National Football League

Packers have had a wild season when it comes to injuries

Updated Dec. 26, 2021 2:39 p.m. ET

By Dr. Matt Provencher
FOX Sports Injury & Performance Analyst

The Green Bay Packers currently have the best record in the NFL, having officially clinched their division and, with that, a playoff berth.

Although that might not be a surprise, given that they have Aaron Rodgers at the helm, when you really break down their health issues, their success has been quite remarkable.

How banged up a team is can have a direct influence on the outcome of a game, and we can understand this better through the BUS™ — or Banged Up Score — which is a score from zero to 100 that delineates the health of a team. The score is built on a lot of proprietary data analysis that we have tested for years to help understand how injuries can impact your team. We all know that health matters!

What is the ‘Banged Up Score’? Dr. Matt Provencher explains

Dr. Matt Provencher explains what the "BUS" — or "Banged Up Score" — is and how it affected teams last season in the NFL.

For more analysis of the NFL from Dr. Matt, follow him on Twitter or go to FantasyPredictors.com.

Last year, Green Bay had a multitude of important players get injured. The Packers were able to make the playoffs despite dealing with injuries to David Bakhtiari (ACL), Allen Lazard (abdomen), Davante Adams (hamstring) and Aaron Jones (calf), just to name a few. Although they fell short to Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship, they advanced deep into the playoffs. Had they had Bakhtiari and Kingsley Keke, who knows what might have happened?

This season, Green Bay has again been no stranger to injuries. The Packers started off exceptionally healthy this year, with a BUS of 98.3. Bakhtiari was their only big injury — and he still hasn't returned from his previous ACL injury.

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But the Packers quickly found themselves heading in the wrong direction over the next few weeks, losing two starters on the offensive line — Lucas Patrick to a concussion in Week 1 and Elgton Jenkins to an ankle injury in Week 2. This caused their BUS to drop to 87.8 by Week 3.

Unfortunately, the injury train wasn’t finished yet. In the ensuing weeks, it took out Jaire Alexander (AC joint injury), Josh Myers (finger), Kevin King (shoulder) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring injury). By Week 6, Green Bay's BUS was at 77.1, a 20-point drop in just six weeks.

They were able to bounce back some in Weeks 8 and 9, as Jennings returned and King went from out to questionable, just to name a couple. Then injuries struck again. This time, starting running back Aaron Jones suffered an MCL injury, and Jennings went down with an ACL tear. Just like that, they were back at a 77.7.

Now, with Billy Turner, Equanimeous St. Brown and others dealing with injuries, the Packers' BUS is below 70 at 67.1.

As they look to improve to 12-3 this week, the Packers hope to keep their starters healthy. Cleveland is still trying to make a last-minute push for the playoffs and will be ready to put up a fight to get that win.

If Green Bay can take this win, however, we would expect to see some players rest to heal some nagging injuries. How the Packers manage their health will be a big factor in playoff advancement. As teams get closer in skill set, health becomes more important.

The Packers have done a great job winning games despite all of their injuries, but if they can get some of their top athletes back, they will have a huge advantage moving forward.

Renowned orthopedist Dr. Matt Provencher and his company, Proven Performance Technology (PPT), deliver data-driven injury insights to football fans. In this first-of-a-kind role as Athlete Injury and Performance Analyst for FOX Sports’ digital platforms, Provencher provides important predictive player health and recovery information about post-injury performance, the impact of weather, field conditions and more.