Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs will take part in practice this week as the Packers prepare for the Lions. Head coach Matt LaFleur announced it at his Monday press conference. Pro Football Talk and Yahoo Sports both led with the line that his game status is still to be determined. ESPN went a step further, reporting that he is set to practice Wednesday and "may play Sunday."

ESPN also supplied the background. Jacobs missed Green Bay's first six games while on the NFL's commissioner exempt list. The summaries we have don't say how his return to the roster came about or what his workload would be if he plays, so we won't guess at either.

The other half of the news is defensive. Pro Football Talk said the Packers won't have defensive end Micah Parsons back at practice this week. Acme Packing Company's Justis Mosqueda described Parsons as an edge defender and called the decision "another sign that Parsons has yet to be medically cleared by the training staff." That reading is Mosqueda's own. The other summaries state only that Parsons won't practice, and none of them gives an injury timeline. Parsons had 12.5 sacks in 14 games last season.

Yahoo also noted that LaFleur said Aaron Banks had his best week of practice last week. The summary gives no more detail than that. Our archive still lists Banks with the 49ers, with a single tackle in 14 games in 2024, so it tells us nothing about his role in Green Bay.

Jacobs would be returning to a team that has done well without him. The Packers are 4-2 and have won three straight: 17-14 at Tampa Bay, 31-7 over Chicago, and 23-13 over Dallas on Sunday. They are second in the NFC North, 1.5 games behind the unbeaten Vikings. Their run differential is only +2, which suggests the margin has been thin. Jacobs's last full season in our archive, 2025, was 929 rushing yards on 234 carries with 13 touchdowns in 15 games. He has no 2026 line yet.

Green Bay's next game is Sunday, Oct. 25 at Detroit. The Lions are 3-2 and 2 games back of Minnesota. A full week of practice gives Jacobs a path to playing, but LaFleur has not committed to it. With Parsons not practicing, his availability for the game is also open.