Packers will face Ravens without Montgomery
GREEN BAY – Rookie running back Jamaal Williams will be counted on to pick up where he left off last week when the Green Bay Packers host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Coach Mike McCarthy said Friday he expected his team would be without tailback Ty Montgomery against the Ravens, and Montgomery later was ruled out on the injury report. The Packers are also without starting running back Aaron Jones, who will miss three to six weeks with a knee injury.
Montgomery, dealing with his second rib injury this season, should return sooner.
“I don’t think there’s a long-term concern,” McCarthy said.
The Packers drafted three running backs this off-season precisely for this possibility. A year ago, they lost their top two running backs at nearly the same time when Eddie Lacy and James Starks went down with injuries.
At the time, their departures spelled temporary disaster for the Packers backfield, which shuffled through running backs until finally finding a solution by converting Montgomery from receiver.
Jones and Montgomery were injured in the same game against the Chicago Bears. This time, there was no disaster. After Williams was elevated from third string, he finished with 67 yards on a team-high 20 carries.
“With the experiences of last year, that’s probably why we drafted three running backs this year,” running backs coach Ben Sirmans said. “We started off this year having four guys in the fold, so you don’t have to worry about going outside of the organization to bring guys in like we did last year.
“You hope you don’t have to go through it, but that’s all part of the experience.”
Behind Williams, fellow rookie Devante Mays is likely to get his first carries. Mays, a seventh-round pick, has been active for only three games through the Packers’ first nine. When active, Mays has been used exclusively for special teams.
Sirmans said he has no issue with Williams leading the Packers’ run game.
“He’s a downhill runner trying to get 4 yards-plus, very aggressive,” Sirmans said. “I think it just took him some time to get a comfort level just with what we were doing.
“And once that happened, he just relaxed and stopped being as conservative as he was as a runner, and figured, ‘Hey man, this is just like running in college,’ at least from the way he goes about his business.”
Decision looms: Right tackle Bryan Bulaga has a long road ahead after suffering another torn ACL, but Packers offensive line coach James Campen said he expects the veteran to bounce back.
Bulaga returned from a torn ACL in his left knee that cost him all of 2013 to become one of the top right tackles in the NFL. He was relatively healthy the past three seasons, missing only five games. He played in all 16 games last season for the first time since his rookie year.
Then Bulaga tore the ACL in his right knee this month against the Detroit Lions.
“You feel really bad for the player because he’s on the rise, had a really good year last year, everything is pointing upwards for the guy, and that happens,” Campen said. “It’s football and life, and things happen. But when it happens to one of your own, it hurts.”
The Packers will have a difficult decision to make regarding Bulaga’s future. With ACL surgeries in both knees, it’s uncertain what kind of player Bulaga will be in the future. There are still two years left on his contract, but the team can opt out of it this spring, leaving them with only $3.2 million in dead money.
Campen noted that even though Bulaga is one of the team’s longest-tenured players, he won’t turn 29 until March, an age at which he should have plenty of good football years left, if healthy.
“From the mind-set of that kid? Absolutely,” Campen said. “Heck yeah. He loves playing ball, he’s young as heck. Look at him. He’s built good.
“I expect him to bounce back from that.”
Injury update: Rookie cornerback Kevin King was among four Packers players listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Ravens.
King (shoulder) was joined in that designation by outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks (back), defensive tackle Quinton Dial (chest) and reserve guard Lucas Patrick (back). Brooks played through his back injury last week in Chicago, and Dial said this week he expects to play Sunday.
Four players were ruled out against the Ravens: Jones and Montgomery, safety Morgan Burnett (groin) and Bulaga.
Flacco factor: Joe Flacco has what Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers calls a “big arm,” but it hasn’t helped the Ravens quarterback post big numbers this season.
Flacco ranks 27th in the NFL with 1,551 passing yards, and 31st with a 72.7 rating. He has eight touchdowns but 10 interceptions and is last among 33 qualified passers with 5.33 yards per pass.
For context, Packers quarterback Brett Hundley’s average is 5.7 yards.
But there is one area where Flacco has been adequate. He has been sacked 19 times, and although that’s tied for 15th in the NFL with Aaron Rodgers — who has missed the past three games and was behind a backup offensive line when he did play — that still puts Flacco well behind the league’s most-sacked quarterbacks.
“He won’t hesitate to get the ball out of his hand right now,” Capers said. “There’s certain schemes that they have where, I don’t care how much pressure you come with — five- or sixman pressure — the ball’s out. He’s experienced enough to recognize those things. They will max up when they want to throw the ball deep, and give him plenty of protection.”
It presents a significant challenge to the Packers’ pass rush, which awoke last Sunday in Chicago after weeks of slumber. The Packers rank 25th in the league with 18 sacks, even after taking down Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky five times. Most troubling, the Packers were unable to get to Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford two weeks ago, even though the 30 times Stafford has been sacked this season are third most in the NFL.