Jordan Morgan is officially eligible to return from injured reserve at any point, since he has been on IR for four weeks now. However, it doesn’t look like he will be back in the lineup anytime soon. John Miller, from NBC 26, watched practice on Thursday and brought up a concerning update.
The first-round rookie had a sling on his injured right shoulder. So it sounds like Morgan is not even close to being ready to play.
Morgan had been handling a shoulder injury since training camp. However, he started the first Detroit Lions game in Week 9 at left guard, when Josh Myers missed the week and the Packers were forced to move Elgton Jenkins to center.
After that, the first-rounder aggravated his shoulder injury at practice ahead of the Chicago Bears game in Week 11, right after the bye.
“Again, unfortunate,” head coach Matt LaFleur said at the time. “We’re going through that process of what’s next, so we’re just working through it right now.”
The Packers used the 25th overall pick in this year’s draft to select Jordan Morgan with the idea that he could play both tackle and guard spots.
After moving him around throughout OTAs and early in training camp, the Packers decided to establish Morgan at right guard in his rookie season to allow his specific development.
Morgan rotated with Sean Rhyan at right guard in five games this season — Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars. Then, he started against the Lions at left guard. Overall, he played 22% of the offensive snaps this year.
The Packers haven’t ruled out his return this season. But the situation doesn’t look promising at this point.