Posted: March 24, 2009
Dana Point, Calif. - The Green Bay Packers have interest in re-signing right tackle Mark Tauscher, but the time it will take him to get back to full strength might force them to move in a different direction.
Coach Mike McCarthy said during a break at the NFL owners meetings that he had been in regular contact with Tauscher, who had been rehabilitating a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at the Packers' facility until leaving for NFL Players Association meetings last week in Hawaii. He said Tauscher, an unrestricted free agent, had been working hard to get himself ready for the 2009 season.
But the recovery time for that kind of injury is eight to 10 months and that would put his return sometime into the regular season. At some point well before that, the Packers would have to move forward and prepare to replace him as their starting right tackle.
"It's a medical condition. What (was) it, Week 12, Week 13?" McCarthy said of the injury, which occurred against the Houston Texans on Dec. 7. "It's a late injury. You do the math, and you're looking Oct. 1 (at his return). That's what the math tells you.