GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers elevated cornerback Kamal Hadden from the practice squad for their big NFC North matchup against the Detroit Lions.

Here’s what the transaction that happened and the transactions that didn’t happen mean for Sunday.

Not elevated: QB Sean Clifford

Jordan Love will not only start at quarterback on Sundaybut the Packers did not elevate Sean Clifford to serve as the third quarterback in case Love aggravated his groin injury and something happened to Malik Willis.

Raised: CB Kamal Hadden

The Packers are going to be shorthanded in the secondary. Safety Evan Williams, whose presence allowed defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to move fellow safety Javon Bullard to the spot, will be inactive with a hamstring injury. Additionally, cornerback Jaire Alexander is questionable with a knee injury and did not practice all week.

The elevation of Kamal Hadden would seem to indicate that Alexander will not be in the lineup against one of the best offenses in the NFL.

With Bullard back at safety to pair with Xavier McKinney, Green Bay hopes to roll with Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon at cornerback and Corey Ballentine (who is also questionable) as the only safety.

The Packers have cornerbacks Robert Rochell and Kamal Hadden on the practice squad. With Rochell sidelined (they would have to add him to the 53-man roster and make the corresponding move) the team opted for Hadden.

Hadden was a sixth-round pick of the Chiefs in this year’s draft after a standout but injury-plagued final season in Tennessee.

He was promoted for the game against the Vikings and played three snaps on special teams.

Hadden, who has excellent size at 6-foot-1 and 192 pounds with 4.57 40 speed, Hadden led Tennessee with three interceptions and 11 passes defensed in 2023 despite missing the final six games with a shoulder injury. .

According to PFF, 125 cornerbacks in this draft class played at least 250 coverage snaps.. Due to the injury, he narrowly missed the cut. Had he played enough snaps, he would have ranked third in completion percentage allowed (36.4), first in passer rating allowed (7.0) and ninth in completion percentage forced. He didn’t allow any touchdowns.

Not elevated: S Omar Brown

Without Williams, the Packers will rely on Bullard and McKinney at safeties and Kitan Oladapo and Zayne Anderson at depth.

Oladapo, a fifth-round pick this year, has played in just two games and has been healthy out in six, including each of the last three games. He has played nine snaps on special teams in two games and did not record any statistics.

Brown had a pre-draft visit with the Packers after starting 37 games at Northern Iowa (2019 to 2021) and Nebraska (2022 and 2023). He spent training camp with the Broncos and was signed after final cuts.

“We have a lot of competition,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said this week of the secondary. “If you look in the corner room now, we have played against a lot of guys and we will continue to do so. There are guys that have improved in practice and had a really good week, like last week, and we’ll rotate those players as we see fit.

“Obviously, we’ve also moved people in the security room. Bull played nickel, Bull played safety. Last week Bull had to play with both of them, which is definitely not easy for a young man.”

Being able to focus on safety, something that wasn’t the case last week, should help Bullard, Hafley said.

“What happened with Bull last week, you give him a lot of credit, I told Bull last week, I thought he had his best week of practice at the nickel position and there were a couple of times he dressed up and did things and I smiled and I said, ‘Bull, that’s really good.’ You’ve got me on it. I was going to tell you to come back in and I saw you do it late. It was great because he took a big step into that position last week.

“And then what happens? Then he’ll have to play safety and he hadn’t really practiced at that position. For a newbie, that’s tough. It’s like everyone wants to ask and play rookie here, play rookie here, put this guy here. It’s not always the easiest thing to do. So, I give Bull a lot of credit for what we’ve asked him to do. I think he’s a very good player and I think he’s having a very good rookie year. I think having his versatility is huge.”

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