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Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — AJ Dillon has played with injuries before, and the only games he’s missed in his NFL career were because of COVID-19 during his rookie year, but the Green Bay Packers‘ fourth-year running back has never tried to play with a broken thumb.
He’s now trying to figure out if that’s even possible after suffering that injury to his right hand late in Monday’s loss at the New York Giants.
Dillon did not practice on Thursday as the team prepared for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a matchup of two 6-7 teams fighting for a playoff spot in the NFC.
“It’s up there,” Dillon said when asked how important the thumb is to a running back. “It’s up there, especially when every other team you’re going against is going to know it’s hurt.”
When asked how it might impact ball security, Dillon said: “That’s a great question. Something I’m trying to figure out.”
Dillon said it happened on the final drive against the Giants.
“Got hit with a helmet lined up the right way,” Dillon said. “Hit just right enough. And then we called another run play after that.”
The Packers have relied on Dillon more the past three weeks while Aaron Jones has been out with a knee injury. Dillon’s biggest plays in that stretch have come in the passing game. He’s had catches of 22, 14 and 35 yards in each of the past three games.
Meanwhile, Jones returned to practice last week but knew he wouldn’t play against the Giants.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” Jones said Thursday. “Got to move around today in practice and making great strides. So, I’m going to take it day-by-day, but I feel I’m confident for Sunday.”
The Packers re-signed running back Patrick Taylor after Jones got hurt. Taylor carried four times for 30 yards and caught two passes for 22 yards against the Giants but made a critical error by not getting out of bounds late in the second quarter, which cost the Packers critical seconds when they had to settle for a field goal.
While the running back situation appears muddied, the receiver group looks slightly better than they might have anticipated coming out of the Giants game.
While Christian Watson is expected to miss a second straight game because of his hamstring injuries, rookies Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks returned to practice on Thursday. Both sustained ankle injuries late in the loss to the Giants, with Wicks initially fearing his injury was significant.
“Yeah, I think any time they’re out there we’re happy about that,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of the two rookies, “But as far as [being surprised], I’m not surprised, no.”