Packers tight end Jermichael Finley has passed every test he thinks he needs to pass to get back on the football field, but as of Wednesday he was still barred from practicing.[img_r]http://media.jsonline.com/images/199*143/mjs-packers06-4-of-wooda.jpg[/img_r]
Team physician Patrick McKenzie makes the final call on when players are cleared to play, and in the case of Finley, he's not yet ready to give him the green light. Finley said he was not given a precise reason for not getting the go-ahead other than it is McKenzie's feeling that he needs more time.
"It's 100% frustrating," Finley said. "But there's nothing I can do."
In his nearly 20 years as team physician, McKenzie has seen hundreds of injuries like Finley's knee sprain and if he thinks the tight end isn't ready, there's usually a good reason. Teams around the NFL constantly put pressure on their physicians to clear injured players as soon as possible, but McKenzie isn't the type to prematurely allow someone back on the field.
When asked what he thought was holding McKenzie back from releasing him, Finley said, "It's just his experience. I don't get it, but obviously, he knows what he's doing. I can raise hell and all that, but that won't do anything but tick them off. So I'll just wait my time and chill out and wait until they give me the thumbs up."
The Packers could use Finley this week as they get ready to play the Dallas Cowboys. When he got hurt against Cleveland Oct. 25, Finley was on a tear with 12 catches for 198 yards and a touchdown in nine quarters.
Over the past two weeks, he has made a lot of progress, and on Tuesday he thought he ran well enough to prove he's ready to come back. But coach Mike McCarthy was told Finley's not ready yet.
"He actually had a very, very good workout yesterday, but the last hurdle as always is, here in Green Bay, is they've got to be cleared by the medical staff," McCarthy said. "We always play the high end of player safety. I know Jermichael wants to play.
"Everybody is excited to get him back on the field. But Dr. McKenzie has been doing this a long time. So until he clears that last hurdle, he won't be playing. He's getting close."
Heads up: One guy who wanted it known that the medical staff hadn't overlooked anything this past Sunday was linebacker Aaron Kampman, who suffered a concussion early in the game.
Kampman didn't tell anyone he was out of sorts, in part, because he didn't know it himself.
"I want to make sure that's clear, too, that our medical staff, they didn't know what was going on, so they need to be completely absolved," Kampman said. "I didn't really know what was going on. Sometimes you just play, keep playing and you don't really know what's going on.
"It got to the point where I knew I was probably going to jeopardize the team, so I needed to come out."
Head injuries have become a hot topic of debate around the NFL as it has come to light that many retirees have suffered debilitating effects from previous concussions. Kampman poignantly described the dilemma he faced in identifying the injury.
"Say you get hit in the leg," Kampman said. "You can analyze with your brain to say, 'OK, my knee is sore, my leg is sore.' Well, if your head is sore, it's kind of hard to analyze your own thing you're trying to analyze, if that makes sense."
Kampman said he could tell watching film of himself against Tampa Bay that he was not playing the way he normally does. He did not practice Wednesday, and his status for Sunday is up in the air.
Today it's right tackle: Rookie T.J. Lang began the work week at right tackle, and until he hears otherwise, that's where he'll be.
With Mark Tauscher (knee) and Allen Barbre (concussion) out Wednesday, Lang took almost all the snaps at right tackle and is the favorite to start there Sunday. There's still a chance Tauscher could make it back and reclaim his starting spot, but that's iffy.
"We're trying to get healthy," McCarthy said. "It's a challenge that everybody has, particularly this time of the year when you have injuries. So we'll look at all of our options and with just the way we are today and probably tomorrow, T.J. is going to get a lot of work over there."
McCarthy did not say what would happen if Tauscher was able to play, although he indicated he expected the other four starters to remain the same. There was some thought Lang would replace left guard Daryn Colledge, but McCarthy did not say that was a consideration.
Injury report: Linebacker Brady Poppinga suffered a thigh injury against Tampa Bay and underwent a scan Wednesday to determine the severity of it. With Poppinga and Kampman both out, rookie Brad Jones and Jeremy Thompson worked at left outside linebacker.
Wide receiver Jordy Nelson (knee) practiced for the first time since getting injured against Detroit Oct. 18. He was a limited participant. Also limited were: defensive end Cullen Jenkins (ankle), quarterback Aaron Rodgers (feet) and cornerback Charles Woodson (hip).
For the Cowboys, C Andre Gurode (ankle), S Ken Hamlin (groin) and CB Allen Rossum (hamstring) did not practice.
No tee time: Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said he expected a decent contingent from his hometown in Burlington, but his parents are handling all the arrangements. As for the little bit of free time the Cowboys get on Saturday, Romo said he's not going to try to get in a round of golf, a sport he could probably play professionally.
"I play usually about one round of golf a year during the season and it's usually so bad that it makes me make sure that I don't play again," he joked.