Green Bay’s line fortified for Rodgers’ return
New Browns GM rips predecessors
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers’ offensive line is ready to protect Aaron Rodgers, just in time for a final three-week playoff push.
When Rodgers returns from a broken collarbone Sunday against Carolina, he will take snaps behind an offensive line that has stabilized following an injury-filled start to the season.
It is more important than ever to keep the two-time NFL MVP clean and upright.
Coach Mike McCarthy “says your best lines are the ones that get to play next to each other week in and week out, to build that chemistry and consistency,” left tackle David Bakhtiari said this week.
After Rodgers, he might be the offense’s next most indispensable player. Healthy again after missing four games in September and October because of a hamstring injury, Bakhtiari has settled back into his role as trusted blind-side protector.
They’ll need him to be at his best against Carolina ends Mario Addison and Julius Peppers, who each have 9½ sacks.
“David Bakhtiari is having a heck of a year,” McCarthy said before practice Thursday. “The ability to put him on a matchup — and he’s got a huge matchup this week … and have him to be successful gives us the flexibility to maybe help somewhere else.”
BROWNS: New general manager John Dorsey played linebacker in the NFL. Turns out, he still hits hard.
Dorsey, hired last week by owner Jimmy Haslam to fix his floundering franchise, harshly criticized the team’s previous football leader Sashi Brown on Thursday, saying he failed to give coach Hue Jackson good players.
In a radio interview with one of the team’s flagship stations, Dorsey was asked if he will bring Jackson back for a third season if the team goes 0-16.
“You’ve got to get a guy like that players,” Dorsey said on WKNR-850. “And you know what? I’ll come straight out with it. The guys who were here before, that system, they didn’t get real players. As (coach) Bill Parcells would always say, ‘You are your record.’ And you know what? There it is, so that’s the truth-teller in this thing. And I’m going to do my darnedest to get Hue players. And that’s all I can ask for, and that’s all I’m going to do. I like the man.”
Dorsey was fired by Kansas City after four seasons with the Chiefs, who made the playoffs three times under his watch.
JAGUARS: Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette expects to play Sunday against Houston despite missing two days of practice.
Fournette injured his right quadriceps in the third quarter against Seattle last week when safety Earl Thomas hit him near the sideline. Fournette did not practice Wednesday or Thursday, but says he’s just being cautious.
The rookie says “right now, just taking care of it, make sure nothing else happens to it. That’s about it.”
Fournette has 923 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.
BILLS: LeSean McCoy never envisioned having the opportunity to reach 10,000 yards rushing, let alone 1, given how badly he botched a scoring chance before playing his first regularseason game.
“We were on like the 2- or 3-yard line, and we’ve been practicing this play all week,” the Buffalo Bills running back said, recalling what happened in the second quarter of Philadelphia’s 33-22 preseason win over Jacksonville on Aug. 27, 2009,
during his rookie season with the Eagles.
“As I’m running to catch it, I lost the ball in the light, and it hit me in the back of my helmet. The defender picked it up and ran it all the way back for a touchdown,” McCoy said, laughing at the recollection of linebacker Brian Iwuh’s 92-yard fumble return.
“That’s embarrassing,” he added. “You know, Philadelphia, as a rookie doing that, you go to a restaurant and they probably won’t serve you.”
Whether it’s cheesesteaks in Philly or chicken wings in Buffalo, McCoy can dine just about anywhere he wants these days.
In his ninth season, McCoy has 9,961 yards rushing and is on the cusp of becoming the 30th player to reach 10,000 in a milestone he can hit as early as Sunday, when Buffalo (7-6) hosts Miami (6-7).
JETS: Josh McCown is going from quarterback to coach for New York this weekend.
The injured McCown (wrist) will travel with the team to New Orleans and serve as a playercoach on the sideline against the Saints on Sunday.
“He asked for it, but we were going to ask him anyway, if he was up to it,” coach Todd Bowles said Thursday.
GIANTS: New York placed top offensive lineman Justin Pugh on injured reserve with a back injury three days before the team’s game against Philadelphia.
Pugh started the season at left guard, but moved to right tackle when Bobby Hart struggled. He finished the season with three starts at left guard and five at right tackle.