The Packers came out of the Jets game with two surprising facts 1) quarterback Aaron Rodgers finally lead a comeback victory from more than 14 points down and 2) the Packers escaped the game with all their starters healthy. Add to that a quick recovery by running back Eddie Lacy and the promising news from Micah Hyde and Bryan Bulaga and the Packers might be the healthiest they’ve been in a long time.
New Injuries
Casey Hayward – Hayward apparently is suffering from some tightness in his hamstring, something which him and Clay Matthews share in common. Hayward has a history of hamstring injuries, most notably he missed a majority of the 2013 season (weeks 1-7) due to hamstring tightness and then was sent to IR after 3 weeks with a knee injury. While the Packers have never disclosed the exact nature of his knee injury, Hayward did not require surgical intervention, which would again fall in line with a hamstring tightness. There is a correlation between hamstring tightness and knee injuries so it’s also highly probable that Hayward’s tight hamstring were responsible for his knee injury. The typical recovery from a tight hamstring is stretching and icing, with a recovery time ranging from a couple weeks to months; based on Haywards previous history of hamstring injuries I would assume that his recovery time will be longer as the Packers physicians will likely be more conservative with a repeat injury. While Hayward suited up for the Jets game, he didn’t play a snap and Davon House replaced him in the nickel with Jarrett Bush playing the dime, presumably the Packers will continue to use this order or promote Jumal Rolle from the practice squad. Demetri Goodson might figure into the equation at some point depending on how far behind he is after recovering from a concussion.
Micah Hyde – Micah Hyde was injured during a punt return against the Jets in the second quarter and was held out for the rest of the game, which was later diagnosed as a patellar contusion (bruised knee). On more promising news, Hyde has been a limited participant in practice this week but claims that he was fine after the swelling subsided. Recovery time from a patellar contusion is usually 24-48 hours with ice and stabilization (and occasionally crutches), again indicating Hyde will likely be available for week 3 against the Lions. Randall Cobb replaced Hyde after his injury at returner and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix at safety; it’s likely Hyde will return to full duty against the Lions but the Packers may decide to put Hyde on a snap count, meaning more time for rookie 1st round pick Clinton-Dix and a chance that fellow rookie Jeff Janis will be active in order to protect Randall Cobb.
Andy Mulumba – Mulumba suffered the most significant injury against the Jets on a kick off return, unfortunately the broadcast went to advertisement right afterwards so the full extent was not shown outside head coach Mike McCarthy stating his injury was “significant”. Later it was announced that Mulumba had torn his ACL, likely meaning his season is over. ACL injuries take 6 to 9 months usually and players typically don’t fully recover until after 2 years (even Adrian Peterson stated that he didn’t feel normal until 2 years after his ACL tear and super human recovery). Mulumba will likely be sent to IR with the possibility of competing for a roster spot with fellow IR OLB Nate Palmer in 2015. In his place, the Packers will likely activate preseason superstar Jaryone Elliot to the active game day roster.
Continuing Injuries
Bryan Bulaga: Bulaga suffered a knee injury against the Seattle Seahawks during the season opener but has been a regular participant in practices, albeit in a limited fashion. Bulaga was inactive against the Jets is reported to still be wearing a brace over his left leg. Again, it appears that Bulaga might have gotten off lucky this time; while initially reported to be a tear of the MCL, it appears now that it was only a sprain, which can be characterized into 3 different grades; Bulaga likely has a grade 2 sprain since he has been spotted at practice wearing a brace, which also likely puts his recovery time at around 4 to 6 weeks. The best news however is that Bulaga avoided a grade 3 sprain, which typically involved tearing the MCL, tearing the MCL usually requires crutches for mobility and usually surgery, which of course has a longer recovery time. Bulaga will almost certainly be inactive again against the Lions with Derek Sherrod replacing him for a 3rd consecutive week.
Brad Jones: Jones injured his quadriceps during the 3rd preseason game against the Raiders and did not play the preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs. While Jones did practice the week going into the season opener against the Seahawks, Jones did not play well even though he played 100% of the defensive snaps. Jones has been in and out of the practice roster but perhaps suffered a setback as he did not practice again this week. While initially Jones’ injury was reported as a “mild” quadricep sprain, being held out of practices nearly 5 weeks after the injury might indicate that the injury is more significant than reported or more likely that Jones re-aggravated the injury, most likely during the game against the Seahawks. Since players who don’t practice rarely suit up for game days per Mike McCarthy’s MO, it’s likely that Jones will be inactive against against the Lions with Jamari Lattimore replacing him.
Recovered Injuries
Demetri Goodson: Goodson suffered a concussion against the Raiders in game 3 of the preseason and has not seen the field since (he was one of the inactive players against the Jets). Goodson did not appear on the Packers injury report this week, so he must have passed league mandated cognitive tests. There’s an outside chance that Goodson gets activated due to the continuing hamstring injuries to nickel back Casey Hayward. However with Davon House and Jarrett Bush ahead of him, it’s likely Goodson would be relegated to special teams duty if he was active against the Lions.
Eddie Lacy: Lacy suffered his 2nd recorded concussion against the Seahawks. Lacy returned to practice the week before the Jets game and was a starter. While Lacy wasn’t a focal point of the offense against the terrific Jets run defense and atrocious pass defense, Lacy did log 55 out of 71 total offensive snaps, indicating that the Packers weren’t concerned about his health. Lacy has been a full participant in practice and is expected to start against the Lions.
Brandon Bostick: Bostick suffered a slight fracture to his fibula has been out since the the 2nd preseason game against St. Louis. Mild fractures to the fibula, which is a bone located lateral to the tibia (the major bone of the lower leg) can typically be treated without surgery and usually heal by themselves, which is good news for Bostick. Fractures of the fibula usually take somewhere between 4-8 weeks, but can take several month to regain full strength and range of motion. Bostick was strangely active for the Jets game but did not record a snap on offense; this indicates that Bostick is healthy enough to play if needed but with the need for more inline blocking prowess against the Jets front seven, the Packers went with Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless as the tight end rotation. Bostick may or may not be active against the Lions, who feature as good of a defensive front seven as the Jets but either way it appears as if Bostick has been relegated to 2nd or 3rd string tight end with Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless taking about 50% of offensive snaps each.
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Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.
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I cringe every time I see the word Sherrod….
To be honest, when Sherrod was terrible, so was the rest of the offensive line. When the Packers offense settled down in the 2nd half Sherrod was a lot more solid too (not having Wilkerson on the field helps too). Personally, you got to put some of the blame on Rodgers holding the ball too long and having no running game to speak of, yes Sherrod blew some blocks but its not like the rest of the offense was doing their part either.
interesting note about OL. Maybe it is turn around. When Sherrod shows more solid plays, suddenly OL plays much better…
Actually I’d bet its the opposite, when the offensive line plays better Sherrod ends up being more solid. Sherrod isn’t the type of player who can play on an island and take out his man at this point (and might never be) but he can be a solid player if the rest of the line does their job.
The only time Sherrod looks ok is when 2 other players are blocking his man for him… which in turn means 2 less targets for Rodgers, which in turn means Rodgers hangs on to the ball longer…
I don’t know, Sherrod held his own quite a bit last week. This week will be the ultimate test. On the carpet vs speed rushers. If he gets the job done we have a decent 3rd OT. If not, pray for AROD.
I agree, Sherrod pretty much was a non-factor during the 2nd half, which is exactly what you want from an offensive linemen. I’d argue that Rodgers and the rest of the offensive line was off for the 1st half as well so its not like he was the only one sucking at that point.
You almost never see two inline tight ends on the same side of the field, and you will almost never see both block in a Mike McCarthy offense so I am assuming you are just making hyperbolic.
To put it in perspective this is what PFF graded the offensive line against the Jets
Bakhtiari: .7
Sitton: 1.5
Linsley: -1.6
Lang: 1.0
Sherrod: -1.3
Compare that to Sherrod posting a -6.9 against the Seahawks and you have to admit he’s done better. Sure he’s still below average but he’s righting the ship against one of the better defensive lines in the NFL.
I read rather different PFF grades. I think they get adjusted: Here are the ones I found:
Sitton: +3.0; +2.0 pass; +0.7 run blocking
Lang: +1.0; +1.1 pass: -0.3 run
Linsley: -0.6: +0.2 pass -0.9 run
Bakh: -0.3: +0.7 pass -1.3 run blocking
Sherrod: -0.8: -0.3 pass -0.8 run blocking
I don’t have access to PFF usually, so I am not sure which are correct.
I double checked and the numbers I included above are correct per the PFF’s premium stats. I find it interesting however if your numbers are correct, Bakhtiari graded out as a -.6 Linsley graded out as a -1.3 and Sherrod graded out as a -1.9, meaning overall the entire offensive line was poor and not just Sherrod.
I was hoping that we would get Bulaga and Bostick back for the Lions game but that doesn’t look good based on Thomas’ report. It will be key for the Packers not to sustain any further injuries at TE, OL and DB, at least until we get Bostick, Bulaga, and Hayward back. Go Pack Go! Thanks, Since ’61
Bostick has a very good chance of playing against the Lions because he was active against the Jets, only the Packers choose not to play him. I’d guess this is partially due to the fact that the Packers were playing it safe with a recovering and naturally rusty Bostick but the other fact might be that the Packers needed blocking tight ends a lot more against the Jets front 7 and don’t expect that to change with the Lions.
I’d take a rusty Bostick over any other TE that wears green and gold. I think Bostick is better than the coaching staff thinks. In fact, given that Q and Rodgers (TE) are pedestrian blockers at best, Bostick may even be the best blocking TE on this team. Bostick will always be the red headed bastard son in GB because TT over drafted Richard Rodgers and the coaches must go all out to show that Teddy boy didn’t blow another pick. Give me a TE that is a bull in a China closet and that is Bostick!
To be honest, my feeling is that Quarless and Bostick both are below average players; looking back last year both graded poorly as receivers and both were essentially average in blocking. Quarless is a better screen blocker but worse run blocker, Bostick is kind of average everywhere except run blocking where he is terrible. I don’t know if I’d put much stock into it after 2 games, but Quarless has been the best blocker of the 2014 season, but that’s still not saying much cause he isn’t all that good.
I also wouldn’t put much bias on the fact that Thompson drafted Rodgers. For one, Rodgers, Quarless and Bostick were all chosen by Thompson, so they’re all his “guys”. Secondly, Rodgers is a rookie and thus has the rookie alibi; if he’s terrible no one is going to trash Thompson on a 3rd round pick not contributing right away (look how they managed Jermichael Finley when he was a rookie). In the end, I think the Packers like Rodger’s potential versatility more than Bostick’s receiving potential or Quarless’ skill at this point.
Do you think Hayward is on verge of getting back on the field, or shall we conclude that this year is similar to last year, and we really won’t see Hayward much in action this year. Any reason for hope that this is different diagnosis (tight hams) than last year?
My guess is that Hayward has some idiopathic issue with hamstrings, Clay Matthews is similar. Matthews has been able to manage his hamstrings recently but he had his fair share of troubles early in his career as well. Hopefully the Packers and Hayward can follow a similar path.
The Brad Jones injury is a ruse in my opinion. While I’m sure he does have an injury that has limited him, they mostly just don’t wanna have to admit that they they like Lattimore a lot more (ha!), and that they have to bench their starter. I. E., the most politically correct way to bench an invested player they no longer like as much.
I don’t see why the Packers would bother setting up a ruse for Jones. Perhaps if it was Aaron Rodgers or Charles Woodson back in the day, and they felt that benching a team leader would be detrimental to the team, but Jones is hardly that. If they really liked Lattimore, they would just play Lattimore; are they worried about hurting Jones’ feelings or something? It’s not like Thompson didn’t pick both Jones and Lattimore, hell 95% of the team is Thompson’s “guys” so that’s not it. Starters get benched all the time throughout the NFL and that’s no different with the Packers, I don’t see why this would be politically incorrect.
TT and MM have shown that they can be stubborn, there are times where they feel the need to let the veteran start over a very talented rookie. e.g. Donald Driver over Randall Cobb in 2011. Here they could be too stubborn to admit they made a mistake in thinking Brad Jones would be an effective starter.
It’s pretty stinking obvious that Lattimore is the better player.
If there was some kind of set back on jones’ injury, why haven’t the Packers reported it? He was healthy enough to play in week one, so clearly they feel like making that quad injury look a lot worse than it is to keep getting Lattimore back on the field.
It’s true that TT and MM can be very stubborn, but the NFL is too cut throat of a league to really let them be too stubborn. As per your example, I don’t think Randall Cobb was really ready to be a starter his rookie year (he really wasn’t that good, but did have some highlight plays) and it’s not like Driver was really ahead of Cobb in 2011 either; at best you had Jennings, Nelson and Jones as the top 3 and really there isn’t much of a difference between #4 and #5 WR. 2012 was really the year that Cobb caught on fire and by that point Driver was definitely behind Cobb.
As for Jones’ injury, Jones has regularly been on the injury report so that Packers are reporting it, however there hasn’t been as much press reporting on it because it’s not that interesting of a story (compared to say Bryan Bulaga). Keep in mind the Packers will never divulge the full extent of an injury to the public, sometimes players indadvertedly tell the media but the team (and every other team for the matter) will try their best to keep that information to themselves.
I strongly disagree. It’s a known fact that coaches, even though the statistics show that icing the kicker doesn’t work, will do it anyway because they’re asked why they didn’t after the game. He’ll be asked if he made a mistake by giving Brad Jones a contract, and he doesn’t want to have to deal with it. (Just one more reason why I HATE press conferences!)
I really think the Packers just want to get the best player on the field in this scenario, and they’ve found a “cop-out” way to do, not that I disagree with it of course, because I think Jones is a very forgettable player.
Unless the use of a timeout is needed later on in a game, there really is no penalty (from a game plan perspective) for icing the kicker and since most coaches only iced the kicker near the end of the half or the end of the game, there wasn’t any reason not to. Like if it doesn’t work you waste a time out you weren’t going to have a chance to use anyways, so why not?
This has a considerably more direct outcome, and Thompson is pretty awkward answering any question at a presser so that wouldn’t be out of the norm. I bet he obfuscate and redirect a question asking about what he’s wearing at the moment. Personally, I think Jones was good enough and he has had some bright moments, but the Packers do seem to value inside linebackers more than what the media and fans do, hence the issue.
Bulaga was wearing a brace at the time he was injured. In fact, I believe he’s worn one ever since the ACL injury. So the fact that he’s “still” wearing a brace is probably not significant.
And again, if you are right that Bulaga has a grade 2 sprain, then the ligament WAS at least partially torn. Even a grade 1 sprain can (and often does) include some tearing.
I think Bulaga is wearing a bulkier brace at the moment and not one of those “playing braces” you see offensive linemen sometimes play with. As for the extent of the injury, news reports have been all over the place, some saying he has a full on tear while others say its just a sprain; I’d be willing to bet its something in between, perhaps a slight tear or partial tear and a sprain. It might be something that ultimately needs surgery but it sounds as if Bulaga is going to try to play the season on it first.
Technically, there is no difference between a sprain and a tear.
Grade 1 = severe stretching, minor tearing
Grade 2 = partial to almost complete tear
Grade 3 = completely torn in two
All three of the above are considered “sprains.” Even Grade 3 – which is often called “a rupture” – is still a sprain.
If Bulaga has a “Grade 2,” you could say he has a “sprain” or you could say he has “a tear.” Both are correct. In most cases, a sprain IS a tear.