The Green Bay Packers won’t have three of their top seven offensive linemen available when they face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
Packers starting left guard Aaron Banks is officially inactive for Sunday night’s game against the Cowboys after he missed the entire week of practice with a groin injury. The Packers had designated him as doubtful to play in their final injury report for Week 4.
The Packers also ruled out their top two right tackles — starter Zach Tom and rookie Anthony Belton — with respective injuries following Friday’s final walkthrough.
Tom managed to play only a single snap for the Packers in Week 3’s game before his oblique injury — which held him out in Week 2 — forced him to exit for the rest of the afternoon. As for Belton, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said he injured his ankle in Wednesday’s practice, prompting the team to hold him out for the final two sessions.
Fortunately, second-year safety and nickel defender Javon Bullard has cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol and will play Sunday night against the Cowboys.
The Packers’ inactives list for Week 4’s game against the Cowboys also includes cornerback Kamal Hadden and rookie defensive lineman Warren Brinson.
Cowboys Are Underdogs at Home Against Packers
The Packers slipped up in the fourth quarter and lost their first game of the year against the Cleveland Browns last week, but it hasn’t shaken the oddsmakers’ faith in them.
Despite the loss, the Packers are heavily favored over the Cowboys on the road heading into Sunday Night Football at AT&T Stadium. The latest betting odds from DraftKings Sportsbook have the Packers listed as seven-point favorites, while FanDuel Sportsbook has them as 6.5-point favorites. The over/under is 47.5 and 46.5 points, respectively.
The Packers looked good over the first two weeks of the season, but their offense dried up at an inopportune time in last week’s loss, while their defense allowed 13 points in the fourth quarter. Avoiding another late-stage collapse will be paramount for them.
Packers Made OL Promotions Before Cowboys Game
With so many offensive linemen injured, the Packers made a few moves coming into the weekend to help bolster the depth of their offensive trenches for Week 4’s road game.
According to the team’s transaction wire, the Packers signed undrafted rookie offensive tackle Brant Banks from their practice squad to their 53-man roster on Tuesday before starting the week of practice. They also signed guard/center Lecitus Smith to take his place on the practice squad, then elevated him to the game-day roster for Week 4.
While the Packers’ roster moves are more precautionary to avoid in-game depth issues, they are thin enough at offensive tackle that Banks could see playing time. The likely starter at right tackle is Darian Kinnard, but Banks could fit into the top backup role behind both him and left tackle Rasheed Walker on Sunday night against the Cowboys.
Micah Parsons Makes Return to Cowboys After Trade
One of the biggest storylines heading into Week 4’s matchup between the Packers and Cowboys is the homecoming of All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons, who spent the first four seasons of his career in Dallas before getting traded to Green Bay in September.
The Packers broke tradition to pull off a blockbuster swap for Parsons just before the start of the 2025 regular season, packaging two first-round picks and veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark in a deal to acquire Parsons from the Cowboys. They also signed him to a record-breaking four-year, $188 million contract extension, ensuring he will serve as a figurehead of their defense for the foreseeable future.
For all the drama and bitterness between Parsons and the Cowboys that preceded his trade to the Packers, though, the superstar is keeping his eyes on the prize in Week 4.
“Just knowing me, once the game starts, who’s going to be worried about any trade?” Parsons said this week. “It’s just me against them five men in front of me, and then we’ve got one common goal, and that’s to win the football game. How we win the football game is winning the line of scrimmage and affecting [Cowboys quarterback] Dak [Prescott] and how good he’s been playing this year. I think the fans, the media’s going to get off on the [pregame] hype and all that, but once the game [starts], ain’t no one talking about the trade. We’re talking about winning the football game.”
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