Packers will lean on youth in finale
GREEN BAY - The decision to rely heavily on younger players is becoming easier and easier for Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy ahead of Sunday’s regular-season finale.
In a week when the Packers’ injury report swelled to 15 players, including the midweek addition of defensive end Mike
Daniels (shoulder), McCarthy on Friday ruled out six players more than 48 hours before kickoff against the Detroit Lions.
The Packers will take the field Sunday without wide receivers Davante Adams (concussion) and Jordy Nelson (shoulder), right guard Jahri Evans (knee), running back Aaron Jones (knee), outside linebacker Nick Perry (ankle/shoulder) and tight end Richard Rodgers (shoulder).
“We only have to look to one guy for the inactive list now,” McCarthy said with a smirk.
In addition, outside linebacker Clay Matthews (hamstring), wide receiver Geronimo Allison (illness), cornerback
Damarious Randall (knee) and tackle Ulrick John (back) are questionable. With so many injuries to key contributors, the Packers will be forced to increase the snap counts of players who haven’t seen the field much this season. At the receiver position, where Randall Cobb is the only healthy veteran, the
trio of Michael Clark, Trevor Davis and Jeff Janis should notice an uptick in playing time for the second consecutive week. Allison, another youngster, has missed two days of practice this week with illness, but McCarthy said he expects Allison to be available against the Lions.
At tight end, where the Packers have been uncharacteristically thin since the departure of Martellus Bennett, the majority of reps will fall to Lance Kendricks. McCarthy and his staff were given a second option when general manager Ted
Thompson promoted Emanuel Byrd from the practice squad earlier this week. Byrd never has played in a regular-season game.
At outside linebacker, where both Perry and Matthews were unavailable against the Vikings, the Packers received a shot in the arm from undrafted rookie
Reggie Gilbert, who was promoted from the practice squad last week. Gilbert, rookie Vince Biegel and Kyler Fackrell should rotate through the lineup even if Matthews (hamstring) returns after practicing on a limited basis Wednesday and Thursday.
At running back, where the decision to draft three players has proved as necessary as it was shrewd, the Packers are eager to give Devante Mays another chance. Mays fumbled on the first two carries of his career against the Baltimore Ravens and has not touched the ball since.
“I think his overall preparation will certainly help in that area,” offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said. “I think he’s done a really good job so far in preparing for this week, this game. That’s what you rely on. How you go about it, your approach on a day-to-day basis, and it helps with his confidence. And I think he’s certainly moving in the right direction, he’s making some good strides, he’s doing everything in the classroom, being up to speed as far as what we’ll require him to do in a game to be successful and help us be successful. I think he’s moving in the right direction.”
And up front, where the offensive line has book-ended the year in shambles, Thompson can feel reasonably confident in the depth he has assembled with Justin McCray at right tackle and Lucas Patrick at right guard this week.
The off-season can’t come soon enough, even if the Packers won’t admit it.
Muscle man: Running backs coach Ben Sirmans has challenged rookie Jones to improve his lower-body strength during the off-season.
Jones has suffered medial collateral ligament injuries in both knees over the last three months, and Sirmans believes added muscle will increase his durability.
“He's just got to get stronger, I think that's the biggest thing,” Sirmans said, “especially in the lower body . ... One of the things that he'll work on is getting physically stronger, I think that’s something that's going to help him be a lot more durable. He knows that, so again it’s one of the reasons why I'm excited about how these guys should come back (next year).”
Even-steven: In a year when little has gone as planned for the Packers, a season-ending victory Sunday would at least assure them of a .500 record. Otherwise, the franchise is looking at its first losing season since 2008.
The difference between 8-8 and 7-9 may be trivial in the broad scheme of things, but players in the locker room said it carries significant weight in the pride category. And with the playoffs out of reach, pride is all they have to play for.
“It definitely does (matter),” Daniels said. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. This is a divisional opponent, and we have to let them know we’re not going to just give up no matter what. We just have to finish strong and go into the off-season on a high note.”
Helping hand: Adams and left tackle David Bakhtiari were named recipients of the 2017 Tom Mulhern Stand-Up Guy Award as voted by the Green Bay chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America.
The award, given annually, is designed to recognize the player or players who have shown “exemplary professionalism in helping pro football writers covering the Green Bay Packers do their jobs.”
“I think it’s nice,” Bakhtiari said. “I think the biggest thing I’m proud about is my mom is going to be really happy. It just comes down to respect. It doesn’t matter at the end of the day the relationship between media and players, and whether there’s any rift at any point. We’re people. It’s good to act respectful.” Previous winners include T.J. Lang,
Micah Hyde, Jordy Nelson and Tramon Williams.
The award is named for the late Tom
Mulhern, a former sportswriter who covered the Packers and Wisconsin Badgers for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Green Bay Press-Gazette and Wisconsin State Journal. Mulhern died in October 2014 from complications of CreutzfeldtJakob Disease at age 56.