--The Packers headed into the final week of the preseason, which will conclude with a home game Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs, still with a big question mark on the defensive line.
Replacing veteran pass rusher Cullen Jenkins in free agency, to the Philadelphia Eagles, has proved to be difficult and not come without some hardships in training camp.
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers had to go with underwhelming third-year player Jarius Wynn as the starter at right end in the 24-21 win at Indianapolis on Friday. That's because presumptive starter Mike Neal missed a second straight game because of a knee sprain and top backup C.J. Wilson, who has been inconsistent this camp, was out with a concussion he sustained in the previous contest.
Neal's prolonged absence, which resulted when he slipped and twisted his left knee during a position drill working with a blocking bag in practice Aug. 16, isn't sitting well with Capers. Neal, a second-round draft pick last year, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 5 in the 2010 schedule after he played only two games.
"We just wish we could see him on the field," Capers said. "He missed all of last year. Now, here (in the preseason) we've only had him for a handful of snaps. ... It's hard to comment when you haven't been able to see a guy."
Wynn, a sixth-round draft pick by the team in 2009, assisted on three tackles Friday and recovered a third-quarter fumble caused by undrafted rookie linebacker Vic So'oto on a sack of Curtis Painter.
--Green Bay also is dealing with injury concerns at right outside linebacker, but the quality of depth there should allow Capers to get by without potential starter Frank Zombo for at least the first few weeks of the season.
Zombo is out indefinitely because of a broken left shoulder blade. The second-year player sustained the injury in warm-ups before the Aug. 19 game against the Arizona Cardinals when he was blocked by fullback John Kuhn. Zombo managed to play 30 snaps in the game, in which he made the start at left outside linebacker as a replacement for injured Clay Matthews, and didn't receive a diagnosis until afterward.
Zombo had been pushing Erik Walden for the starting spot opposite Matthews.
"It hurt (to learn of the injury), just because I played well (in the game), and I was playing well in camp," Zombo said. "It's a tough deal."
Recovery from a fractured scapula is typically no less than four to six weeks and could be a lot longer, which could compel the Packers to put Zombo on injured reserve and not keep a roster spot for him. Head coach Mike McCarthy suggested a decision on what the team will do with Zombo isn't imminent.
"They haven't told me anything like that. I certainly hope not," Zombo said of the IR possibility. "I don't think it's that serious of an injury that it'd be the whole season. I definitely hope not. But, I was playing great up until then."
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