 GREEN
BAY - Contact has been the catchword for Green Bay Packers running
back Ryan Grant the last couple of weeks.
"I want to get hit. I want to
hit," an antsy Grant said toward the end of the preseason last
month.
What has been an exceptionally long
wait to expose his body to contact is almost over for Grant.
After being off the field the entire
offseason and most of training camp because of contract issues and
then a hamstring injury suffered early in the preseason, Grant will
carry the football for the first time since the end of last season
in the Packers' opener Monday night.
"It's always a little concerning
when you go into live action for the first time when it's for
real," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "(But) he's in
great shape, and I'm not concerned about his conditioning or
anything like that. He just needs to get out there and get in some
live action."
The matchup against NFC North rival
Minnesota can't come soon enough for Grant. McCarthy's plan to give
a previously idle Grant a tuneup for the season with a few carries
in the final preseason game Aug. 28 against Tennessee didn't
materialize.
Aaron Rodgers threw a 68-yard
touchdown pass to Greg Jennings on the first play of the game, and
Green Bay's starting offensive unit, including Grant, was pulled for
the remainder of the game.
So whether Grant can pick up where he
left off eight months ago, when his running prowess down the stretch
helped the Packers reach the NFC Championship Game, is unknown as
the season gets under way.
Grant was among a few notable Green
Bay players who didn't practice Friday.
The Packers have taken precautions to
give players who are recovering from injuries ample rest during a
long week of practice for the game Monday. Grant went through the
full practice Thursday.
Green Bay's last practice is
Saturday.
Rodgers, set to make his starting
debut, didn't have any concerns Friday about what kind of condition
Grant will be in for the game and how much production the
second-year back can give the offense.
Grant didn't become the starter until
midway through last season.
He led the NFL with 1,159 rushing
yards the final three months of the season, including the playoffs.
"We've seen it from him the last
(12) games of last year, this preseason when he has practiced, he's
an elite running back," Rodgers said.
Packers running backs coach Edgar
Bennett indicated this week that the team will limit Grant's touches
for at least the first game.
"I think we've got to be
smart," Bennett said. "Can he physically hold up? I
believe he could. But, again, we have to be smart as far as how we
handle him."
Twenty-five carries for Grant on
Monday is probably out of the question.
That was his workload in a November
meeting against the Vikings last year in Green Bay. Grant responded
with a 119-yard effort, the only time Minnesota's top-ranked run
defense surrendered 100 yards in a game last season.
Much of Grant's success in the
Packers' 34-0 victory came on runs outside the tackles. The Vikings
strengthened the perimeter of their defensive line by trading for
Kansas City All-Pro end Jared Allen in the offseason.
The addition of Allen complements
Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, whom McCarthy called the best
defensive tackle tandem in the league.
"It's going to be our job, and
it is a tough job this week with the Williams guys and Allen and
(defensive end Ray) Edwards and the linebacking crew they've got, to
be able to open up holes and run the ball," Rodgers said.
"It's important for our game
plan, and anytime you're playing a team that's number one against
the run, you've got to be able to make them bring that extra guy
down in the box. We're going to have to be effective running the
ball this week."
Grant and backups Brandon Jackson and
Kregg Lumpkin, an undrafted rookie who won a roster spot in the
preseason, will have to try to manufacture yards behind an offensive
line that isn't settled because of injury.
Center Scott Wells (back) didn't
practice for the second straight day and likely won't play Monday.
Jason Spitz would move from right
guard to center, and Tony Moll would start at right guard.
No matter who's blocking for him,
Grant is ready for his first meaningful action since the NFC
title-game overtime loss to the New York Giants on Jan. 20 at
Lambeau Field.
The long layoff hasn't made Grant
forget what it's like to take a hit.
"I've been doing this for a long
time, so I don't forget," he said. "But, it is something
you want to get back in the swing, you want to get hit."
NOTES: LB A.J. Hawk is making
progress toward playing for the first time since he suffered a
strained muscle in his chest in the Aug. 11 preseason opener. Hawk,
wearing a protective harness, returned to practice Thursday on a
limited basis and went through the full practice Friday. He wants to
play Monday but said the decision would be made by team doctor Pat
McKenzie. "I've been hoping to play for a while, but that's
me," Hawk said. "I'm not a doctor, I don't plan to be. I'd
like to be optimistic, but it's not my call when it comes down to
it, really." ... WR James Jones hasn't ruled himself out from
playing Monday, though he has a sprained right knee that he
estimated to be about 90 percent healed. Jones hasn't practiced this
week. "They might run me on Saturday or Sunday and see how it
is," Jones said. "If they feel like it's going to set us
back another week, then we'll call the game off. We definitely don't
want to come back 85, 90 percent and then it gets bumped in the game
and I'm back to 60 percent." ... DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was
held out of practice Friday to rest a surgically repaired knee after
he practiced Thursday. Gbaja-Biamila is expected to play Monday. CB
Charles Woodson returned to practice after getting a day off for
general soreness.
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