Cowboys won't comment on bizarre Trevon Diggs home accident that led to concussion protocol

The Green Bay Packers are looking to start the 2025 season on a dominant note when they host the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon and will do so with most of their players available, despite a crowded injury report.

The Packers will have starting wide receiver Jayden Reed and newly acquired All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons available against the Lions on Sunday after the team listed both as questionable to play in Week 1’s final injury report.

Reed will play through a foot injury that held him out of Wednesday’s practice and then kept him limited for the remainder of the week. Meanwhile, Parsons is working through a back injury that could limit his playing time in his Packers debut against the Lions.

Veteran cornerback Nate Hobbs, however, will not play against the Lions due to a knee injury, leaving the Packers without one of their top projected cornerbacks in an already-thin position group. Hobbs returned to practice in a limited capacity this week for the first time since July 31, but the Packers opted to remain cautious with him for Week 1.

The Packers’ other inactives include: safety Zayne Anderson, guard Donovan Jennings, tight end Ben Sims, defensive tackle Warren Brinson and defensive end Barryn Sorrell.

Here’s what you need to know before the Packers kick off against the Lions in Week 1:

Packers Remain Narrow 1.5 Favorites Against Lions

The Packers are slight favorites against the Lions for Sunday’s game in most prominent sportsbooks, with both DraftKings and FanDuel giving them a 1.5-point advantage.

While the Lions are the two-time reigning NFC North champions, the Packers will have home-field advantage for their opening game to give them an additional edge. They also likely received a projected bump from sportsbooks after acquiring Parsons, which, to most analysts, solidified the Packers are legitimate Super Bowl contenders for 2025.

Even still, the Packers can’t get complacent against a Lions squad that has bested them in six of their last seven matchups. The Packers have only defeated the Lions one time in two seasons with Jordan Love as their starting quarterback, winning most recently at Detroit’s Ford Field in November 2023 when they pulled out a 29-22 road victory.

Packers Likely to Keep Micah Parsons on Snap Count

GettyPackers pass rusher Micah Parsons.The Packers made a franchise-shaking move last week when they traded two first-round picks and veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons from the Cowboys, but they are unlikely to play their new superstar on every down against the Lions.

Parsons participated in every practice this week for the Packers, but the team kept him limited out of caution for the back injury that has ailed him since before the Packers traded for him. This week was also the first time since the end of the 2024 season that Parsons has practiced after he sat out of offseason activities with the Cowboys this year.

Ultimately, Parsons said he would leave it up to the Packers to decide how much he plays against the Lions in Week 1, but a snap count is expected — especially since the Packers have former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness to help pad their rotation.

“I have a lot of drawings packed away for when he is ramped up and ready to go,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “But for now it’s just kind of getting a glimpse of what [it] is going to be and trying to figure out early what he can do best, what he can do right now, and what gives our team the best chance to have success.”

Packers Need DTs to Step Up Without Kenny Clark

The Packers might have added a perennial Pro Bowl pass rusher to their defense with the trade for Parsons, but they also lost a significant piece in the middle with Clark.

Clark — a 2016 first-round pick — had been a cornerstone piece of the Packers defense over the past nine seasons, tallying 422 tackles and 35 sacks in that span and making three different Pro Bowl rosters in 2019, 2021 and 2023. While he struggled in 2024 in the first year of Hafley’s 4-3 defense (one sack, five quarterback hits), his subtraction from Green Bay’s roster leaves a gaping hole that youngsters must step up to fill.

The Packers have former first-round pick Devonte Wyatt in the middle to help them keep things steady, but he will need to share the burden of replacing Clark with Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks and undrafted rookie Nazir Stackhouse — all of whom will have opportunities to earn larger roles for the defense starting this week.

Micah Robinson Elevated to Make NFL Debut vs. Lions

The Packers won’t have Hobbs — their $48 million free-agent signing — at all against the Lions on Sunday, which means they could also give rookie seventh-rounder Micah Robinson the first snaps of his career after elevating him off the practice squad.

Robinson made the Packers’ initial 53-man roster coming out of training camp, largely due to the injuries plaguing the team at cornerback, but the Packers turned around and released him the day after roster cuts to sign linebacker Nick Niemann to take his place.

While the Packers re-signed him to the practice squad, Robinson’s apparent demotion raised questions about how long it would take him to start contributing to the rotation. The Packers have five cornerbacks signed to their active roster, but Kamal Hadden and Bo Melton have virtually no experience playing defense in the NFL heading into 2025.

Now, it seems Robinson is in line to at least play special teams against the Lions.