He is expected to be available for the Green Bay Packers’ big ‘Sunday Night Football’ clash against the Kansas City Chiefs after returning to practice on Monday.
Wicks, who was one of three wideouts drafted by the Packers this past spring, sustained a concussion eight days ago in the win over the Los Angeles Chargers. His availability at practice indicates that he successfully cleared the league’s concussion protocol. He was listed as questionable for Thursday’s Thanksgiving bout with the Detroit Lions, even though the four-day turnaround between games deemed it nearly impossible for him to be in the lineup.
The brief obstruction is now in the rear-view mirror for the fifth-round rookie, however, he was also listed on last week’s injury report with a knee issue; the extent of it is unknown. Even so, the Packers have won three of their last four games and they’re only getting healthier down the stretch of what could wind up being a crucial stretch.
At 5-6 and coming off of a win over the Lions that wasn’t anywhere near as competitive as the final score — 29-22 — would indicate, momentum has evidently swung in favor of the Jordan Love-led Packers. There are six games remaining on the team’s regular-season schedule and the margin for error is relatively slim, even in a weak conference. Love will have to lean on the services of a pair of rookie wideouts in Wicks and Jayden Reed — the latter of which appears to be another home-run second-round pick.
Wicks’ ascension has been something to behold. In his last 11 quarters of football, he’s tallied 191 receiving yards from 10 receptions, including five catches of 20-plus yards. He’s averaged 16.6 yards per catch this season — second on the team to Christian Watson — and Love has a 107.6 passer rating when targeting him.
