The Green Bay Packers are leaving the door open for Malik Willis to be active against the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round of the 2025 NFL playoffs.
The Packers officially ruled Willis — their No. 2 quarterback behind starter Jordan Love — as questionable against the Chicago due to his right shoulder and hamstring injuries, giving them a chance to have their top two offensive signal-callers available in Chicago.
Willis injured his right shoulder in Week 16’s overtime loss to the Bears and then picked up a hamstring injury in Week 17’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, worrying the Packers enough to hold him out of their regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. He has only missed one practice throughout the past three weeks due to injuries, though.
More importantly for the Packers, Love is off the injury report entirely after sitting out the final two games of the regular season. He could not have played against the Ravens in Week 17, as he was still in the league’s concussion protocol, but he was active against the Vikings in Week 18 and would have backed up Clayton Tune, had he exited at all.
Now, Love is in line to play his first game since December 20 when he starts against the Bears in the Packers’ first-round playoff game at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 10.
Malik Willis Nearly Defeated Bears as Week 16 Fill-In
The health of Love, the Packers’ $220 million starting quarterback, is clearly the most important thing for the team heading into the playoffs, but fans should also want to see Willis cleared for his backup duties — especially after he nearly beat the Bears last time.
Willis completed 9-of-11 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown and added 40 rushing yards on 10 carries in Week 16’s performance against the Bears, seeming to give their defense trouble with his elusiveness in the pocket and scrambling. While his fumble hurt them in overtime, he had the Packers leading 16-6 with five minutes left to play.
Willis also likely made himself some money in the 2026 offseason with his start against the Ravens, even though the Packers lost behind a run defense that allowed 305 yards. He completed 18 of his 21 passes (85.7%) for 288 yards, rushed nine times for another 60 yards and scored three total touchdowns — one passing and two rushing.
That’s confidence-inspiring production from a backup quarterback, giving the Packers all the more reason to hope they can clear Willis for the Bears game — just in case.
Can Packers Count on Desmond Ridder in Worst Case?
A questionable designation is at least an encouraging sign for Willis’ availability against the Bears in the wild-card round, but it would be understandable if the Packers felt a little shaky about their backup plan behind Love in the event that Willis cannot play.
The Packers have a new third-string quarterback on the 53-man roster heading into the playoffs, having replaced Tune — who showed little promise in Week 18’s start — with former Atlanta Falcons starter and 2022 third-round draft selection Desmond Ridder.
Ridder made 17 starts and appeared in 19 games for the Falcons in his first two seasons, completing 64% of his passes for 3,544 yards with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also made one spot-start for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024, throwing twice as many interceptions (two) as touchdowns (one) while completing just 23 of his 39 passes.
While Ridder is undoubtedly more cut out for the No. 3 job than Tune, though, it is unclear how much the Packers feel they can trust him at this point. He will have only spent 11 days with them when they kick off against the Bears on Saturday night.
