A pleasant surprise for the Green Bay Packers to kick off their on-field preparations for Week 1: rookie quarterback MarShawn Lloyd returned to practice on Sunday, according to Ryan Wood from PackersNews.com.
Lloyd, a third-round draft pick out of USC, injured his hamstring during the Packers’ preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 10. He returned to the field three weeks and a day later — potentially giving Lloyd enough time to prepare for Friday’s season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil.
“We’ll see, we’ll give him a week to see how he progresses,” coach Matt LaFleur said Sunday. “We’ll be smart with him. He was limited today, but he’s getting more and more done. We’ll see where he is.”
The Packers left Lloyd and Emanuel Wilson on the 53-man roster behind starter Josh Jacobs at the start of the season, suggesting Lloyd will be vigorous sooner than his minimum four-week stay on the injured reserve list. Meanwhile, AJ Dillon was placed on the season-ending injured reserve list.
Lloyd missed the start of training camp with a minor hip injury and then tore his hamstring in his only run of the preseason. His lack of reps this summer could make it arduous for him to get on the field at the start of the regular season.
In fact, it’s possible Lloyd and Wilson will split duties behind Jacobs until the rookie is physically and mentally ready to tackle a bigger role.
“We don’t want to give him something he’s never done before, I don’t think that’s fair to the player,” LaFleur said. “We have to teach him, let him go through it and then make sure he can execute it in the game.”
The Packers will release their first injury report of the week on Monday. Not only was Lloyd available for practice on Sunday, but every player on the 53-man roster participated in some capacity.
Welcome to Week 1️⃣
Everyone on #Packers‘ A 53-man roster is practicing, including fresh K Brayden Narveson and RB MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring injury).
FYI, there will be no injury report today. photo: twitter.com/QFrIVMz1S8
— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) September 1, 2024
Lloyd was selected 88th overall in the 2024 draft. In 2022, he led South Carolina in rushing yards and in 2023, he led USC in rushing yards.
