Xavier McKinney Calf Injury Challenges Packers Secondary

What They're Saying

McKinney on Thursday: "Obviously glad that we caught it when we caught it, so just kind of trying to take it slow and then the build-up, obviously. But I'll be ready when it's time to go, for sure. It was just something like just lingering a little bit over time, and that's really all it really was."

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

Last season presented multiple cases where players started out with calf injuries that they downplayed before remaining out longer than expected.

That they're already talking about potentially shutting McKinney down for the rest of August certainly doesn't leave me as confident in his Week 1 readiness as what he's projecting.

We'll certainly keep an eye on his progress as the regular-season approaches, but I'd add a little caution to drafting him in the meantime. McKinney already sits in mid-DB3 territory of our DB rankings, though, so I'm not sure I'll dump him further unless we get close to the opener with no sign of him returning.

Javon Bullard looks likely to fill in while McKinney's out.

It's another hit to a Packers secondary that lost CB Nate Hobbs to a right-knee scope earlier in the week. Hobbs also hopes to be back for Week 1, though.