GREEN BAY, Wis. — After AJ Dillon landed on the injured list as part of the Green Bay Packers’ roster cuts on Tuesday, the running back known for his powerful quads and strong personality may have played his final game for the team.
The Packers re-signed Dillon as a one-year free agent. By placing him on the injured list without listing him as an expected returner — which is what they did with defensive tackle Jonathan Ford, meaning he can return after Week 4 — the Packers won’t be able to activate Dillon when he’s healthy again.
The big question for the future is whether the 26-year-old Dillon will ever be healthy enough to continue his NFL career.
Dillon missed the final three games of last season due to injury. This year, he was healthy throughout the offseason and the start of training camp until he suffered another injury during a joint practice in Denver on August 16.
Because of the injury, he was unable to play in the preseason game against the Broncos on August 18, the final preseason game against the Ravens on August 24, and the week of training in between.
Considering last year’s season ended and while waiting for answers about his injury, Dillon admitted he was concerned.
“Yes, I mean, that’s human nature,” he said on August 21“But there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m not a doctor, so it’s up to them to tell me what they think. I think our trainers want to be safe and smart above all else.
“You only have one body. So I’m thinking about how we can be out there and be as protected as possible, but also be able to play carefree and play football the way I want to play football.”
A day later, coach Matt LaFleur said the team was “waiting for some more (medical) opinions.”
In most cases, the symptoms of a sting – a burning sensation, pain and numbness in the arm – go away quickly. However, repeated stings with persistent symptoms can be a cause for concern.
As David J. Hryvniak from the University of Virginiaa physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at the University of Virginia, said:
“A series of stitches or stitches in both arms is always a cause for concern and requires medical evaluation by an expert. There is concern that in these cases the cervical spine may be affected.”
It’s possible that the “a few more opinions” LaFleur refers to refers to the examination of Dillon’s spine, but that would be speculation. It would also be speculation that the Packers were willing to bring in younger and cheaper players and used the injury as a reason to trade.
Dillon’s camp was understandably very silent the whole time.
A study conducted between 2015 and 2019 The study found that 691 stinger injuries occurred during NFL games, with running backs and linebackers most commonly affected. According to the study, 76.4 percent of players did not miss the game. For those who did miss the game, the average time they were out was just 4.8 days.
Dillon, who never missed a game due to injury in his career until he broke his thumb last year against the Giants, missed the final game of the regular season and both playoff games due to injury. And now he’s out indefinitely.
“Stingers are definitely not all the same,” Dillon said.
“Some are very common, for example, many people mention that they have been bitten at some point,” he said. “I have had bites in the past, before the incident last year. As you know, certain things happen. Some are worse than others. You kind of see it differently, but like I said, we wait for opinions and see all the information before making any untrue statements.”
Dillon would have been an important backup for the Packers behind Josh Jacobs, just as he was behind Aaron Jones the three years before.
While Dillon averaged a career-low 3.4 yards per carry last season, he caught 22 passes for 223 yards. Among all players targeted at least 25 times last season, Dillon ranked third in the league in yards per catch with 10.8.
Additionally, he has dropped the ball just three times in 683 career touches, including zero in 200 touches last year. Pro Football Focus charged him with one sack in 165 pass protection snaps in four seasons.
Given the new build, Dillon was full of optimism last week.
“I think my training camp was great,” he said. “My goal was to come here and be as healthy and fit as possible and lift weights I’ve never lifted before.”
“I enjoy just flying around and trying to be a leader – another leader in the room, on offense. I have a really good feel for what we’re doing on offense. I think that, knowing that, I was able to really slow the game down a little bit. So in practice and in the situations that we were in, I was pretty relaxed and had a lot of fun just playing football.”
Green Bay Packers roster cuts: More news
There were some twists and turns on the way to #Packer Selection of a 53-man squad.
Here are seven surprises. ⬇️https://t.co/bGG1PSQXRU
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) 27 August 2024
Seven biggest surprises | Joseph gets the job (or does he win for now?) | Analysis of the 53 | No IR for MarShawn Lloyd | Packers release Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt | Packers release Kristian Welch | Packers release Anders Carlson | Squad cuts tracker | Packers sign quarterback Malik Willis | Packers 53-man roster projection (Huber) | Packers 53-man roster: Projection (Westendorf)
