The Green Bay Packers were hoping to use Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons as a test to prove how good they are this season. Unfortunately, the Packers showed they still aren’t as good as the Falcons as they got humiliated in Atlanta’s home opener.
Things went from bad to worse for the Packers as they also suffered some significant injuries during the game, so be careful when NFL odds for Packers this season.
On Monday, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said the team’s medical staff is still trying to figure out the extent of all the injuries suffered by the Packers on Sunday. He also added that none of the injuries appear to be season ending.
Green Bay was already without offensive tackles Bryan Bulaga and David Bakhtiari. Now, they will be without defensive tackle Mike Daniels, who suffered a hamstring injury during the first possession of the game.
Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target, wide receiver Jordy Nelson, left the game with a quadriceps injury on Green Bay’s first possession, and didn’t return to the game. The team hasn’t provided an update on Nelson’s injury, but he is expected to miss at least one week.
Things got worse for the Green Bay offense when their second best receiver, Randall Cobb, went down with a shoulder injury. Cobb dealt with shoulder injuries last season so if this is an aggravation of his injury from last year, he too might miss significant time.
Green Bay’s secondary, which is their thinnest position, also lost members as safety Kentrell Brice and cornerback Davon House, left the game with injuries. Right guard Jahri Evans injured his groin, but was able to stay in the game and didn’t miss a snap.
When pressed if any of the injuries were season ending, McCarthy said no.
While the Packers are thankful none of the injuries ended up being season ending ones, they still have a lot to worry about. The team has to play two games in a 12 day span, starting on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, then the following Thursday against the Chicago Bears.
Having to play the games in such a small time frame will make it difficult for the injured players that attempt to play through their injuries. It also means the Packers, who are already thin at several positions, could lose more players to injury.
McCarthy said there was a time during the game that he looked at the bench and saw 10 injured players sitting. He said the team has a system in which the trainers will give him a yellow card with the numbers of injured players on them. On Sunday, it seemed like it went on all night for McCarthy.
McCarthy said it was a challenge playing on Sunday with so many injuries, but he is proud of his players because he thinks they did a great job fighting through the injuries.
Since the team won’t have most of the injured guys in practice on Wednesday, McCarthy said it will impact the way they approach their preparation for this week’s matchup against the Bengals.
A little piece of silver lining for the Packers and their fans is that Cobb was asked if he will be able to play this weekend and responded by saying he will be alright.
Featured Image Credit: By Gabriel Cervantes (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
