defense. The second report is due just as the football end of things picks up. Hopefully there will be reports about the practices no one but approved reporters will be able to cover. So I will wait a few days longer to finally (and hopefully) post some real football news. Sure beats perceived COVID news. Stay safe until next month.

End.