Novig pricesPatriots to face a thinned-out Packers roster, with Parsons, Franklin and Rhyan out
Green Bay will be without Micah Parsons, Zaire Franklin and Sean Rhyan in Foxborough, and the Patriots are missing A.J. Brown. Here is the likely Packers lineup.
The Green Bay Packers come to Foxborough on Sunday down several regulars. A projection of the game-day roster from SB Nation says the biggest question left for Green Bay is whether running back MarShawn Lloyd plays. The answers already settled point to a Packers defense without its two best front-seven players.
The Packers have ruled out five players, per the team's official injury report: edge rusher Micah Parsons (knee), linebacker and defensive captain Zaire Franklin (shin), starting center Sean Rhyan (ankle), guard/tackle Travis Glover (knee) and tight end Josh Whyle (concussion). Parsons remains on the physically unable to perform list. Lloyd (knee), cornerback Keisean Nixon (groin) and running back Chris Brooks (ankle) are listed as questionable. SB Nation's Justis Mosqueda expects Nixon to play, since Green Bay made no second practice-squad call-up Saturday. He also notes that Brooks, who is still in his return window from injured reserve, was not activated. If Lloyd sits, Kaleb Johnson would join Josh Jacobs and Pierre Strong Jr. in the backfield.
The projection has the Packers bringing up tight end Drake Dabney to take Whyle's special teams snaps. Jonnu Smith, a healthy scratch against Carolina, would be back in uniform. Up front, Mosqueda projects Jordan Morgan, Aaron Banks, John Williams, Laken Tomlinson, Anthony Belton, Kevin Zeitler, Mekhi Becton Sr. and Jager Burton as the eight active linemen. With Franklin out, Isaiah McDuffie and Ty'Ron Hopper lead the linebackers. Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox Jr. and Dani Dennis-Sutton make up the edge group without Parsons. Jordan Love starts at quarterback with Tyrod Taylor behind him.
New England has its own absences. Yahoo Sports reports the Patriots will play without their top two receivers: A.J. Brown (knee/ankle) is out and Romeo Doubs is on injured reserve. A separate Yahoo Sports injury rundown adds that running back TreVeyon Henderson has been ruled out with an illness.
What it means for Sunday
The Patriots are 5-3 and coming off a 24-19 win at Miami. They are 3-0 at home this season, with wins of 20-3 over Pittsburgh, 45-17 over Las Vegas and 26-19 over the Jets. All three losses came on the road: at Seattle, Jacksonville and Chicago. Green Bay is also 5-3 after beating Carolina 27-19 on Thursday, Oct. 29, so the Packers come in with extra rest. Both teams hold the seventh playoff seed in their conference.
Without Parsons, Green Bay's pass rush loses its biggest threat, which should help a New England offense that has to find targets beyond Brown and Doubs. On the other side, the Packers will play with a reworked interior line and no Franklin calling the defense.
The Patriots are favored on this site's board, which tracks 12 venues. Novig has New England at -160 on the moneyline and Green Bay at +156. On the spread, Novig lists the Patriots at -3.5 for +111. The best Patriots spread price anywhere is FanDuel's -110 at -3, half a point shorter. The total sits at 44.5 on Novig, with the over at -104 and the under at +102. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.0% to 5.3% on the moneyline, so the venues differ by only a few points of margin.
Next up after Green Bay is a trip to Detroit on Nov. 15. Early prices there are close to even, with Novig at -100 on New England's moneyline.