I'm not saying one game is LESS important. I'm saying, having him available for the long term, is important, more important than beating the Bengals in week 2. If it was Bengals in week 16 and we needed a win to get in the playoffs. I then say, suit up.

There's only 16 games, every game is important.

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I agree with the premise that it is early and we need this cat for 14 more games this season at the least... just stating my opinion on the importance of early season games and the momentum it brings for the heart of the schedule.

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Long term is much more important than 1 loss IMO. While it is easy to think Raji could have helped us get the win over the Bengals. He easily could have been set back keeping him out multiple more games.

I have messed up my ankle so many time, and when it is weak, it is so easy to make a sore ankle unbearable. My right ankle is so week now, that I can turn it just looking at it crooked.

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When my left one acts up.. I just break out the tools and tighten it down.

Seriously.. as a chronic sufferer of weak ankles through my playing days.. I completely understand the pain associated with ankles and turning them repeatedly.

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Bear in mind, Raji missed a significant portion of the preseason. As far as we know, he's still in catch-up mode. Do we really want to rush this guy out and risk exacerbating the injury to the point where he misses a significant portion of the season? After the whole Justin Harrell situation blew up in their faces (from my perspective as a lowly medic, I've always maintained that Harrell was rushed back onto the field far too quickly), I highly doubt the Packers organization wants to risk a repeat of that ordeal. McCarthy says that Raji is having gait issues; that is a significant problem. I only weigh 190, and putting weight on an injured ankle causes me severe pain. Can you imagine how painful it would be for a 330-pound man? A limping lineman would not have been much more effective than the personnel we had out there.

As for the insinuation that Raji is a first-round pick, so he should be on the field, that's a red herring as far as I'm concerned. Not every first-round pick is needed or even intended to have an immediate impact; heck, we benched Aaron Rodgers for three years. Rushing a man back into harm's way simply because you're paying him a lot is a great way to risk losing your entire investment in him.

But I'm a medical professional to the core and I freely admit I am biased towards protecting these guys' health to the greatest extent possible.

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I don't see how you could possibly say that we needed DL help....before this game anyway. Zero, you said that we needed help on the DL in your first post, correct? How can you say that, when in the first game Jenkins, Pickett, and Jolly had terrific games.

I understand that we probably needed help when we played the Bengals, but it's not like he could just call up Raji and tell him to get on the field during the middle of the game.

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