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Buccaneers at Packers: NFC Championship Final Injury Report

Both the Bucs and Packers will be without a key player in the NFC Championship game

NFL: Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Buccaneers announced on Friday that they would be without wide receiver Antonio Brown for the NFC Championship in Green Bay but they have also activated Vita Vea who will play for the first time since week five when he suffered what was believed to be a season ending injury against the Chicago Bears.

Bruce Arians said that Brown’s knee wasn’t where they wanted it to be and that the flight to Wisconsin could cause the swelling to get worse. As a result, the Bucs will likely look to Scotty Miller and rookie Tyler Johnson to fill the void within the receiving corps.

Another big concern is safety Antoine Winfield Jr. who tweaked his ankle in practice. He was limited on Thursday and did not participate on Friday. As of now, he’s questionable for the NFC Championship which has many Bucs fans (justifiably) worried. The back end of the defense is not the same if Winfield can’t go.

For the Packers, they will be without Kingsley Keke who has a concussion and could not clear protocol. This will certainly affect the defense in a negative way for Green Bay as they’ll have trouble generating a pass rush without Keke there. His absence will also hurty an already suspect run defense - which the Bucs will look to exploit with the tandem of Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette.

The Packers also listed cornerback Kevin King as questionable after he was added to the injury report on Friday with a back injury and did not participate in Friday’s practice. If King is unable to go, that could be a massive blow to the Packers’ secondary that will already have their hands full with the Bucs’ receiving options even without AB.

Here is the full injury report for both teams;

The Buccaneers and Packers kickoff the NFC Championship in Lambeau Field at 3:05 p.m. ET on FOX. Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi will be the FOX crew while you can hear the national broadcast team of Kevin Harlan, Kurt Warner, and Laura Okmin on Westwood One.