GREEN BAY — He didn't tell everyone to put it down in big letters, as he had said about an improved running game during the offseason , but Mike McCarthy was adamant: The Green Bay Packers are doing everything in their power to make sure injuries don't derail another season.
"I have all the confidence that we will do a better job being healthier," the Packers head coach said Thursday morning during his annual pre-training camp press conference at Lambeau Field.
And while McCarthy acknowledged that some injuries are out of the control of everyone — the medical staff, the strength and conditioning staff, the coaching staff, even the player himself — he clearly believes that steps can be and have been taken to reduce the epidemic that has hit his team two of the last three years.
Although the Packers were able to overcome their injuries in 2010 to win Super Bowl XLV, they failed to do so last season. Based on a review of all 32 NFL teams' injury situations by Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News, no club was more decimated by injuries than the Packers, whose starters lost 83 games to injury. Only eight players managed to start all 16 games, and four starters landed on season-ending injured reserve.
Among the injuries suffered to key players last season: Outside linebacker Clay Matthews (hamstring, four games); wide receiver Greg Jennings (torn abdominal muscle, eight games), wide receiver Jordy Nelson (hamstring, four games), right tackle Bryan Bulaga (hip, seven games), running back Cedric Benson (Lisfranc foot sprain, 11 games), safety Charles Woodson (broken collarbone, nine games), cornerback Sam Shields (ankle, six games), outside linebacker Nick Perry (knee/wrist, 10 games), inside linebackers D.J. Smith (knee, 10 games) and Desmond Bishop (hamstring, 16 games), fullback John Kuhn (hamstring),
"We have building blocks in our program and one of them is availability and accountability, and we have not hit the target on availability two out of the last three years," McCarthy said. "It's definitely a point of emphasis. Most of it is really just the way it goes. Some injuries can't be avoided. Sometimes you have good years and sometimes not so good years, so we're doing everything we can.
"Trust me, we've looked at everything involved in our program. You'll see some things on our practice field tomorrow morning that will show that we've made some adjustments and we're doing everything we can to address it."
McCarthy also spoke at the NFL Meetings in Arizona in March about going to great lengths to study the possible causes for the muscle pulls and other potentially preventable injuries. Adjustments were made to the offseason workout regimen given to the players — although McCarthy has not divulged specifics — and part of his reasoning in going to a morning practice schedule this year and doing away with nighttime practices is his hope that injuries will lessen as a result. McCarthy called such injuries "fatigue injuries" on Thursday.
"There's certain stress points in the camp, particularly how many days you practice in a row and what you do in those particular days," McCarthy explained. "You may notice the changes, you may not. We probably have about six or seven adjustments that we'll discuss with the team tonight on how we approach training camp and I'm confident it will help us be a healthier team, which gives you a chance to practice and gain the consistency and conformity that you want coming out of training camp.
Jason Wilde wrote: