The Green Bay Packers got some good news regarding third-year receiver Equanimeous St. Brown this week as the former Notre Dame star was designated to return from the injured reserve and returned to practice. The Packers now have three weeks to either activate him to the active roster or shelve him for the rest of the season.

St. Brown has not played in a regular season game since Week 16 of 2018. He missed all last season after suffering an ankle injury during training camp and being stashed on the injured reserve before the season started.

He was injured again in training camp this year and placed on the injured reserve after Week 2 with a leg injury.

St. Brown had a strong finish to his rookie campaign, catching eight passes in his final three contests including five grabs for 94 yards in his final game against the New York Jets.

Now, after more than a full season on the shelf, St. Brown is on the cusp of being able to return. That is a good thing because the Packers are still without Allen Lazard for at least a few more games after he was placed on the injured reserve with a core muscle injury. Even with the anticipated return of Davante Adams, the Packers are still lacking experienced players at the wide receiver position right now.

So, Matt LaFleur and the Packers coaching staff will need contributions from St. Brown almost immediately after he is activated.

The Packers organization was high on St. Brown’s potential and continued to praise the former Notre Dame star in training camp this year.

“EQ is extremely intelligent. Unfortunately, missing a whole season practically, you don’t get those reps,” LaFleur said during training camp this year. “So, it’s just more or less, getting him out there, getting him comfortable with not only the play calls, but the routes, just working him back into it. But I have a lot of confidence in not only his ability but his mind. I know he’s working hard on it each and every day.”

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was also anticipating EQ’s return during training camp. “I’m excited about getting EQ back from injury and seeing how he feels,” Rodgers told reporters in August. “He really made some great strides his rookie year, especially towards the end of the season, making plays for us and growing each week. He has a great approach to the game. It will be fun to see him healthy.”

St. Brown is 6’5” which means he is the same height as Lazard. It wouldn’t be surprising to see LaFleur and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to ask EQ to play a similar role to that which Lazard was playing with many of his patterns going over the middle of the field. Overall, St. Brown is faster than Lazard but isn’t quite as good as a blocker.

The Packers are committed to not rushing back St. Brown and rookie ILB Kamal Martin back from the IR. They have been practicing with the team this week and are being closely watched after practice to make sure their bodies are responding well to the increased workload. The one thing the coaching staff doesn’t want to do is rush these players back and have them get re-injured as a result.

“It’s just one of those things we’re going to take one day at a time, give them work each day and see how their body responds,” LaFleur told reporters at his Wednesday video conference call. “At this time, there is a lot of unknown in terms of just how you respond to a practice. There will be some limitations on them but we’re going to try to progress them each and every day.”

Rodgers was developing trust in St. Brown late in the 2018 season and in training camp this season. It will almost certainly take some time to get quarterback and receiver on the same page regularly after so much time between games.

 The Packers did not draft a wide receiver this year much to the disappointment of many fans. One reason sighted by GM Brian Gutekunst was that by the time the Pack was picking, there weren’t any players they had rated higher than the guys the franchise already have on their roster. EQ was one of those players who the team rated higher than the available draftable talent.

Now, it will be up to St. Brown to prove that the team’s faith was justified and to prove he can carve out a roll in this very potent Green Bay offense.