GREEN BAY – Ryan Grant understands why some people believe his job as the Green Bay Packers’ starting running back is in jeopardy. But the fifth-year back fully expects to prove those folks wrong.
“That’s natural. Of course, when guys come back from injury, when guys get injured – especially for as long as I was injured for – that’s a natural tendency (to think that),” Grant said during a visit to Green and Gold Today on ESPNMilwaukee.com and ESPNMadison.com Tuesday morning. “Somebody steps in, they do well, we win the Super Bowl.
“It’s funny, three-quarters (of the way) into the year, they were talking about, ‘They miss me, they miss me, they miss me,’ and then you hear different things. But that’s OK. I’m all right with all that. That’s been (the story of) my career, and it’s all just motivation to keep working hard and helping this team win.”
Grant, who turns 29 on Dec. 9 and is entering the final year of his contract, suffered a season-ending right ankle injury in the Packers’ Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Philadelphia and was placed on injured reserve two days later, missing the team’s run to the Super Bowl XLV title.
After back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons – 1,253 yards and 11 touchdowns (4.4-yard average) in 2009, 1,203 yards and four TDs (3.9-yard average) in 2008 – Grant had eight carries for 45 yards, including runs of 13, 8 and 18 yards on his final three carries, against the Eagles before sustaining a fractured tibia and rupturing the syndesmotic ligament in his ankle. The injury required a screw to be surgically inserted into his ankle, and while Grant believed he could have returned late in the season just as Dorsey Levens had done after virtually the same injury early in the 1998 season, the club opted to place him on season-ending injured reserve instead.
Without him, the Packers’ running game languished until rookie sixth-round pick James Starks was activated from the physically unable to perform list. Starks then rushed for 73 yards in his NFL debut against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 5, then ran for 123 yards in an NFC Wild Card victory at Philadelphia before rushing for 74 yards and a touchdown in the NFC Championship Game at Chicago.
At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in February, coach Mike McCarthy was openly giddy about Starks’ potential.
“I think James Starks has a tremendous future in Green Bay. You could see the talent the first day he arrived,” McCarthy said at the time. “It was a very unusual situation with his medical history coming out of college, not being able to play because he was on PUP. I think everybody got a clean look at what he’s able to do in the playoffs. (With) the opportunity to go through training camp and have a full year of training under his belt, he definitely has big days ahead of him.”
Grant said Tuesday he heard nothing from former running backs coach Edgar Bennett, new running backs coach Jerry Fontenot or McCarthy before the lockout – or during the brief lifting of the lockout in April – that would indicate he’s not in the Packers’ plans for next season.
“I’ve been told I’m still the leader of that squad and nothing’s going to change. There’s going to be competition for carries, and that’s fine. I’m OK with that,” Grant said. “That’s the nature of this position, that’s the nature of what we do. That would literally not be smart for the team if we didn’t compete for carries and everything.
“I do feel like what I bring to the table is something different than the other guys, and I know my work ethic, so I don’t really worry about that stuff. How I work has nothing to do with anybody else. How I perform has nothing to do with anybody else. And I want to win. So whatever does happen, as long as it’s in the best interests of the team, I’m all for it.”
Then there’s Grant’s contract situation. He’ll carry a $5.65 million salary cap figure into the 2011 season, a number that includes a $3.5 million base salary and a roster bonus of $1.75 million, with $1 million of it due on the 15th day of the new league year, whenever the lockout ends. Grant’s deal also calls for performance incentives that could earn him another $1 million.
Asked if he’s been given any indication that the team won’t pay the roster bonus or that he won’t be back, Grant replied, “No, no, no, I’ve never been given any indication. None at all. I don’t know where that came from. But, who knows? That’s stuff I don’t even think about.”
Meanwhile, Grant is simply looking forward to training camp starting on time on July 30 so he can get back to football.
“I’m definitely excited and looking forward to whenever this thing does get settled,” said Grant, who has been working out with former New York Giants teammates in New York during the offseason. “Whenever it does get (resolved), we’ll come back to work.
“If there does happen to be complacency (after winning the Super Bowl), our situation is a little different from other teams. That probably is something that comes along with every championship team – the complacency for the year after. But we fortunately, or unfortunately, have some many guys in pivotal positions that got hurt that are going to keep the team hungry and push the team if there does become any complacency. The guys coming back are just going to help and motivate us even more because we want to be right back in the mix and get that (championship) next year.”
Grant was in the greater Milwaukee area over the weekend for his “Ryan4Ryan event Sunday at Cool Waters Park in Greenfield, a fundraiser to establish a scholarship fund for Wilmot High School Students in memory of Ryan Luxem, a boy Grant befriended last year. Luxem died of leukemia in December. (For more information on how to contribute to the fund, click here.)
“It went awesome. We had over 1,000 people show up, which is great (given that we were) competing with Summerfest and the Brewers,” said Grant, who was joined by teammates Tom Crabtree and Frank Zombo at the event. “A lot of kids were out there having fun. It was a huge success for my thoughts. A lot of people came up to me and told me they had fun and appreciated what we were doing. It was a celebration of Ryan’s life, to keep his spirit alive and raise money for the scholarship fund. It ended up being a great day.”
ESPN540Milwaukee wrote: