The Green Bay Packers were without left tackle Marshall Newhouse and defensive lineman Ryan Pickett Friday as the team prepared for their trip to the Metrodome to take on the Minnesota Vikings.
Newhouse, who took over at left tackle when Chad Clifton went down with a hamstring injury, was attending to personal matters outside of Green Bay but is expected to play Sunday. Rookie Derek Sherrod took his snaps at left tackle. After practice, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said that “Marshall is ready to play” and that they anticipate him back with the team on Saturday.
McCarthy has preached all week that Newhouse was about to face his toughest challenge in Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, who has 9.5 sacks against the Packers over the last two seasons. He’ll now head into Sunday’s game without the final day of preparation from a practice standpoint. It will be interesting to see where Newhouse’s concentration level is at on Sunday, especially considering his personal matter was serious enough to fly out of Green Bay and miss Friday practice.
The defensive line might be missing a key cog in stopping Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.
Starting defensive lineman Ryan Pickett suffered a concussion during Thursday’s practice and is questionable, although McCarthy sounded optimistic about his chances of playing against the Vikings. He’ll likely be a game-time decision.
G/T Ray Dominguez was also attending to personal matters and missed Friday’s practice. He’s probable.
CB Sam Shields, who suffered a concussion while attempting to take an interception out of the end zone against the Rams, sat out Friday and is listed as doubtful. He’ll undergo his final round of tests tomorrow to see if he can play. Jarrett Bush and Pat Lee will take his snaps if he can’t go Sunday.
Morgan Burnett (hand), Josh Sitton (knee), Charles Woodson (ankle) and Clay Matthews (quad) all were limited but are probable for the game. McCarthy talked about Sitton, Woodson and Matthews expressing some fatigue and that they didn’t need any added workload this week.
Clifton (hamstring), Frank Zombo (knee), Jamari Lattimore (shoulder) and Mike Neal (knee) have all been ruled out. The absence of Lattimore and Zombo creates an opportunity for Vic So’oto, the Packers preseason darling, to see his first regular season NFL action.
——————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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