Packers Enjoy Training Camp Largely Untouched by Injury

Health never lasts in the NFL, so I don’t feel like I’m jinxing anything by pointing this out. But I think it’s noteworthy — and good, obviously — that the Packers’ initial 53-man roster came together virtually unaltered due to injury.

With position battles going hard up and down the roster, it’s satisfying to know that the Packers got the roster they wanted with little input from the trainer’s room. Of the situations where injuries do seem to have affected the outcome, it wasn’t of significant consequence.

Consider: Tyler Goodson and Lew Nichols were both banged up and missed their opportunity to hold off a challenge from Emanuel Wilson, but this is the third running back we’re talking about. That’s about as low-stakes of a battle as you could hope for, and Wilson still had to contend with incumbent third back Patrick Taylor to win the job.

The same is true at safety, where offseason acquisition Tarvarius Moore now finds himself on injured reserve, but he seemed destined for a special teams role, at best, and may not have made the roster even if he had been healthy.

At tight end, the loss of Tyler Davis is a little bit more severe, given his role on special teams, but as far as serious playing time goes, he was never going to take snaps from Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, or Josiah Deguara on offense.

Again, the Packers’ health won’t last. But for now, at least, they head into the regular season just about as healthy as they could possibly hope, enjoying the corresponding benefit of knowing that every position battle of consequence was largely untouched by the injury bug.