Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy announced on Friday that neither Desmond Bishop or A.J. Hawk will be ready to play when the Packers (11-0) take on the New York Giants (6-5) this Sunday at Metlife Stadium.
Both Bishop and Hawk suffered calf strains last Thursday against the Detroit Lions and were held out of practice all week. McCarhy said they would wait until today to see if the duo could practice to rule on their status for Sunday’s game. Neither could go, so both will sit for at least this week.
In their place, the Packers will start rookie D.J. Smith and Robert Francois, both of which had impressive relief performances against the Lions. Smith had six total tackles and Francois had an interception that lead to the Packers going up 21-0 in the second half.
The two will be tested in New York, as the Giants can throw a running back tandem of Ahmad Bradshaw—if he plays—and Brandon Jacobs at you on the ground. However, the Giants currently rank dead last in the NFL in rushing yards a game and yards per carry. Both Smith and Francois will play big roles in making sure the Giants running doesn’t gain any traction.
McCarthy also confirmed that both Josh Sitton and Chad Clifton would be out. Marshall Newhouse will start at left tackle and Evan Dietrich-Smith will again play at right guard.
For the Giants, they were without DE Osi Umenyiora at practice on Friday, and he’ll likely miss Sunday’s game. Ahmad Bradshaw, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham did light work on the side and there’s a good chance all three will play. Michael Boley and Justin Tuck were full participants. LB Mark Herzlich was in a walking boot and won’t play Sunday.
——————Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.
You can read more of Zach's Packers articles on AllGreenBayPackers.com.
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Worried by Bishop’s absence. Best tackjler out! Compensted by Hawk’s absence, worst tackler out. Both replaced by highly energetic young guys with something to prove. MM has a way to make this work.
Go Pack!
DJ Smith was such a stand-out tackler in college, I don’t find myself too worried about him filling Bishop’s shoes.
I know Brandon Jacobs has struggled as of late, but Smith might miss a tackle or two against what figures to be the largest RB he’s probably ever seen, but I think that’s to be expected.. I think DJ Smith will have another solid performance.
Apparently on the Packers site, DJ has made a “impression” on McCarthy. So he is getting one of the Mics.
Not reading much into it, but McCarthy usually is not impressed much because they draft the correct guys but maybe I was wrong reading into DJ’s progress. He might make a challenge for more of a strong rotation with Hawk.
Not saying Hawk is bad, but I would put Bishop over Hawk in terms of MLB Rank.
I sencerely hope that,what many perceive to be a gain with DJ via the loss of AJ,those of you have the decency to bestow onto DJ as you would surely have done to AJ.
So blind are those committed to not seeing…what is easy to see.
“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.”