Before the Green Bay Packers’ Thanksgiving Day matchup with the rival Detroit Lions kicked off on Thursday afternoon at Ford Field, Dontayvion Wicks came across fellow wide receiver Will Sheppard, who’d been signed to the roster from the practice squad roughly 24 hours earlier.

The rookie from the University of Colorado was suiting up for his first NFL regular-season game, and Wicks — in his third season and playing on Thanksgiving for the third straight year — wanted to make sure the 23-year-old Sheppard understood what it meant to be playing in the game.

“I told him, ‘It’s a blessing to be here with your family watching you on Thanksgiving. Everybody doesn’t get to play on Thanksgiving,’” Wicks recounted telling Sheppard, who’d been promoted with fellow wideouts Matthew Golden (wrist),

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