{"id":99540,"date":"2025-09-27T23:17:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T23:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=99540"},"modified":"2025-09-27T23:17:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T23:17:26","slug":"packers-make-inevitable-roster-decision-before-cowboys-game-that-surprises-no-one-but-still-carries-big-implications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=99540","title":{"rendered":"Packers make inevitable roster decision before Cowboys game that surprises no one but still carries big implications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Green Bay Packers had no viable option other than elevating an offensive lineman from the practice squad for gameday to face the Dallas Cowboys on &#8216;Sunday Night Football.&#8217; On Saturday, the Packers confirmed that interior offensive lineman Lecitus Smith has been elevated to be available in Week 4. The player reverts back to the practice squad on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Right tackles Zach Tom (oblique) and Anthony Belton (ankle) are both out this week, and left guard Aaron Banks (groin) is doubtful, prompting the Packers to make the roster move. The decision is a strong indication that Banks, in fact, will not be available.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<h2>Experience in the mix<\/h2>\n<p>Lecitus Smith has been in the NFL since 2022, and spent time with the Packers on several occasions over the past two seasons. Originally a sixth-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals, he&#8217;s already played for the Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, he had been signed by the Packers in May and spent the training camp in Green Bay, starting the season on the practice squad. However, the Patriots signed him off the Packers&#8217; PS in October. In 2025, he returned to the Packers in August and was released as part of the final cuts, but re-signed to the PS earlier this week to add more experienced depth.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his NFL career, Smith has played 202 snaps at right guard, eight at left guard, and two as a sixth offensive lineman in regular season games. Over the past two years for the Packers in preseason, he played 79 snaps at left guard, 113 at center (including 72 this year), and three at right guard.<\/p>\n<h2>NFL rules<\/h2>\n<div>\n<p>The NFL increased the size of the practice squad during Covid and kept some of the adjusted rules. Of the 16 players, 10 must be players with up to two accrued seasons, and there\u2019s no restrictions for the other six. There&#8217;s also an extra spot for a player with an International Pathway Program exemption\u2014for Green Bay, it&#8217;s Irish kicker Mark McNamee.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the season, teams can elevate practice squad players for gameday. Each player can be elevated up to three times for the same team without being a member of the active 53-man roster. After the game, the player reverts back to the PS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<h2>Practice squad elevations in 2025<\/h2>\n<p>Micah Robinson \u2014 2<br \/>\nBrant Banks \u2014 1<br \/>\nLecitus Smith \u2014 1<\/p>\n<h2>Packers&#8217; practice squad<\/h2>\n<p>RB Pierre Strong Jr.<br \/>\nEDGE Deslin Alexandre<br \/>\nDB Johnathan Baldwin<br \/>\nC\/G Lecitus Smith<br \/>\nT Dalton Cooper<br \/>\nDT James Ester<br \/>\nWR Jakobie Keeney-James<br \/>\nLB Jamon Dumas-Johnson<br \/>\nK Mark McNamee<br \/>\nEDGE Arron Mosby<br \/>\nWR Isaiah Neyor<br \/>\nCB Micah Robinson<br \/>\nWR Will Sheppard<br \/>\nS Jaylin Simpson<br \/>\nQB Clayton Tune<br \/>\nLB Kristian Welch<br \/>\nTE Josh Whyle<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: Jordan Love has a golden opportunity to explode against Cowboys&#8217; defense that suddenly looks vulnerable without Micah Parsons<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Sep 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Green Bay Packers had no viable option other than elevating an offensive lineman from the practice squad for gameday to face the Dallas Cowboys on &#8216;Sunday Night Football.&#8217; On Saturday, the Packers confirmed that interior offensive lineman Lecitus Smith has been elevated to be available in Week &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":99541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1976,3566,580,3877,3878,54,3875,2448,19,226,1784,3876,3873,3874,3871,3723,22,9,2769,327,3872,27,1917,3869,3294,2279],"class_list":["post-99540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-aaron-banks","tag-anthony-belton","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-arron-mosby","tag-clayton-tune","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dalton","tag-green-bay","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-houston-texans","tag-isaiah-neyor","tag-jaylin-simpson","tag-josh-whyle","tag-kristian-welch","tag-lecitus-smith","tag-micah-robinson","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-offensive-lineman","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-pierre-strong","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-practice-squad","tag-the-packers","tag-will-sheppard","tag-zach-tom"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Packers make inevitable roster decision before Cowboys game that surprises no one but still carries big implications - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=99540\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Packers make inevitable roster decision before Cowboys game that surprises no one but still carries big implications - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Green Bay Packers had no viable option other than elevating an offensive lineman from the practice squad for gameday to face the Dallas Cowboys on &#039;Sunday Night Football.&#039; 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