GREEN BAY — Josh Sitton joked about it at first, but the Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl guard wasn't joking when he was asked if his friend and linemate, left tackle Bryan Bulaga, should really try to play with what NFL sources have said is a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.
Sitton, who played next to Bulaga on the right side from 2010 through 2012 before the Packers switched up their offensive line and moved both men to the left side this offseason, said he didn't even know Bulaga had hurt himself during Saturday night's annual Family Night Scrimmage at Lambeau Field. Bulaga played roughly 30 snaps in the scrimmage, and coach Mike McCarthy said Bulaga suffered the injury on the seventh play.
"He looked good the entire time. I know he played a good number of plays with it hurt, so he looked fine to me. He made all of blocks," Sitton said. "I think he should just brace it up and play."
That's apparently what Bulaga is at least considering doing, as he sought a second opinion on the diagnosis — reportedly from renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews — and the Packers haven't officially ruled him out for the season.
But when asked if he thought Bulaga should in fact brace up the knee and play, Sitton turned serious.
"If he does try to go? I would think he's stupid," Sitton said. "He's got a career to worry about. It's not just about this year when you have something like that, so it would be dumb. But to go however many plays he went with it, whatever it is, he's a tough son of a bitch."
Asked if he thought Bulaga could really play with a torn ACL, Sitton replied, "I don't have a clue. I'm not a doctor. I have no clue. I didn't look at his MRI."
Jason Wilde  wrote: