Green Bay Packers RB Aaron Jones was seen participating in practice Monday afternoon ahead of Week 7 vs. the Denver Broncos. Jones has been hampered by a hamstring injury throughout most of the 2023 regular season. He wasn’t able to play in the Packers’ loss on MNF to the Las Vegas Raiders last week. It’s encouraging he’s practicing early in the week and we’ll be monitoring his status for this Sunday.
Aaron Jones injury: Fantasy football impact
Thursday, Oct. 20 update — Jones will be questionable to play against the Broncos. At this point it’s hard to tell if he will play or not, but if he does, he’s a must start in fantasy.
Per LaFleur, Jaire Alexander, Aaron Jones, Quay Walker & Eric Stokes are among those questionable. #Packers #GBvsDEN
— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) October 20, 2023
Thursday, Oct. 19 update — Jones was limited again on Thursday with his hamstring injury. Friday will be the day where we learn if he can shed the limited and questionable tag before a great matchup with the Broncos.
Thursday, Oct. 19 update — Jones is again practicing on Thursday after getting a limited practice in on Wednesday. He appears happy to be out there.
Aaron Jones appears to be in good spirits. pic.twitter.com/WKOBbPweq2
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) October 19, 2023
Wednesday, Oct. 18 update — Jones is participating in practice again on Wednesday, which is a great sign he’ll be able to return in a full capacity in Week 7 vs. the Broncos. He was officially listed as a limited participant at practice Wednesday. We’ll see if he can get in a few full practices with Thursday and Friday still to go. Expect either Jones to be off the injury report or a questionable tag that would be more leaning toward him playing.
Coming off the bye week, this could be the most healthy Jones has been since the opener. In that game, he torched the Bears for over 100 total yards and two TDs in a win. Getting Jones back would be huge for fantasy football managers as well as the Packers. Backup AJ Dillon hasn’t played well this season and isn’t a dynamic enough back to be featured heavily. If Jones can get in practices all week and get off the injury report, it would mean we could see a full workload for the back.
Jones’ return comes at a great point in the schedule. The Broncos have one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Jones would be a easy RB1 play against Denver if he’s able to return in full capacity. We saw Jones was active for TNF in Week 4 but he wasn’t used in a lead role, clearly still dealing with the injury.
If Jones is healthy and able to return, it’s going to be a huge boost for QB Jordan Love and the offense. Love’s best game was in the opener vs. the Bears when Jones was healthy. Since then, Love has had his struggles. Having Jones keeps defenses more honest since there wasn’t much threat out of the running game with Dillon and a mix of backups.