The Green Bay Packers Saturday placed defensive end Michael Montgomery on injured reserve. Ted Thompson, Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations, announced the transaction.

To replace Montgomery on the active roster, the team re-signed wide receiver Chris Francies from its practice squad. Francies, a 6-foot-1, 193-pound rookie from Texas-El Paso, had spent seven weeks on the 53-man roster before rejoining the practice squad last week, when the team acquired wide receiver Carlyle Holiday. Francies had two catches for 16 yards in his first regular-season stint with the Packers.

Montgomery, the Packers' first of two choices in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft, sustained a knee injury during the practice week before the team's Dec. 10 victory at San Francisco. A 6-foot-5, 275-pound player out of Texas A&M, Montgomery finished the year with 21 tackles (15 solo), 11/2 sacks and one pass defensed.

Taking Francies' spot on the practice squad is offensive tackle Travis Leffew. A teammate of Packers guard Jason Spitz at Louisville, the 6-foot-4, 292-pound Leffew had spent the first 11 weeks of the 2006 season on Green Bay's practice squad before being signed to the 53-man roster of Dallas. He will wear number 61.