 |
|
Ryan
Grant
|
GREEN BAY - Green Bay Packers running
back Ryan Grant sat out portions of another practice because of his
sore hamstring Thursday. And at this point, it isn't clear that
he'll be ready for Sunday's game at Detroit.
"That's probably a good question
for tomorrow," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "I know
Ryan wants to play, and his communication will be that he'll want to
play, I'm sure."
But the Packers want to see how he
does in practice Friday and how his hamstring feels the next morning
before making a decision on Sunday.
"He'll go through a portion of
practice tomorrow, and we'll test it and we'll know where he stands
Saturday morning," McCarthy said.
Grant missed the first week of
training camp because of a contract dispute, and hurt his hamstring
soon after signing a new deal and reporting to camp. He split time
with Brandon Jackson in Monday night's game against Minnesota,
carrying 12 times for 92 yards.
The Packers' running back situation
for Sunday is complicated by an injury to Jackson, who sustained a
concussion Monday night and hasn't fully participated in practice
this week.
Jackson was limited in Thursday's
practice, and McCarthy said he would be evaluated later in the
afternoon.
"I would be surprised if he's
not cleared," McCarthy said. "I'm not a doctor,
though."
Even if Jackson can play Sunday, the
Packers would likely have to rely somewhat on rookie Kregg Lumpkin,
the only other running back on the roster other than the fullbacks.
Packers running backs coach Edgar
Bennett said Lumpkin, an undrafted free agent out of Georgia who has
been getting the majority of snaps in practice this week, will be
ready to go.
"It's all about preparation, and
I think the kid does a good job of that," Bennett said.
"Being a rookie, he doesn't necessarily have a rookie mindset.
And in some cases, it helps coming from a program like Georgia,
schools that are familiar with playing in big time competition. It
helps. Certainly, it doesn't have to be that way, but I think it
helps in some situations. But I give credit to the kid, (coming) in
here, being focused, and making the most of his opportunities."
Much like Grant did last year,
Bennett notes.
"He never had a backup's
mindset," Bennett said of Grant. "It was all about, 'Let
me prepare and get myself ready to play so that when my opportunity
comes up, I'm ready. I'm ready to step in and be the guy,' and you
can see the results of that. So it all starts with one, I think
their attitude, mindset, so they can make the most of their
opportunity."
___
ON LINE?: With center Scott Wells
sitting out practice with a lower back injury again Thursday and
rookie guard Josh Sitton ruled out for Sunday's game at Detroit with
a knee injury, the Packers are likely to go with the same interior
line they used against Minnesota: Jason Spitz at center, Tony Moll
at right guard and Daryn Colledge at left guard.
Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin
said the patchwork line generally played well against Minnesota. But
all those penalties kept Philbin from praising the line's play too
much.
"That kind of tarnishes things a
little bit and takes you out of some rhythm," Philbin said
"I think we got excellent effort out of that group. They played
very hard, they did some good things. But there's a ton of things to
work on. I don't want to sit here and say we're totally pleased.
We're proud of their effort. We thought they fought their butts off
and made a solid contribution to the win. But to sit here and say
offensively that we were operating real smoothly would be an
overstatement, I would say."
If the current lineup performs well
Sunday and Wells and Sitton come back healthy, the Packers will face
a tough choice: Keep the current line together, or go back to the
drawing board to figure out who their best five linemen are and
where they all belong?
"We're going to have to balance
that," Philbin said. "We're going to have to see how that
group meshes, see how well they play, what kind of development they
have, what kind of chemistry there is in the group, see when guys
come back."
___
NOTES: The Packers added two players
to their injury report Thursday: LB Brandon Chillar (back) and S
Aaron Rouse (ankle). Both were limited in practice Thursday. ...
Three injured players participated fully in Thursday's practice
after being limited Wednesday: OT Chad Clifton (knees); DE Kabeer
Gbaja-Biamila (knee); and WR Ruvell Martin (finger). ... Also listed
on the Packers' injury report were S Atari Bigby (bicep), limited;
RB Grant (hamstring), limited; RB Jackson (concussion), limited; WR
James Jones (knee), full participation; S Charlie Peprah
(hamstring), full participation; G Sitton (knee), out; C Wells
(back), did not participate; CB Charles Woodson (toe), did not
participate. ... McCarthy said the pain from Woodson's broken toe
wasn't likely to keep him on the sidelines, but the team is
monitoring some swelling associated with the injury. "I don't
really ever question Charles when it comes to that stuff, because
he's played with so many significant things in his short time
here," McCarthy said. "We'll see. We targeted Friday to
see how he feels."
|
