We finally have the 2026 NFL schedule, which naturally includes the Green Bay Packers.
Green Bay’s claymation schedule introduced us to the nuance of the 2026 schedule and included some pleasant surprises.
While we knew Green Bay’s opponents, we now know that the Packers will have their bye week in Week 11, won’t play an international game, and have a smattering of holiday and oddly scheduled games.
For a team that had an early bye and was completely battered by season’s end, the 2026 schedule is much kinder to our favorite players’ bodies. What little advantages have snuck in thanks to this unusual slate?
Last season, the Packers entered their early Week 5 bye in decent enough shape, with a 2-1-1 record. The offensive line, in particular, was in triage following the Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns, so the early bye didn’t come at a bad time.
But then the Packers played a wavy schedule, ending with three of their four final regular-season games away from Lambeau. It was a tough ending slate to begin with, and the Packers were on Life Alert by then.
The first game of that stretch, at the notoriously inhospitable Empower Field at Mile High, was particularly brutal.
Micah Parsons suffered a devastating ACL injury, and Zach Tom exited with a knee injury. Josh Whyle got a concussion, while Christian Watson needed a hospital visit after a chest injury.
A week later, Jordan Love took a savage hit, preventing him from playing during Green Bay’s final home game.
The Packers didn’t win a single game during that Parsons-less stretch, leading to a playoff visit to Chicago that I don’t particularly want to discuss right now. Green Bay couldn’t stay healthy down the stretch of an unforgiving stretch, and a promising season ended with another Wild Card exit.
The 2026 season is much more benevolent, on paper.
A Week 11 bye comes at a generally ideal time. Even without major injuries, by then, the wear and tear of a classic NFL season is adding up. That’s a good time for the entire team to rest and recover.
Deceptively, it’s not as long as a typical bye week. The Packers’ Week 10 game is a classic Sunday at noon, but Week 12 is a Thanksgiving Eve matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, November 25. That means it won’t be a Sunday-to-Sunday, or even a Sunday-to-Thursday.
But lest you feel that the Packers got slightly screwed by this, the back half of the schedule is filled with “mini byes” thanks to not playing many Sunday games. In fact, only 12 of Green Bay’s 17 games are on Sundays.
Week 3 and 8 are Thursday Night Football; Week 12 is a Wednesday; Week 16 is Christmas (a Friday); Week 17 is a Monday; and Week 18 could be on a Saturday.
As a bonus, that Week 8 game comes on Daylight Saving Time weekend, a time period the Packers seem to struggle with. They’ll avoid the clock change this year.
That means many atypical weeks, creating a challenge for the coaching staff. However, it offers additional opportunities for rest. It’s much different from, say, the Cleveland Browns’ schedule, which has all but one of its known games in the Sunday noon CST slot.
“The one thing that’s unique about this year, it’s probably the most unique schedule in regards to how many days you have off in between games that we’ve ever experienced,” head coach Matt LaFleur said regarding the schedule.
“We’re not coming off a traditional bye, where you have a full week. It’s gonna be kind of a mini-bye, and then we have another mini-bye, I would say, right after that game. So it’s just one of those things that, with as popular as the NFL has gotten, you just got to get comfortable being uncomfortable.”
While figuring out the proper way to balance workload and training is a new headache, it means more rest opportunities for the Packers, especially in the back half of the season. Combined with nine home games, no international travel, and a high percentage of home games to end the season, that gives Green Bay some extra comfort.
The Packers still need to play those games, and some of those 2025 injuries will spill into the beginning of the 2026 season. And catastrophes happen all the time in the NFL. By no means does this, or any, schedule prevent injuries.
But it gives Green Bay plenty of extra time to handle wear and tear and enter the postseason as rested as an NFL team can be. The Packers need to take care of business, and the coaches will need to figure out the ideal balance with these mini-byes. But with planning and good injury luck, Green Bay’s end-of-the-season stretch is much more forgiving than 2025’s.
