Breaking News: Charles Woodson Out 6 Weeks

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Charles Woodson Injures collarbone again
Charles Woodson injures collarbone again

Well that was unexpected.

Charles Woodson has a broken collarbone and is expected to miss 6 weeks, as reported by Jay Glazer.  This is apparently the same part of the collarbone that Woodson broke during Super Bowl XLV, and since there is no treatment for breaking a collarbone (expect wearing a harness to properly align the bones and letting it heal naturally) it’s likely that the break this time is due to the previous injury.

Also interesting is that Woodson wasn’t listed on the team’s injury report after the game against the St. Louis Rams and was available for interviews, so presumably he didn’t know he had broken a bone (much like Packers OLB Frank Zombo playing with a broken scapula).  On the positive side this might mean its only a partial break instead of a complete break, which might lower the recovery time.

Luckily it looks like the Packers have enough depth to cover for the loss of Woodson; Sam Shields, Casey Hayward and Davon House all look like good up and coming cornerbacks and MD Jennings and Jerron McMillian both would likely play in place of Woodson at safety.  Hopefully the Packers have enough depth in their leadership to lose Woodson for 6 weeks.

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Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.

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15 thoughts on “Breaking News: Charles Woodson Out 6 Weeks

  1. His loss will tell us his true value to the defense. Some say that he’s waning, others say his worth is more of an intangible. We could know soon enough.

    1. I would say the biggest loss outside of his leadership is the unpredictably of his assignments. Sure, Tramon Williams and maybe even Sam Shields and Casey Hayward are better in coverage, but Woodson had to be accounted for as a pass defender, pass rusher and run defender; teams had to direct blockers towards him as well as assume he might go out a cover (decently as well)

    2. Agreed. My feeling is that this is not the loss that it would have been 2 years ago but it does leave us with a very raw secondary.

      Guess Hayward will take over as the slot corner which will probably lead to better coverage but as Thomas said more predictability. Mind IIRC McMillian took some snaps in the slot in camp so we may still be able to mix it up..

      1. I wonder how much name recognition plays into this. Like if you took out Woodson’s name and accolades, would opposing offenses account for him as much? I’m not exactly saying that Woodson is overrated, but he is playing with “WOODSON” on his back and players know him as the Defensive Player of the Year in 2009, even though he’s probably not at that level any more.

        If teams are really accounting for his name more than the person then the loss is huge because while Woodson might not have shown up on the field, he definitely showed up in the minds of offensive coordinators during the week.

        1. @Thomas, “he definitely showed up in the minds of offensive coordinators during the week”. Yes he did, he also showed up in the minds of those young guys that will be trying to take his place, and the young guys that were already playing. And while he’s not what he once was, his leadership, knowledge,and savvy, I think, might have been the biggest asset he had left. He will be missed!

  2. I’m a huge Woodson fan.

    I was at the UM/MSU game where he got that freak-ish 1-handed interception. I watched him with the Raiders and was beyond pumped when he came to Green Bay.

    That being said, I think this is a blessing in disguise. Despite being tremendously smart, a great leader, and possessing veteran wiles, Charles’ physical skills are severely diminished.

    He hasn’t looked good pretty much all season long and for some reason Capers has decided to match him against the opposing teams’ best player multiple times.

    The young guys will have to step up. They’ll make mistakes but they’ll learn, trial by fire. In a situation such as this a new leader will be born. There’s too much adversity for one not to be.

    This isn’t like the Super Bowl where we had to rely on Jarrett Bush and an injured Sam Shields. There’s finally depth and the young guys have all flashed. If there’s any area of the Packers that needs to benefit from improved communication and leadership, it’s the secondary.

    Charles as we all know can be a little grumpy. At this point I’d rather have him coaching and showing the young guys their mistakes. Let’s hope he’ll be up for that role.

    And lastly, hopefully, this means far less zone from Capers. Play man and play it all the time.

    1. That’s a very interesting idea, do you think Capers plays a lot of zone because of Woodson? On one hand, Woodson probably can’t line 1-on-1 anymore with the best receivers in the league, but he could still probably take out a number 2 or 3 receiver (if he wasn’t just a pure burner). But on the other hand, putting Woodson at the line and in a zone allows Capers to get the most out of Woodson as he can decide what to do, be it pass rush, pass defense or run defense.

  3. Get it. Breaking news. Ha. Ha.
    Luckily, defensive back may be our deepest position this year. Shields, House, and Hayward all seem competent. Hopefully we stop messing around with Doctor Jennings and give McMillian the full time safety job.

  4. Six weeks = back in time for the playoffs. At his age it may help to get the rest and let the young guys like McMillian get more reps. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a blessing but it could be worse. I doubt missing six weeks of game-prep and in-season practice will affect him much, while it’s crucial for the younger guys.

    1. Indeed, you’d be looking at week 12-14 in terms of his return (since they’ll probably practice him a week or two before activating him to the game day roster), so that’s right in the thick of things in terms of playoff hunting. Hopefully he doesn’t experience any set backs.

  5. The next to.games are at home against low level offenses ,followed with a bye week. That’s 3 weeks the Packers can survive with out Woodson. He will miss the away game against the loins, which may be a prob, but probably not. Hopefully he’s back in 5 weeks, which is the Giants game. If not, his replacement will have had some game time experience by then and hopefully Woodsons young under-study is playing well.

  6. Woodson is my favorite curent packer. I watched him in college. I was glued to the T.V. when he won the college. I always loved defence when I was a kid and he made college football respect defense. I even watch Raiders game’s sometimes only so I could watch him play. He may of slowed down a little bit his skill set adds another demension to the packers defense. If I learned one thing from watching him for as long as I did it is this, Charles finds a way. It does not matter what anyone else thinks he can do. He will find a way to get back on the field and leave this league ontop. Hopefully this helps the packers get some more depth. Woodson will be a force in the playoffs.

  7. He is still on the team leaders if not the top one, and he will be in practice, in the locker room and on the sidelines. His teammates will be listening to him all the time. He will exhort them in his absence and he will be back.

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