Healthy Raji Making Contribution

[News Bot]

Rookie nose tackle B.J. Raji was expected to provide depth on the Packers' veteran defensive line this season, and after a preseason injury prevented him from making the impact he hoped for early on, he has made his presence felt of late as part of the team's defensive resurgence.

Raji, who was drafted with the No. 9 overall pick by Green Bay this spring out of Boston College, sustained an ankle injury in the first half of the team's preseason finale at Tennessee. It forced him to miss the first two regular-season games, and limited him for several weeks after.

But after averaging just over 16 snaps per contest in his first five games, Raji has seen his playing time, and impact, make a jump over the past four weeks, seeing time at both end spots and as a down lineman in the Packers' sub packages.

"I feel like I'm back to the player the Packers drafted me at," Raji said. "They drafted me at that position knowing that I could do certain things. I just feel li..

Source: Packers.com