Nonstopdrivel
14 years ago

End of the line for Clifton? 
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Sept. 19, 2010 4:40 p.m.

Green Bay - Probably the biggest lingering question after the Packers' impressive 34-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday is what the Packers will do at left tackle going forward.

Veteran Chad Clifton was removed halfway through the second quarter in favor of first-round pick Bryan Bulaga. Officially, it was a coach's decision with an injury factor (Clifton had knee swelling all week). But there's little doubt Clifton struggled for the second-straight week and Bulaga appeared to do a solid job when he was inserted into the lineup.

"Chad Clifton, you know, did not practice twice this week," said coach Mike McCarthy. "He has an issue with his knee. It just didn't look like he was fully recovered so I thought it was important to get Bryan in there."

McCarthy didn't close the door when asked if the switch could be permanent.

"He didn't look good today so...He didn't look like he was healthy," McCarthy said. "He struggled last week through the Philadelphia game. We'll assess it in the morning and set our plan for next week."

McCarthy did praise Bulaga.

"From the production that we accomplished in the second half, I'd say he played pretty well," McCarthy said.

This is obviously a delicate situation for the Packers. Clifton, who is now in his 11th season, has a lot of skins on the wall. And the Packers are careful how they deal with veteran players. Clifton wasn't seen in the locker room in the portion open to the media.

Even offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, after being asked about Clifton, ducked back into the coaches' locker room, presumably to find out what the company line is on the situation.

"Nah, I was just checking what time we're coming in tomorrow after being here for five years," Philbin said with a bit of a laugh.

"I'm not really making a lot of individual evaluations up there (in the coaches' booth) unless they're blatantly obvious. It wasn't like I saw somebody run right by him and whack our quarterback. So that didn't happen. But what was communicated to me was his knee was bothering him a little bit.

"Yeah, we have to look at the tape closely and get a medical report on where everything is at and what the prognosis is and get our best five guys out there that give us our best chance to win."


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Greg C.
14 years ago
The headline may be a little premature, but it sounds like this could get interesting. We'll see what the coaching staff and Clifton have to say over the course of the next few days.
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Kyle
14 years ago
I thank Cliffy for his years of excellent service, and hopefully he can continue to heal so that he can back up at LT, but Bulaga seems ready to step in (albeit against the Bills). Next week he'll face a firmer test. Let's see what the young buck can do. Hopefully this is the beginning of an era of protection on par with that provided by Chad. Go Pack!
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Chutzpah515
14 years ago
Nice find. i think Bulaga did very well, both in pass and run blocking, this week, although it was against Buffalo. Since the Pack faces Julius Pepers next week, the healthiest lineman should start, which will probably be Bulaga. If Rodgers doesn't get the crap beaten out of him from his blind side, Bulaga could turn out to be the starter at LT for the rest season.
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Jakest3r
14 years ago
Didn't we just give him a three year contract before the season?

I'd guess it was frontloaded, though, considering the un-capped year.
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Zero2Cool
14 years ago
In '96, didn't Ken Ruettgers (our LT) retire during the season?
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Jakest3r
14 years ago
I don't recall if it was during the actual season but he was injured throughout the entire year in '96
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all_about_da_packers
14 years ago
Jakest3r, I believe it was a 3 year deal that could be voided to one or two years due to option bonuses (or something like that).
The NFL: Where Greg Jennings Happens.
longtimefan
14 years ago
Doesnt this sound very familiar to the Ken Rutggers type thing? Wasnt he the starter but as season went on knew he just wouldnt make it and got replaced and they went on to win the SB?

Or am I not recalling it right?
Jakest3r
14 years ago
Ah, gotcha, so in essence it's not a hit whether or not we even see big Chad on the football field again.
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