GREEN BAY – The Packers have taken their share of hits during the first month of the 2026 NFL season, as several key veterans and leaders have succumbed to injuries.
Four players – receiver Jayden Reed (neck), linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (Achilles), tackle Zach Bako-Bewele (knee) and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (Achilles) – have been lost for the season while several others have landed on injured reserve.
Attrition has tested Green Bay's resolve and led to the team reinforcing the 53-man roster through a series of trades, free-agent signings and promotions from its practice squad.
Despite the setbacks, the Packers still find themselves above .500 and riding back-to-back wins into Sunday night's showdown with the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field.
It has taken a village to help Green Bay get to this point, including several unsung heroes who have stepped up in a major way during the team's 3-2 start.
Guard/tackle Travis Glover
The 2024 sixth-round pick has been solid in two starts at right guard with Jacob Monk out due to a quad injury and Kevin Zeitler still getting up to speed on the playbook.
Glover's first NFL start against Tampa Bay two weeks ago doubled as his first in-game action in more than a year after a torn latissimus dorsi muscle sidelined him for the 2025 season.
Glover barely saw action as a rookie, either. The 6-foot-6, 317-pound offensive lineman played just 13 offensive snaps during the 2024 regular season before a 28-snap relief appearance in the Packers' wild-card playoff loss in Philadelphia.
Glover was in contention for a role on the offensive line before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair his lat last summer.
"I never saw anything like that happening," Glover said. "For that to happen so early, it was really derailing. But once you take a look and realize that there's nothing you can do about it other than attack each and every day trying to get better; trying to help the team in any way I can just to get back to a point where I can be in the position I am today."
The only silver lining is the injury happened so early that Glover was pretty much able to jump right into his offseason training once the 2025 season concluded.
He made the team coming out of training camp but was a healthy scratch the first two weeks. Then Bako-Bewele, left guard Aaron Banks (knee/toe) and starting right guard Jacob Monk (quad) all went down within two weeks of each other.
Needing a new option at right guard, offensive line coach Luke Butkus pitched for Glover despite the former Georgia State standout repping mostly at tackle over the summer.
The Packers plugged him in against Tampa Bay and Glover has played an integral role in the team's last two victories.
"It's been a long road getting back, so it felt good going out there playing football and having fun again," Glover said. "It's a different type of feeling; one I ain't felt in a very long time. But it just feels great to be out there with this group of guys."
Linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper
Hopper, like Glover, was a product of a bountiful 2024 draft class that has paid major dividends for the Packers.
However, Green Bay's overwhelming depth at linebacker limited Hopper's workload on defense through his first two NFL seasons, confining the former third-round pick to special teams.
That changed in Tampa when Cooper – drafted one round earlier than Hopper in 2024 – tore his Achilles. To replace their dynamic playmaker, the Packers opted to platoon veteran Isaiah McDuffie and Hopper in the linebacker spot next to Zaire Franklin in a 31-7 win over Chicago on Sunday.
Hopped responded with two tackles and one of the defense's five takeaways, picking off Bears quarterback Case Keenum in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
"I've seen a ton of growth," Head Coach Matt LaFleur sad. "If you talk from Year 1 now to being in Year 3, I think we kind of saw this coming throughout the course of OTAs and certainly into training camp. So that's really exciting, to see that, because that's the guy we envisioned when we drafted him."
Tight end Mark Redman
Needing a "Y" tight end for in-line blocking, General Manager Brian Gutekunst sent a future seventh-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for Redman at the end of training camp.
The 6-foot-5, 258-pound tight end made a strong bid for a roster spot in LA this summer, but the problem was the Rams already had five other tight ends in the fold.
Since coming to Green Bay, Redman has seen his workload grow by the week. He had two catches for 29 yards against the Buccaneers and helped pave the way to several explosive runs.
His presence has enabled the Packers to run more "13" personnel packages centered around Tucker Kraft, veteran Jonnu Smith and Redman.
"It's awesome being on the other side of things," Redman said. "I was on the (Rams') practice squad last year, and just being able to play and kind of showcase your talents (now) …
"Whether you catch five balls for 100 yards, or you just spring a couple big blocks, or you're on special teams, if you're winning, you're going to get noticed. That's kind of what it is to me."
Receiver J. Michael Sturdivant
The former Florida receiver has seen plenty of action since he extended the Packers' streak to 21 years of at least one undrafted rookie making the team's Week 1 roster.
Sturdivant not only has emerged as a tenacious gunner opposite Bo Melton in punt coverage but has also taken on more receiver responsibility after injuries to Reed, Savion Williams (ankle) and now Skyy Moore (ankle).
After catching three passes for 22 yards against the Falcons, the 6-foot-3, 207-pound wideout nearly caught his first NFL TD against the Bears – only to have the 43-yard score wiped off the board due to a questionable offensive pass interference penalty.
Quarterback Jordan Love doesn't expect Sturdivant's wait to find the end zone to last much longer, especially with how many wideouts Green Bay is presently missing.
"Another guy that hasn't got too many reps with the ones and now injuries, things like that happen, now he's put in that role," Love said. "He's done a great job so far. Talking about the catch, I think there's some stuff he can clean up on that one, so we don't get called for OPI, but I know he's a guy that's going to make plays when the ball is in the air."
Edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton
The rookie fourth-round pick made his presence felt against the Bears, recording three tackles, two sacks, a pass defensed and fumble recovery in just 32 defensive snaps.
How impressive was the showing? No other Packers rookie since 1999 has posted a sack, multiple tackles for a loss (two) and a fumble recovery in a game.
It's valuable production for a Green Bay pass rush that's navigated the first month of the season without Micah Parsons, its four-time All-Pro pass rusher.
"I'm really proud of how Dani has taken on his role and his challenge," edge rusher Lukas Van Ness said. "Just his coming in and really being able to produce in a limited amount of snaps and help this defense. He's a talented kid."
