Packers at Lions Preview: Josh Jacobs Returns and Jordan Love's Back Joins the Injury Report Before the Week's Highest Total

The Green Bay Packers (4-2) visit the Detroit Lions (3-2) at Ford Field on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox, and the NFC North matchup carries the highest total on the Week 7 board. Two pieces of Green Bay news reshaped the game this week. Running back Josh Jacobs was removed from the Commissioner's Exempt List effective Monday, Oct. 19, and was back at practice without appearing on the injury report. Quarterback Jordan Love, meanwhile, was added to Wednesday's report with a back injury and listed as a limited participant.

Love told reporters the soreness lingers from the Sunday night win over Dallas and that there is no chance it keeps him out of Detroit. Wednesday's session was a walkthrough, so his limited tag was an estimate. Matt LaFleur said the team would practice in full pads on Thursday, which makes the next two reports the real test for Love's back and for how much work Jacobs gets in his first game of the season.

Where the injury reports stand

Detroit came out of its bye in good shape. Green Bay has the longer list, including two starting receivers and a pass rusher who will not play.

Parsons is still working back from the torn ACL he suffered in Week 15 of the 2025 season. LaFleur said he would not practice this week and still has hurdles to clear, and reporting from NFL Network points to Week 9 as the earliest realistic return. Detroit safety Kerby Joseph (knee) remains sidelined, though Dan Campbell said this week the strength he is building suggests he will play again this season. Running back Isiah Pacheco is on injured reserve with a back injury.

How the two teams got here

Detroit's offense has been the best version of itself, and its defense has been the opposite. The Lions have scored 164 points in five games, an average of 32.8 that ranks second in the league, while allowing 148, nearly 30 per game. Their last outing was a 45-21 rout in Arizona on Oct. 11, when Jared Goff went 19 of 30 for 279 yards and three touchdown passes and added a 1-yard scoring run. Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and Jameson Williams caught touchdowns of 8 and 39 yards for his first multi-score receiving game.

Green Bay has won three straight since a 1-2 start that included a 39-22 loss in Minnesota and a 35-14 home loss to Atlanta. The latest was a 23-13 Sunday night win over Dallas in which the Packers' receivers left points on the field. Christian Watson, who leads the team with 29 catches for 538 yards and six touchdowns, let a would-be 26-yard score slip through his hands in the third quarter.

The weakness has been the ground game. Without Jacobs, Green Bay has averaged 59.8 rushing yards per game, per Lombardi Ave, and MarShawn Lloyd has averaged roughly 2.5 yards per carry as the lead back. Chris Brooks is on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and Pierre Strong Jr. handled 11 carries and five catches against Dallas.

Fantasy fallout

Josh Jacobs: NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Jacobs is expected to play, while LaFleur has called his game status and workload to be determined. Jacobs has not practiced with the team since before the regular season, so a capped snap share in his debut is a real possibility. Treat him as an RB2 with touchdown upside in a game this high-scoring, not as a locked-in RB1. The NFL's investigation into the domestic violence case that put him on the list is still open, and further discipline remains possible later in the season.

MarShawn Lloyd and Pierre Strong Jr.: Both lose value the moment Jacobs is active. Lloyd is the only one worth holding in most formats, and neither belongs in lineups this week unless Jacobs is a surprise inactive.

Jordan Love: If Thursday and Friday show progress, he is a QB1. Detroit's secondary is getting Branch back on a limited workload, and one fantasy preview lists the Lions among the most generous defenses to quarterbacks. A questionable tag on Friday would not change the call by itself, but a downgrade to no practice would.

Christian Watson and Matthew Golden: Watson is a WR2 with week-winning upside, and Golden is a WR3 in this environment if his shoulder holds up. Both were limited only in a walkthrough, so their Thursday status matters more than Wednesday's.

Jahmyr Gibbs: He has 105 carries for 504 yards and seven touchdowns plus 27 catches for 243 yards and two scores, per ESPN. He is a must-start. Green Bay held him in check in Lambeau last season, but this Packers defense is without Parsons.

Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta: St. Brown has 37 catches for 372 yards and five touchdowns, with one preview putting his target share above 30 percent. LaPorta has 27 catches for 316 yards and three scores in five games and spent the bye week making news off the field: on the Pardon My Take podcast he said he is prepared to sign elsewhere if Detroit does not pay him, and talks have reportedly been tabled until after the season. None of that changes his usage this week. He is a TE1.

The betting angle

Books have moved more on the total than on the side. ESPN reports the total opened at 50.5, and it sits at 53.5 at most books, with BetMGM and Covers at 52.5. Detroit is a 3-point favorite at ESPN and CBS Sports, with Covers and bet365 (via Sportsbook Review) at 3.5. Moneylines range from about Lions minus 162 and Packers plus 136 to Lions minus 174 and Packers plus 147.

The Verdexed read: the three-point move on the total already prices in Jacobs and a healthy Love, so bettors are paying for the good news. The swing factor is Love's back. A full practice on Friday supports the number, and any setback would be the first real reason for it to drift down. On the side, the key number of 3 matters; anyone leaning Green Bay should look for the 3.5 rather than take the 3. Verdexed's game-by-game view is at /nfl/predictions, and the full Week 7 slate is at /blog/nfl-week-7-picks-2026.

What to do in your league

Start Gibbs, St. Brown, Goff, LaPorta, Love (pending Friday) and Watson. Use Jacobs as an RB2 or flex if your alternatives are bye-week replacements, and remember the 4:25 p.m. kickoff gives you an inactive list before you lock him in. Bench Lloyd and Strong.

If you roster Jacobs and have a 1 p.m. option with a guaranteed role, the safer play is to set that player first and swap only if the Packers' Sunday reports suggest a full workload. In DFS, the Lions side remains the chalk, and a Love-led Packers stack is the contrarian route into the same game.

What's next

Thursday's full-pads practice is the first real look at Love's back and Jacobs' role. Friday brings official designations for Love, Golden and Watson, and Detroit's report will show whether Ya-Sin's hamstring and Branch's workload limit the secondary. The Packers will also need to decide whether to open Parsons' practice window in the coming weeks, a move that would start his clock toward a return later this season.