Packers Make Big Roster Move, And It’s Not Just Activating Josh Jacobs

DETROIT – The Green Bay Packers got by with four defensive linemen for last week’s win against the Dallas Cowboys. They’ll have five available for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

The Packers activated defensive tackle Jordon Riley from injured reserve on Saturday.

The Packers, as expected, added running back Josh Jacobs to the active roster and signed receiver Coleman Owen to the active roster from the practice squad. Those moves, as reported on Saturday morning by Packers On  SI, are detailed here. Plus, they made one practice-squad elevation; more on that in a moment.

Here is our weekly look at the roster moves.

Return of Jordon Riley

Riley, who is coming off a torn Achilles, will provide depth where depth had evaporated with Warren Brinson, Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Ford on injured reserve.

“I knew just sticking to the process this day was going to come,” Riley said this week. “I know those days where it’s like, ‘Ah, man, we doing the same thing over and over’ and the days that I got over that hump, and each day I would get better and better.

“Those are the days I look at and I was proud. I don’t know how I handled it. Those are the days I think about where if it wasn’t me sticking to it every day, I wouldn’t be here at this point. So, that’s how I feel about it.”

Riley, who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 338 pounds but tips the scales at a bit less than that following his rehab, was signed late last season to add a stouter presence against the run. He delivered four quality performances before sustaining a torn Achilles in the second-to-last game of the season against Baltimore.

“Big, stout, physical D-lineman. Exactly what we need,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Friday. “He brings great size. I love his energy, his attitude – it’s very contagious. The work he puts in does not go unnoticed by anybody. Excited for when he gets the opp to go out there and play.”

The 28-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Giants in 2023 and played in 21 games with five starts during his first two seasons. He was on their practice squad when the Packers signed him last year.

When Riley was injured last season, the Packers brought back Ford. Now that Ford is injured, Riley will fill the void.

It’s a key role. Green Bay’s defense was 0.39 yards per carry better when Ford was on the field compared to when he was on the sideline.

Riley will join a defensive front that includes Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, Chris McClellan and Anthony Campbell.

“It’s just been good, man,” Riley said of the last two weeks. “I’ve just been taking it one day at a time and just soaking it all in really. Being coached and messing up, and finally getting to mess up, get coached up. So, it’s been good.”

Riley was limited participation at all six practices the past two weeks.

“Body’s feeling great, man,” Riley said. “The body’s feeling surprisingly where I thought it was going to be. It’s just every day getting better and better. As close as you get, it’s feeling better and better. I’m in a good spot.”

Riley hasn’t played in a game since Dec. 27, so Sunday’s game will mark his return after almost a 10-month layoff. He said the technique has been “like riding a bike.” In fact, he said he’s in a “better spot” than he thought he would be at this point.

“It’s really just technical for me,” he said. “I think mentally I was already locked in in the playbook. There’s walkthroughs, OTAs, you got training camp, so a lot of times when I couldn’t be at those, in those walkthroughs, I was mentally in the back taking those reps.

“We got good coaching. So, getting that too on the side, stuff like that, that really helped out. So, when I came in, I wasn’t really worried about the play, it was how can I play this block? How can I set ourself in this call? As far as like schematic, technical execution, those reps was already banked mentally.”

Riley will have a key role against the Lions. While they are a modest 13th in rushing yards per game and 11th in rushing yards per carry, Jahmyr Gibbs is fifth in the NFL with 504 rushing yards even though the Lions have played only four games.

“I want to come in and help these guys stop the run,” Riley said. “Obviously, we’re doing a good job as of now and continue to help in any way I can, whether it’s blocking a field goal or anything. Anything. But the main thing is stopping the run so these guys can go rush.”

Elevated: Edge Arron Mosby

With linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin out with injuries, meaning Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper will start on defense rather than being stalwarts on defense, the Packers for a second consecutive week elevated Arron Mosby from the practice squad.

He had an assisted tackle in his season debut last week against Dallas.

“I think that’s what’s great about the practice squad is it’s not a 53-man roster anymore. It’s a 70-man roster” special teams coordinator Cam Achord said this week of the experience provided by Mosby, among others. 

“Those guys understand that each week you’re a sickness or an injury away from playing. Obviously, it’s an injury that’s long term, you’re on the active roster. It makes those guys at practice, they got to know the game plan. They got to know what’s going on.”

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