Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings is officially listed as Doubtful for Thursday night’s game against Chicago. The Packer, who is dealing with a groin injury, is said to have a “50-50” chance of playing in this NFC North clash against the Bears.
Play it safe and keep Jennings on your bench this week, especially if you have other, healthier options or room to pick up someone off of the waiver wire.
Jennings sustained the groin injury late in the Week 1 loss to San Francisco and hasn’t practiced all week. The short turnaround for the Thursday game hurts him even more, not to mention that groin injuries are very easy to re-aggravate. Even if Jennings does make it on the field, there's no guarantee of how many snaps he will get or if he will even be able to make it through the entire game.
This early in the season, even though they could very well be 0-2 by the end of tonight’s game, the Packers will more than likely err on the side of caution when it comes to Jennings and if you have him on your roster, I think you should too.
Fret not Aaron Rodgers owners, Jennings’ absence does nothing to change his fantasy value as he ranked as Athlon Sports’ No. 1 quarterback for Week 2 [13]. As evidenced last week when the Packers managed a measly 45 yards on the ground, win or lose, Rodgers is going to throw the ball plenty.
There’s no reason to not expect him to put up 250-300 yards passing and two-three touchdown passes each week, if not more considering he went for more than 300 (2 TDs, 1 INT) against the 49ers, the NFC’s No. 1 defense last season.
No, the one who’s impacted most by Jennings not playing would be the other receivers, namely Randall Cobb and James Jones. Fellow wide receiver Jordy Nelson is already a borderline top-10 wide receiver option [14], while tight end Jermichael Finley may even see an increase in targets his way. Donald Driver also could see an increase in playing time, but I wouldn’t count on getting much production from the 37-year-old veteran. Not with the other options ahead of him on the depth chart.
Speaking of Cobb and Jones, either one or both could put up starter-worthy numbers on Thursday night, if anything because of the increase in opportunities with Jennings on the sideline. Jones is listed second on the depth chart behind Jennings, so presumably he will get the start opposite Nelson if Jennings can’t go.
Jones led all Packers receivers with 81 yards receiving against San Francisco in Week 1, hauling in a total of four passes, including a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Jones also had a 28-yard completion earlier in the game wiped out by an offensive pass interference penalty called on him.
Although Jones should get the start if Jennings doesn’t play, Cobb would be my choice for the one to have a bigger impact fantasy-wise. The dynamic wide receiver/returner was second on the team to Finley in targets in Week 1 with nine. He converted all of those targets into receptions, finishing with 77 yards receiving and also returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Packers lined Cobb all over the field — in the slot, on the outside, in the backfield — in an effort to get him the ball in space and I expect to see the same against the Bears. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he didn’t get a carry or two either as a running back or on some sort of reverse/trick play as the Packers look to jumpstart an ineffective running game.
Early games are always the toughest when it comes to game-time decisions, but an injury classification of Doubtful is much closer to Out/Inactive than it is Questionable. Rodgers and the Packers have plenty of other options to not risk Jennings injuring himself even more. I recommend you do the same if you have him on your roster.
— By Mark Ross, published on Sept. 13, 2012
Related:
2012 Fantasy Football Positional Rankings: Week 2 [15]
