The Green Bay Packers have shut down one of last year’s starting cornerbacks with a new injury to begin their second week of 2026 NFL training camp.
According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine dropped out of August 2’s practice before the team’s 11-on-11 drills and did not return. The 2025 starter had been running with the first-team defense during the first week of practice.
The following day, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur announced that Valentine would not participate in August 3’s practice due to what he described as a “leg” injury. The team later confirmed in its participation report that Valentine has a hamstring injury.
“He hurt his leg,” LaFleur said before Monday’s practice. “He’ll be out.”
LaFleur did not elaborate on how long he expected Valentine would be out at practice, but it could have a significant impact on the team’s competition for its cornerback roles.
While Valentine is looking to hold onto last year’s starting job, he faces new challenges from second-round rookie Brandon Cisse and free-agent addition Benjamin St-Juste to begin the 2026 regular season as the No. 2 outside cornerback opposite Keisean Nixon.
Cisse — the Packers’ top draft pick at No. 52 overall in the spring — has been the next man up since Valentine’s injury, taking over his snaps with the 1s in 11-on-11 drills.
Carrington Valentine’s Injury Could Lose Him Ground
Valentine is not rolling into his fourth training camp with the prestige of an established starter. He had opportunities to break out for the Packers in 2025 after the departures of Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes from the roster, but his chance slipped through his fingers despite making 11 starts on the boundary and playing a career-high 780 snaps.
As a coverage defender, Valentine was a mixed bag for the Packers in 2025. According to Pro Football Reference, he allowed a distinctly low completion percentage of 59.7%, but he also surrendered a career-high 472 yards in coverage while opposing passers finished with an egregious passer rating of 121.2 — a career-worst mark for Valentine.
Valentine also struggled with his ball production yet again. After recording the first two interceptions of his career for them in 2024, he picked off zero passes and deflected a career-low four over his 17 games in 2025. He also missed a career-high eight tackles, which matched the number of missed tackles he had in his first two seasons combined.
The Packers won’t rush to move on from Valentine if he does not live up to expectations over the next several weeks of camp, but he could lose his starting job if he fails to show that he has taken the next step forward — or remains on the sideline with his injury.
Could Packers Add More Depth at CB During Camp?
Valentine might not spend much time off the field, but his injury does raise renewed questions about whether the Packers have enough quality depth at cornerback.
The Packers have four clear candidates for their top cornerback spots in Nixon, Cisse, Valentine and St-Juste and are likely to start the season with them leading the group, but the team needs to sort out its depth at the position before training camp ends.
Domani Jackson, Kamal Hadden, MJ Devonshire Jr., Shemar Bartholomew and Marlon Jones are the five cornerbacks vying for as many as two depth roles behind the other four cornerbacks. Jackson is a sixth-round rookie with higher expectations than the others, but the Packers will need at least one of them to confidently earn his role.
If the Packers struggle to get what they want out of their depth cornerbacks, though, they may not have much choice but to revisit their options in free agency, especially if Valentine continues to miss time with his injury. The Packers might even explore their options on the trade market if Valentine is still hurt when camp ends in late August.
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