Injuries Give Jordan Love, Packers Potential Edge vs. Texans

The Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans are two of the best teams in the NFL. Jordan Love is one of the top quarterbacks and the Texans have one of the elite pass defenses.

Injuries, however, should give the Packers an advantage for Sunday’s showdown at Lambeau Field.

Two starters in their secondary, rookie cornerback Kamari Lassiter (shoulder) and veteran safety Jimmie Ward (groin), did not practice on Wednesday and are not expected to play on Sunday, according to KPRC-TV’s Aaron Wilson.

They will be major losses for a defense that enters the week ranked No. 1 in opponent completion percentage, No. 4 in yards per passing attempt and No. 9 in opponent passer rating.

Lassiter, a second-round pick, has allowed just nine completions in 24 targets, according to Pro Football Focus, a completion rate of 37.5 percent and a passer rating of 63.4. He will miss “multiple” games with a broken scapula, Wilson reported.

Without Lassiter, the Texans will roll with Derek Stingley and D’Angelo Ross as the corners and safety Jalen Pitre in the slot.

Stingley, the third pick in the 2022 draft, is a premier player. He had five interceptions last season and has one interception and five passes defensed this season. PFF has charged him with a 56.7 percent completion rate and a 70.4 passer rating.

Pitre was a second-round pick in 2022. He had five interceptions and 147 tackles as a rookie and zero interceptions and four pass deflections this season. PFF has charged him with a 69.2 percent completion rate (but just 8.3 yards per catch) with two touchdowns and a 109.5 rating.

Ross went undrafted in 2021 and has zero interceptions or pass breakups in his career. He made his second career start last week and allowed one catch (one target) for 9 yards against Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye.

At 5-foot-9, he could be vulnerable against Green Bay’s bigger receivers.

The 33-year-old Ward, a native of Racine, Wis., had eight interceptions and started 93 games for the 49ers from 2014 through 2023. This is second season with the Texans, and he has zero interceptions and one pass breakup in four games this year.

Rookie Calen Bullock, a third-round pick, has started three games and intercepted two passes.

“Jordan Love is a talented quarterback, of course. I think everybody knows that,” Bullock told reporters in Houston this week. “He is in a good area with Green Bay. Then he has a good receiving core that he believes in. A lot of passing out of those guys. We know we are about to be up for a challenge when we go up there in Green Bay.”

With Lassiter and Ward in the starting lineup, the Texans limited Bills quarterback Josh Allen to just 9-of-30 passing in Houston’s three-point victory in Week 5. Without those two, Patriots rookie Drake Maye in his first career start completed 20-of-33 passes in Houston’s blowout win last week in New England.

Love is coming off his best game of the season, a four-touchdown performance in a blowout win over the Cardinals.

“It will be the best quarterback we’ve seen this year,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said this week.

Green Bay’s offense, with its powerful running game and multitude of motions, will stress a Texans defense that ranks 16th in points allowed but third in total defense.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur “does a really good job of creating a lot of chaos when it comes to the pre-snap, and I think that is where they gain a huge advantage,” Ryans said on Wednesday. “You talk about the motions, the snap points, and just being able to have many various plays whether it is a run game or in a passing game.

“He really makes you work as a defense to communicate pre-snap, makes you work post-snap to really know who you are matching in coverage. It is a very difficult offense to defend because of so much moving, and Matt has done a good job at that. His entire career Matt has been the head coach there in Green Bay, he has had a top offense and those guys have been in the playoffs, so it is a credit to him and the work that he has done.”

In all, five defensive starters did not practice for the Texans on Wednesday, including their two leading tacklers.