The Green Bay Packers are adding another pass-catching option for Jordan Love, signing former undrafted wide receiver Coleman Owen to the practice squad.
The move comes with Jayden Reed injured and Green Bay still trying to patch together its offense three games into the season. The Packers have already made two signings as part of that effort, including veteran offensive guard Kevin Zeitler, who visited the team the same day as Owen. Zeitler did not stick for now, while Owen did.
Owen’s arrival gives the Packers another name to consider in a receiving group that has been hard to keep intact. Tucker Kraft has had a quiet start, Matthew Golden is moving in the opposite direction, and Christian Watson is the clear WR1 at the moment. Golden, though, is pushing toward that spot by the end of the year.
The bigger issue has been availability. The Packers have repeatedly dealt with stretches where Kraft, Golden, Reed and Watson have not all been on the field together, and Love has had to work around it. Owen at least gives him another option as Green Bay heads into Week 4 at Raymond James Stadium.
Bill Huber reported that the signing is official, and the question now is whether Owen gets elevated for the game. The Packers will face a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that is 0-3, but Green Bay’s 1-2 start leaves no room for overlooking anyone.
So far, the Packers’ offense has been rough, even with Love ranking among the league leaders in passing yards.
Owen is still looking for his first NFL catch. He spent time with the Indianapolis Colts last year and appeared in two games, but he was targeted only once. At the college level, though, he was a productive slot receiver.
He began his career with five years at Northern Arizona before transferring to Ohio. Across his college career, he finished with 3,543 receiving yards, including 1,245 in his sixth and final season with the Bobcats.
In Other News...
Packers Fans Face A Frustrating Week 4 TV Problem
The Packers early Week 4 matchup with the Buccaneers comes with an extra wrinkle for fans hoping to watch it the old-fashioned way. FOX is carrying the game, but the broadcast is limited to local TV in Wisconsin, Michigan and parts of Florida, leaving plenty of Packers backers outside those areas scrambling for another way in.
For many viewers, that means turning to NFL Sunday Ticket or finding a bar or restaurant package to catch the game live. FOX will send Jonathan Vilma and Chris Myers to call it, while other booth assignments shift to different games around the league, but the bigger story for Packers fans is simply whether they can find the screen in time. [Read more 🡒]
Packers-Bears Just Lost The Spotlight At Lambeau
The league has pushed the Packers-Bears Week 5 meeting at Lambeau Field into a noon kickoff, moving the rivalry out of its original late-afternoon slot. What was set for 3:25 p.m. Central will now start at 12 p.m., a shift tied to Green Bays slow start and Chicagos quarterback injury, with FOX opting to carry 49ers-Seahawks in the later window instead.
For Green Bay, the timing change still leaves a notable bit of pageantry intact. The Packers are set to debut their new Rivalries uniforms in the game, giving one of the NFLs oldest matchups a fresh look even if it no longer has the spotlight that originally came with the later kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Packers O-Line Issues Forced Gutekunst To Finally Act
After the loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Brian Gutekunst finally said out loud what has been obvious for weeks: the Packers offensive line was in trouble. Injuries and uneven play up front have helped drag down the run game and left Jordan Love taking too many hits, turning a preseason concern into a real in-season problem for Green Bay.
Gutekunsts first move was to bring in veteran guard Laken Tomlinson from the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, a clear sign the Packers are trying to patch things before the damage gets worse. Whether one addition is enough to stabilize a line that has already been through so much is still the bigger question hanging over the offense. [Read more 🡒]