Here's some more on the o-line injuries
Dotted line’s status unclear
McCarthy forced to shuffle interior
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
[email protected]
Posted: Aug. 24, 2008
Green Bay - Pretty soon the shuffling will end and the Green Bay Packers' starting five will take their places on the offensive line.
But exactly two weeks before the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, coach Mike McCarthy is no more certain of how the interior of his line will look than he was the day training camp opened. Injuries and ongoing competition have left McCarthy and his staff uncertain how things will shake out.
“It’s more of an injury situation,” McCarthy said after practice Sunday.
Indeed it is, considering that two of the preferred starters, center Scott Wells (side) and guard Josh Sitton (knee), are out indefinitely. If McCarthy could predict that one or the other would be back in time for the opener, the situation wouldn’t be so muddled.
But Wells has a mysterious trunk injury that dates to a June minicamp and Sitton hasn’t been hurt before.
In the case of Wells, the injury started on his left side, but on Aug. 1, it shifted to his right side and caused him to miss nine practices and the Cincinnati exhibition game. He came back for two practices and then left early in the San Francisco game after feeling it again in his left side. Wells has seen a specialist, who McCarthy said concurred with the Packers’ doctors that it is a tissue injury and not a disc problem.
“They feel like they’re on top of it,” McCarthy said. “He’s responded very positively to the treatment. Talking to him this morning, he said he feels a lot better.
“It’s some type of strain, I guess you would categorize it, low back, trunk strain. They told me what it is. I can’t remember. It’s a long word.”
Wells will not play Thursday against Tennessee but could possibly return to practice next week. However, McCarthy made it clear that he didn’t want to risk bringing him back too soon and having the injury reappear.
In Wells’ absence, Jason Spitz has been handling the center position. It’s the third position he has played in camp, and the one he least expected to play this season.
Early in camp, he played well enough at right guard to solidify his position in the starting lineup, but after filling in for Wells the first time, Sitton took over and surprised everyone with his outstanding play at right guard. When Wells came back, Spitz was moved to left guard and after just two practice days there, played horribly against San Francisco.
He was looking forward to redeeming himself in practice the next week but Wells got hurt again and Spitz was at center full time when practice resumed last Monday. He has worked there exclusively ever since even though there’s a chance he might start at either guard position against the Vikings.
“If they ask you to move around, you move around, and the main thing is you do a good job,” Spitz said Sunday. “You never know who’s going to be available, so it’s one of those things where you show up and play where they tell you.”
Spitz played well Friday night against Denver, so if Wells can’t play, the Packers don’t have a concern at center. But if Wells and Sitton can’t play, the Packers will be attempting to block the Vikings’ sumo duo of Pat Williams and Kevin Williams with a pair of guards who were supposed to start the season on the bench.
According to McCarthy, Sitton suffered a sprained ligament during the first quarter of the Broncos game and is “week-to-week.” McCarthy wouldn’t say which ligament, but generally, if surgery isn’t necessary, it’s a medial collateral ligament, which can take anywhere from two to six weeks to heal.
Sometimes, however, if the pain is minor, a player can return quickly with the aid of a knee brace, which protects against further injury.
Sitton’s size (6 feet 3 inches, 319 pounds) and aggressive demeanor are badly needed against the Vikings, but it’s questionable whether he’ll be able to practice in time to play in the opener. He is definitely out for the exhibition finale Thursday night.
“It’s our first time going through with Josh,” McCarthy said of a knee injury. “Any time you get into these ligament sprains a lot of it is based on the severity of it, but also the individual. Once again, you talk to the medical (people), it could be a couple of weeks. You talk to the player, it could be two days.”
With Wells and Sitton out, the interior of the line during practice Friday was, from left to right, Daryn Colledge, Spitz and Tony Moll. Both Colledge and Moll have been working at three different positions, and although Colledge’s best position is left guard, Moll has seen only limited action at right guard during camp.
Both started against Denver and played well, according to McCarthy, but they have showed at times they can be beaten badly while pass blocking, which isn’t ideal for a team that absolutely needs quarterback Aaron Rodgers to stay healthy this year. Complicating matters even more is whether Moll makes the team.
If he doesn’t, McCarthy would have to move Colledge to right guard — where he has played only sparingly — and insert Allen Barbre at left guard. Barbre had his best game in two years against Denver, McCarthy said, but is inexperienced.
“The guard play, I was very pleased with the way Daryn Colledge played,” McCarthy said of the Broncos game. “I thought he played with excellent energy. He played about as good as he has played this year. Allen Barbre had his best contest as far as grading out in his two years being here. Tony Moll did a nice job. For a young group, Tony and Daryn, they have good experience. Allen Barbre has done a good job.
“It’s unfortunate Josh got hurt, but the flexibility is what we were looking with this group and I think we have accomplished that. We’ve just got to get those guys healthy.”
