Packers | James Starks may not practice Wednesday

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:54:44 -0800

Green Bay Packers RB James Starks (ankle) probably will not practice Wednesday, Dec. 28, because of a sprained ankle he suffered in Week 16. The team could hold him out of Week 17 so he can be healthy for the playoffs.

Comment (0) | Share: | Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Tom Silverstein

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Packers | Chad Clifton to practice this week

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:52:54 -0800

Green Bay Packers OT Chad Clifton (back, hamstring) will practice this week and will play in Week 17 if he does not have any setbacks during the week.

Comment (0) | Share: | Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Tom Silverstein

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Packers | Bryan Bulaga could play Week 17

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:49:47 -0800

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said OT Bryan Bulaga (knee) has been making good progress and could be able to play in Week 17.

Comment (0) | Share: | Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Tom Silverstein

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Packers | Ryan Pickett getting close to returning

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:47:30 -0800

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said DT Ryan Pickett (concussion) is real close to returning to practice but still needs to get clearance from the doctors. Pickett may be able to participate in practice Wednesday, Dec. 28.

Comment (0) | Share: | Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Tom Silverstein

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Packers | Greg Jennings could practice this week

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:46:48 -0800

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said WR Greg Jennings (knee) has a chance to practice this week.



http://www.kffl.com/team/17/nfl/green-bay-packers#ixzz1hhK3fcVJ 

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Cliffy and probly Bulaga should play. I'd let Newhouse get some snaps on the right side though too. The rest of the guys can take a chill pill and get healthy for the playoffs.
In fact I might even give DJ Smith some reps too. To say nothing of So'Oto and Lattimore. Maybe let Saine get some reps. And the rookie TEs.

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Sounds like good news all around apart from Starks. However, I really hope we don't keep many of these guys in for more than a quarter or two. Getting them some playing time after missing games is important, but re-aggravating injuries is not going to help anyone.

Poor Starks can't catch a break. If we can get these guys back in time for the playoffs that should bode well for us. What does a team do during a playoff bye? Do they run it like a training camp with generic practice or do they take a complete break like mid-season?

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The good news is that we should be healthy and clicking on all cylinders for our first playoff game. I just hope some of those injured guys aren't rusty.

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It's important to get clifton on the field this week. If we're putting him back in the lineup I'd like his first game to NOT be in the playoffs.

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Why the rush to put Clifton back on the field? He wasn't impressive even when he was healthy. This week was the first game all season in which Rodgers wasn't sacked. Maybe it's the Week 16 configuration the Packers should roll into the playoffs with. Scoring 35 points against a supposedly makeshift line isn't bad.

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I don't like the idea of having our LG playing RT. Sure, he played great considering the situation, but I'd still rather have Lang playing LG.

I'm not so sure about re-submitting Clifton into the LT spot. The OLine has probably formed some chemistry over the year playing with Newhouse. I'm not sure if that would get messed up if we put Clifton back as starter.

But I think it would be a great idea to at least get him some reps in this week.

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What was weird was I was panicking about 🇦🇷 getting hurt against da Bears and our OL played as well as it did all year long. Sure 🇲🇲 kept a man back a lot, but nobody really got smoked. If I remember correctly, 🇦🇷 was only touched once Sunday.

So if Cliffy comes back, ironically, he may end up backing up instead of starting.

I got from pro-football-reference.com that the starting OL was (L to R): Newhouse, Dietrich-Smith, Wells, Sitton, Lang. Was it me or was that our best OL we've had this season? 🇦🇷 ended the game with 5 TD passes and a relatively clean uniform. Plus I was seeing holes for Grant.

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The listed players other than Starks should probably have only limited plays. 20 plays or so. Clifton shaking some rust is probably the most important.

Starks needs rest more than reps. So does Jennings and Pickett.

While this is positive news it shouldn't change things too much.

Television commentators will talk of Packers "vulnerabilities" in order to promote the playoff games.

With the team getting healthy that divisional round game should be lopsided in the Packers favor.

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