Here it is, your nightly serving of the most interesting bits of information from today’s training camp practice.
The Packers only had one practice today, but it was fairly eventful – too eventful, you might even say.
As always, this information comes courtesy of the fine folks at the Green Bay Press Gazette and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- The biggest story of the day, obviously, is Justin Harrell admitting to reporters that his career might, in fact, be over. As it turns out, his recent back problems are related to the two surgeries he’s already had on the same area of his back, his L4 disc. Harrell, described in the Journal Sentinel as being “obviously distraught”, told reporters he and the team are trying to figure out a treatment plan. My guess is that Harrell is probably done for good. A back problem isn’t like a lot of injuries in that the back is crucial to every single thing an athlete does physically. To have already had two surgeries and still not had the problem fixed? I just can’t see it magically getting better. And, as I’ve said for awhile, this was a make-or-break year for him in that he at least had to be able to get on the field to make it worth Green Bay’s while to keep him around. It doesn’t look like that’s happening, thus Harrell’s time as a Packer is probably over. Shame.
- Might as well show this again.
- In more injury news – hooray! – it turns out the Pack didn’t make it through Saturday night completely unscathed as wideout James Jones suffered a hamstring injury. Mike McCarthy gave the old “day-to-day” response on how long he’d be out, but considering injuries have been a big problem for him, it’s not a good sign. That is a real downer as Jones was clearly winning the No. 3 receiver battle and building on the promise of his strong rookie season in 2007.
- Keeping the good vibes going, Jeremy Thompson (groin), Clay Matthews (hamstring), Pat Lee (back) and Johnny Jolly (ankle) all missed practice. Jolly apparently experienced some soreness in the ankle he injured early in camp. But he looked very good against the Browns, by all accounts, so I doubt the injury is a major setback. Unfortunately, Thompson and Matthews don’t appear to be likely to play against Buffalo on Saturday. If it’s only Monday and the team can already say that, that says their injuries are fairly severe – at least not of the minor nick-and-cut variety, anyways.
- Okay, okay, enough bad news. Let’s get to some good news, shall we? B.J. Raji (RAJI!!) had his first official practice as a Packer today! It sounds like Raji is in pretty good football shape already as he participated in all drills. He’ll practice once-a-day this week and, hopefully, see some action Saturday against Buffalo.
- Nick Barnett also returned to action, his first since tearing his ACL against Minnesota last season. Barnett didn’t get in on any actual team drills, instead participating in 7-on-7/individual drills. Apparently Barnett was looking confident at times, tentative at others – basically, about how you’d expect him to be right now. I think the approach taken by the team is a good one – bring him along slowly, let him regain confidence in his knee before throwing him into the live team stuff, which can be brutal this time of year. Either way, to have the leader of the defense back is always a plus.
- With Raji practicing and Barnett back somewhat, the team is as close as it’s been yet to having its full front seven together, with still enough practice time for the group to really gel before the season starts.
- Seventh-round pick Brad Jones finally returned to practice after a back injury kept him out for all of camp thus far. It sounds like he looked good, too, possessing quickness and an ability to get to the ball and make plays. With the transition to the new scheme, Green Bay needs all the talented linebackers it can get and just maybe, the team has another one.
- Mason Crosby bouncing back from a subpar showing Saturday, connecting on 6-of-6 today. I keep saying this, but maybe this will be the start of some actual consistency. I figure if I just keep saying it, it will happen at some point.
- Jermichael Finley, according to the Press Gazette, continues to gain confidence every practice. Confidence + genuine freakish athletic skills = Potential big-time playmaker.
- Something old, something new on the o-line: Scott Wells and Jason Spitz continue to split reps at center as it appears there is no front-runner in the battle for the starting spot yet. It sounds like the team is going to wait until at least after Saturday’s game to pick a starter there. A new battle has emerged in McCarthy announcing that Allen Barbre and Breno Giacomini will be splitting reps at right tackle. This has been coming for some time now as Barbre – the hands-down favorite to win the job before camp – has underwhelmed and Giacomini has looked strong. No timetable announced for picking a starter there. That the Packers are having these battles now is okay, but they must pick their starting five by the time the crucial third game, against Arizona, rolls around. That group needs some time to build real, actual chemistry before the games count.
- Finally, as for this whole “Judas might still become a Viking talk”, all I can say is this: Sunrise, sunset.
-Chris Lempesis
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