GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers will go into their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with only a 51-man roster after placing defensive end Johnny Jolly (neck) and tight end Brandon Bostick (foot) on season-ending injured reserve.

Of course, teams are only allowed 46 active players on game day, so the moves simply mean the Packers will deactivate five players instead of seven 90 minutes before kickoff.

Jolly and Bostick were both injured during last Sunday's come-from-behind victory at Dallas. Bostick Tweeted that he'd undergone "minor surgery" on his foot Friday. Jolly reportedly has a bulging disc in his neck that may or may not require surgical repair.

Bostick played in 11 games this season, catching seven passes for 120 yards (17.1 avg.) and a touchdown. He was also credited with seven tackles on special teams.

Jolly played in 13 games (eight starts) and had 38 tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery and one pass deflection.

There was an outside chance that the Packers would activate wide receiver Randall Cobb from injured reserve, but that did not happen by the Saturday afternoon deadline, meaning his return will have to wait another week. Cobb suffered a small fracture at the top of the tibia in his right lower leg at Baltimore on Oct. 13 and was put on IR with the designation to return two days later. He was eligible to return to game action last week at Dallas but was only cleared to start running again less than two weeks ago.

Jason Wilde  wrote: