Injuries partly to blame for QB sacks

Packers

to do a better job,” Rodgers added. “Because those hits start to add up a little bit.”

Finding a way to protect Rodgers is hardly a new problem for the Packers. He was getting knocked around more than a soda bottle in a carnival game early in that 2009 season. But the challenge might be even greater this time around because the solutions are limited, and the Packers face two teams with excellent pass rushes — Minnesota and Chicago — three times in the last five games, with the playoffs still on the line.

Injuries are partly to blame for the poor protection. Rodgers was hit often early in the year, getting sacked 16 times in the first three games — half of those by Seattle alone. But the line seemed to settle into a groove in mid-October, with Rodgers being sacked only eight times during a four-game span.

Then right tackle Bryan Bulaga suffered a seasonending hip injury against Arizona, and the line has been trying to adjust.

T.J. Lang was shifted from left guard to right tackle, and Evan Dietrich-Smith replaced him at guard. That essentially puts two new players on the line — and that’s in addition to center Jeff Saturday. Saturday is a veteran, but this is his first year in Green Bay after spending his first 13 seasons in Indianapolis.

Though McCarthy insists the players can handle the moves, the adjustments have not exactly been smooth. Most telling: Rodgers has been sacked eight times in the last two games, including five by the Giants. He’s been hit or under pressure probably a dozen more times.

“Any time that quarterback gets hit — it’s not just sacks, it’s a hit or a pressure — it’s a big deal,” offensive line coach James Campen said Thursday. “The quarterback has to be protected. We all know at times he’s not going to be and there’s going to be times he gets hit.”