Packers coach Mike McCarthy provided an update on all the injuries Monday, and the news wasn’t very very positive.
- Clay Matthews could miss “a couple weeks” with his hamstring injury, McCarthy said. With the Packers on a bye this week, I suppose there’s a chance Matthews could be back for the Lions game on Nov. 18, but I wouldn’t count on it. We will likely see more of Dezman Moses if Matthews misses games.
- Bryan Bulaga is going to see a specialist about his injured hip. That doesn’ sound promising. If he’s out, T.J. Lang will play right tackle and Evan Dietrich-Smith will play left guard. That leaves the Packers dangerously thin on the line, especially if Derek Sherrod goes on injured reserve.
- Jordy Nelson sprained his ankle and should be fine, McCarthy said. *Sigh of relief*
- Nick Perry is gong for a second opinion on his injured knee, which means the knee probably hasn’t improved like he and the Packers hoped it would. If Perry remains out, look for the fragile Frank Zombo to backup Erik Walden.
For more on the Packers injuries, check out Jason Wilde’s blog at ESPNMilwaukee.com.
Yes, this update isn’t exactly positive. But remember: As long as Aaron Rodgers is healthy, the Packers have a shot.
Now quit worrying about the Packers and go vote.
UPDATE: According to Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the second opinion for Perry will be on his wrist, not his knee. Does this mean he gets to wear one of those cast/club type of things over his hand? We’ll see.
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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .
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This second opinion crap is starting to worry me. In my wanning years one thing I look for in a Doc is the confidence to recommend someone else when the problem is greater than his/her ability to solve it. This is something GB needs. They should have a list of highly successful medical practioners available to consult from day one. Aggressively diagnose and set up an immediate plan for medical treatment. It appears to me that McKensie and his staff are in a rehab mode and refuse to consider other options first. Jennings sat out far longer than he had to with his injury. If a relatively minor surgery had been performed earlier he’d be back by now.
Now Perry is going for a second opinion. I think it’s time to make the second opinion the first, and religate McKenzie to an emeritus role. This isn’t 2010 and they are running out of options.
I agree….if you’re willing to pay players the amounts of money they get,the cost of getting a player looked at immediately by a Specialist pales in comparison to the loss not only on the individual aspect but the team as a whole.
These injuries are starting to get so bad that one has to wonder if they’re even true. Could be that McCarthy is just trying greatly over exaggerating them to throw off their opponents.
And yes, I’m serious.
Agree. If I am willing to spend the money to buy a lamborghini i am going to spend the money to take it to a lamborghini specialist to get it fixed. I am not going to send it to Jim down the street who spends most of his time wrenching on a ford. Specialists should be the norm for these guys not an exception.
This doesn’t relate to the Packers, but I think it’s interesting so I’m going to share it.
A friend of mine who is a family practice doctor says a big reason why healthcare costs are so high is the overuse of specialists.
A different friend of mind had a liver test come back quirky on a work physical. He was referred to a specialist right away and underwent $20,000 worth of additional tests. It was something minor and nothing to worry about.
My friend w/ the liver issue was explaining his symtoms to my family doctor friend on the golf course one day. My doctor friend told him exactly what the problem was within two minutes (and for free). No fancy tests. No huge bill to the insurance company.
My friend w/ the liver issue went back and checked the test results, and sure enough, my doctor friend was spot on.
People are quick to run to expensive speicialists these days, but a specialist isn’t always a better option. Family docs can be quick to refer people to specialists as well because they don’t want to get sued if they misdiagnose.
Again, I’m not relating this to the Packers situation at all. I just thought it was interesting…..
I had surgery on my wrist three months ago, so yeah, I can relate a little.
After I thought it was just a bad sprain, I had it checked out and they said it was a fracture, but surgery was unlikely.
Then they had me see a “specialist” and they said “this will require surgery”.
Then they had me see another specialist and he said that there was no other option but to put a screw in my wrist so that the bone will heal properly, which coincidentally was also the most expensive. Now he’s the doctor, so who was I to say that the most expensive procedure was unnecessary?
That was three months ago, and I’m still getting medical bills. NEW, medical bills.
Obviously it’s not as bad as getting $20,000 for something that wasn’t any worse than the common cold. But I have had my experience in the medical field where I felt at least a little bit screwed over.
Absolutely agree with you on you point Adam. And like you said, it does not correlate well with the packers, but a good point nonetheless. Very few doctors are general practitioners. pretty much everyone does a fellowship and gets a specialty. why? more money.
FireMMNow says: “I am not going to send it to Jim down the street who spends most of his time wrenching on a ford.”
Hey, I don’t wrench on Fords! On wrench on Porsches. 😀
I would almost think each team would already have their specialists on contract….ie: sports medicine folks. I work in the health field and we have certain orthopods who take care of our local athletes….high school and University so I would bet we do too. Good time for the bye…..whew!
I’m a fan of the Minnesota Twins and this type of stuff always happens to them as well. Pulls, strains and sprains get diagnosed as being one week injuries. Three weeks later, the player is put on the disabled list with a muscle tear.
I’m a hack blogger completely unqualified to criticize the medical staff of a pro football team, but yeah, the Jennings and now Perry injuries this season have seemed strange…..didn’t Finley’s injury back in 2010 turn out to be worse than originally diagnosed as well? And didn’t he end up getting some type of infection from the surgery?
Mike Neal’s last year was the same way.
Excellent observation. Good point!
Forgot about that.
I hope the coaches are up to the task of preparing these backups to play. I’m most worried about the O-line. Campen has never impressed me as someone who can quickly get his players performing at a high level.
We will miss Clay Matthews if he’s out any of the upcoming games.
Certainly Matthews will be missed, but I am excited to see what Dezman Moses has…He looks like a hard hitter.
By the way Adam, you’re doing a helluva good job keeping the (excellent) articles flowing while Al and others are out of action. I hope they all return soon, as that means things are back to normal for them, and maybe you can take a well-deserved rest. 🙂
Next man up, right?
But who’s your back-up?
It would be nice if once everything settles down Al could provide an article about his experiences with Sandy. For those that are on the east coast it is kind of hard to fathom what is going on. He can put the box score at the bottom if he wants to keep it packer related.
Agreed. Al lets me write about 80s pro wrestling on here so I think a post about Sandy would be fine.
Good thought, FMMN, Al has become almost like family to all of us scattered fans.
This is bad news with CM3, The Pack played the last game of last year, against the lions, without Clay and Woodson, at home. The D got lit up. The only difference this year is some rookies are playing on D for GB. I’m glad jordy should be ready to play, because the Pack will need to score a lot of points to win in a shoot out. Same with the following game against the giants. Hopefully Clay will pull a Reggie White and miraculously heal his hammy the day before the lions game.
*disclaimer – I am not a doctor.
But if allowed to take an educated guess, I would say that Matthews Hamstring injury isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds.
He wore a boot all of 2010 Preseason, and when the season started he looked no worse for ware, garnering 6 sacks in the first two games.
After injuring his hammy again later that season against the Redskins, he wore a brace around his leg, and was out for only a week.
This time, he only limped a little bit, with no brace at all if I recall. That to me indicates that his hamstring will heal over the bye week.
Chad:
I’ve had this pain in my left leg the last few weeks? Any idea what it might be?
🙂
It has to be some kind of leg disease. We could give you antibiotics, but just to be sure I suggest we amputate.
I have some power tools.
The prescription for leg pain is to cut off a hand. You will immediately forget about the pain in your leg.
-Perry’s injury according to greenbaypressgazette.com:
An lcl injury. Normally takes 3-8 weeks to rehab. Favre suffered a similar injury in 2002. Didn’t miss a game; rested during the bye week.
-Have to echo what others on this page have been saying about the injuries. It doesn’t seem like it can be a coincidence when the packers have been in the league high for injuries the last several years. Football produces injuries, obviously, but it would seem there’s more factors at play. (But I have been wrong before).
-I wonder if CM3 could undergo surgery in the offseason to repair his hamstring. The injury will probably continue to affect him the rest of his career, otherwise.
Just read that the second opinion for Perry is for his wrist.
Just saw that too. Weird. Maybe that means he can wear a cast and keep playing. We shall see.
Perry has been completely forgettable all season long, I’m totally fine with Walden starting and Zombo getting more time.
#Zombo2012
I don’t agree with your comment. Perry was doing fine holding the line against the run and rushing the passer. He hurt the wrist, which now unfortunately requires surgery, in the second half of the first game. You try and take on 300+ pound lineman with a fracture. Guy shows to me that he is tough trying to play through it. The travesty is that it took 6 weeks for someone to diagnose it correctly.
This article is like a fountain of dis-information. Perry is having his wrist evaluated, not his knee. And EDS will play left guard, not right guard. Could we possibly be any more inaccurate in your “toying” with journalistic adventures?
Don’t confuse whatever I put on this site for journalism, Mr./Mrs./Ms. Kahuna.
it is a blog kahuna. and the wrist report came out after this report was written. Perry has had his wrist listed since week 2. So when MM said he was getting a second opinion it would seem logical to think that he is getting a second opinion on his most recent knee injury that is keeping him from playing. not the wrist injury that he played with for a few weeks.
Yaa kahuna, you crabby Bastard
Been calling for a new strength and conditioning coach for over 2 years now. Still falling on deaf ears I guess…
not sure if TT reads Jersey Al or not. hopefully he starts though. but then of course i would have had MM fired two years ago.