The Green Bay Packers have lost their second player to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in less than a week. Offensive lineman Don Barclay was injured during today’s practice and was carted off the field. Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette shared the unfortunate news on twitter.
Last week, rookie wide receiver Jared Abbrederis tore his ACL and will also miss this upcoming season.
With the return of tackle Bryan Bulaga, who has missed most of the last two seasons due to injuries of his own, Barclay was expected to be the team’s sixth offensive lineman. Barclay was also one of the only lineman versatile enough to play all five positions on the line.
This is a big loss for the Packers, in terms of their depth on the offensive line. Behind Barclay and the current starters are Derek Sherrod, Lane Taylor, Corey Linsley, Garth Gerhart, Aaron Adams, and a heap of rookies pushing to make the roster.
Sherrod has had a marginal training camp so far. He has struggled with consistency, but the better news is that he’s been practicing every day. Hopefully the horrific leg injury suffered in 2011 is behind him and he can remain available.
Linsley has made some steady progress at center and may end up pushing J.C. Tretter for the starting role. The fifth-rounder provides valuable depth at a position that has lacked it for quite some time.
Taylor was on the 53-man roster last year and played very sparingly. He has game experience, but he would be shaky at best if thrown into the fire.
Gerhart was re-signed to the team’s practice squad in October of last year and isn’t expected to make much of a push this summer. Being a true center and with Linsley battling with Tretter, Gerhart is not likely to make strong push for a roster spot this summer.
Beyond that, it’s bare bones. I had to refer to the Packers team website to refresh myself on who was left. Unless any of them make a huge leap over the next three weeks, that doesn’t bode well for the line if any of the current starters are hurt and have to miss time.
The Packers will likely gain a few more roster spots once Barclay and Abbrederis are placed on season-ending injured reserve. I would expect the team to strongly consider some experienced depth on the offensive line to fill at least one of those spots and see what they end up with after the preseason ends. There are just 31 more days until the regular season opener.
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Jason Perone is an independent sports blogger writing about the Packers on AllGreenBayPackers.com
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This is a big loss for a number of reasons.
First, Barclays is a very good back-up player. You may not want him long-term as a starter but I’ve seen a lot worse.
Second, because of his versatility, the Pack may have to carry and extra o-lineman on the roster. The guys mentioned above don’t have nearly the ability to move around as Barclay. That means that 53rd guy on the roster you’d hope the Packers could stash away will have to be exposed to the PS. And a guy you might want on the PS will be cut all together.
I think I remember reading last year that in only one out of the last 20 years did the group of o-lineman that started the season finished the season. Just based on the odds, Barclay would have played a lot this year.
Maybe Barclay wasn’t going to start, but, IMO, by losing a lot of flexibility, this was an equivalent injury.
This is no doubt a big loss. Barclay has proven him self to be a capable starter, and he would have been a truly wonderful backup to have in reserve.
This really puts alot on Sherrod’s shoulders. He will likely see the field this year, at some point. Lets hope thatnonce he gets his chance, he dominates. He has the all the tools, lets hope he can rise to the occasion.
Yes, this makes Sherrod’s comeback a really big deal for AROD’s health and the fortunes of the Pack. Two ACLs in less than a week. Both on offense. Let’s hope it ends here.
I highly doubt it will, but we’ve won a title going through this adversity before. As long as there’s enough key players still healthy, we should be fine. We haven’t lost any so far.
This sucks. Sherrod will become a Marshall Newhouse at best. They best come up with someone else or we will find out what other bones in Rodgers body will break.
Why do you say that? Because he’s been injured? Does injury somehow deprive of ability to play?
Sherrod, as long as he can stay healthy, can probably play just fine.
Chad, seriously… You are trying to argue logic with this clown who makes Archie’s “assclown” phase seem witty and erudite?
Easy pickings. Why not?
Brad and Chad, would you care to put a wager on your hero Sherrod. I will back what I say, as I doubt either of you would… Sherrod will be a Marshall Newhouse at best! Put your money where your mouth is boys.
Well, so much for improving the injury situation this year. This is like losing a starter, since Barclay is probably our best backup OL. He likely would have seen playing time this year. Now we are back to questionable depth on the OL. I have never seen anything like the Packers’ injury issues the past few seasons in all my years of watching the NFL. Next man up already!? WTF? Go Pack! Thanks, Since ’61
And just like that 70% of the Oline depth is gone. This is the most snake bit team ever when it comes to injuries lately. The recent history of injuries this team has suffered is unbelievable. And now 10 days into camp we lost Franklin for life, Barclay and Abbey for the year and Colt (TE)for weeks or more and we haven’t even played a preseason game yet…SMH
And how are Worthy and Guion making out? Oh ya, they haven’t practiced yet…
I think people are making way too much of Barclay’s injury. Does it hurt depth? maybe a little, but Barclay is a backup, not a starter, just like Taylor. There’s a reason Taylor was on the roster last year. He’s a good backup too. Barclay is probably a little better. So at OG you lose a little bit in quality.
Honestly this won’t affect the Packers roster much. Basically assures Taylor makes the roster. Either way Lindsley is still the primary backup Center. If Tretter is injured, Lang moves over to Center for one game if Lindsley is inactive. Taylor can play either OG spot.
At OT it just means Sherrod starts taking some reps at RT as well as LT. I completely disagree w/ the author! Everything I’ve heard says Sherrod is having a good training camp. I was at the 1st training camp practice and Sherrod was moving very well. Got excellent pass sets and his length was very noticeable. I think Sherrod will be fine as a swing OT and he might even challenge Bahktiari for the LT job yet. He’s a natural pass blocker (moreso than Bahktiari who is more a battler) and he’ll earn his keep soon enough!
This is a blip on the radar! Not much more…
It does mean that Sherrod has to be a viable tackle. I have been high on Sherrod, and noted the tweets about camp (for instance, he went 3-0 in 1 on 1s Tuesday against Boyd, Mulumba and Bradford) and your comment a few days ago when you attended a practice. While you were there, did you get a chance to see and evaluate Lane Taylor’s play? I mean, he is not someone I have been able to watch play much, so I have no reason to think of him as a good back-up, or really to form any opinion. MM merely said that Lane Taylor has been up and down during camp. It did not seem like a particularly encouraging comment.
He was a 1st rd pick and All Conference in the SEC. He’s a viable OT. Quite possibly a lot more than viable.
I was paying special attention to Sherrod cuz I wanted to see how he looked. So no, I didn’t notice Taylor, but I wasn’t to concerned w/ him since he didn’t have an injury and was on the roster last year.
“He was a 1st rd pick and All Conference in the SEC.”
So was Rolando McClain. Just sayin’.
I DO have high hopes for Sherrod. What I need now is some actual proof that he can do it. I’d feel a lot better of Barclay were still a viable alternative.
It COULD be a blip on the radar if everyone else stays perfectly healthy, which certainly hasn’t been the likeliest scenario of late, and it COULD be a big disaster if someone else gets injured for an extended period of time. As Mojo said above, having a versatile guy like Barclay can prevent the need for a bunch of awkward, baseball-style “double switches” on the O-line that almost always seem to cause problems.
Not only is Barclay a legit backup at more than one position (I wouldn’t say ALL positions), but in effect we are wasting a year of his bargain-basement salary. Having a do-everything backup player at dirt-cheap prices is next to invaluable, and having Sherrod AND Barclay is a heck of a lot better than Sherrod and ????
I say this sucks.
If only sucks if a couple other things happen. Like IF another injury occurs and If Sherrod proves he can’t play and IF this and If that… Its a blip. I don’t deal w/ IF’s before, just as they occur. They are things you can’t expect to happen, just have contingencies for if they do.
Hmm. I guess that sounds kind of strangely noble, but in the end it doesn’t make any sense to me. Every backup player on the roster is “a plan for what would happen if,” and all of these plans are put in place long before a problem actually materializes. Every coach and GM makes detailed plans… IF this guy goes down, THEN that guy steps in… etc.
Barclay obviously was a part of the Packers plan for “what would happen if.” He cannot be a part of those plans anymore. And that very likely means that the Packers are not as well prepared to face the season as they would be if they still had him.
To me, that sucks.
Like I said… you have contingency plans. Now you create a different contingency w Barclays injury. Next man up! Barclay was an udfa, they have s couple more in camp this year. Get Sherrod ready and move on. Barclay is a backup, move the next backup in and get him ready should he be needed. Not like we lost a valuable starter.
Settle down people. In essence we have last year’s OL plus Bulaga, Tretter, and Sherrod (leaving Linsley out of the conversation for the moment), but minus Barclay, EDS and Newhouse.
I think it’s a net gain.
I like Strohs optimism. Hopefully it all works out. We are all concerned because of the way injuries have been working out lately with the Packers, we all feel that our line will take another hit. But until that happens, let’s just hope for the best and let’s pray that Sherrard develops into a decent tackle. This is key because it will help the whole back up situation. If a guard gets hurt and Lane Taylor isn’t the answer, maybe moving Bulaga inside and playing Sherrard at RT would be a good solution. This makes Sherrard the not only valuable at tackle , but could help the back up guard situation