One day after the Green Bay Packers withstood numerous absences to beat the NFL’s lone remaining unbeaten team came the sobering realization they’ve lost two more players for the rest of the season. Tight end Robert Tonyan and rookie kick returner Kylin Hill both suffered knee injuries in the Packers’ 24-21 victory at Arizona on Thursday night. “I feel awful for both those guys,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Friday. “They put a lot into this thing. They’re tough guys to replace.” The injury to Tonyan, who caught 11 touchdown passes last season, will put more of a burden on tight ends Marcedes Lewis, Josiah Deguara and Dominique Dafney. Wide receiver Malik Taylor was Green Bay’s deep man for kickoff returns after Hill’s injury. Perhaps these injuries will require Green Bay to once again to look elsewhere for reinforcements. That strategy has proved extraordinarily beneficial for the Packers (7-1) during their seven-game winning streak. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has noted on multiple occasions how the Packers have gotten big contributions from players who weren’t on this roster until recently. Thursday’s victory provided the greatest example of that as the Packers won without having receivers Davante Adams, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, offensive linemen David Bakhtiari and Josh Myers, cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Kevin King and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith among others. The play of the game came with 12 seconds left when Rasul Douglas intercepted Kyler Murray’s pass in the end zone on second-and-goal from the 5 when receiver A.J. Green failed to turn for ball. The Packers signed Douglas from Arizona’s practice squad Oct. 6.
