The injury bug won’t leave the Green Bay Packers alone as TE Jermichael Finley, DT Ryan Pickett, TE Donald Lee, LB Clay Matthews and QB Aaron Rodgers joined the already extensive list of team-injuries in a 16-13 loss to the Washington Redskins.
The timing couldn’t be any worse for the Packers as the team was already without RB Ryan Grant, RT Mark Tauscher, LB Nick Barnett, LB Brandon Chillar and S Morgan Burnett.
With the injuries piling on, Packer Nation seems bound for an agonizing season with many questions surrounding the actions of Head Coach Mike McCarthy and General Manager Ted Thompson.
By: Nick Grays
When asked about the recent injuries and the effect they had on the game, McCarthy had an interesting take.
“Well it was a challenge. I think when you have injuries you have to make the appropriate game plan changes. I felt that we had some spots in the red zone particularly in the first quarter that we were able to be smart in particular when the two injuries to your veteran tight ends took us out of some packages. But overall, I thought the players really stepped up today, it was a hot day down here,” replied McCarthy.
I wonder what game he was watching because the players did not appear to step up; evident from a 16-13 loss in a game the Packers really should have won after dominating the first half. The Packers only led for the first 58 minutes and 39 seconds of the game. I would also like to know how going 2-13 on third downs and six drops from the wide-receivers can be classified under stepping up?
Despite the demoralizing injuries sustained in the Packers’ second loss of the season (both losses due to game-winning field-goals), the team still has some hope for the season at one game back of the Chicago Bears in the NFC North. When you think about it, the Packers were inches away from coming away with the win when Mason Crosby’s 53 yard field-goal bounced off the left upright.
Much will hinge on the health of Rodgers and Finley who are arguably the two most important members of the Packers’ offensive gameplan. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions because more will be known about Rodgers during the coming week. However, with all of the concern surrounding concussions in professional sports, I would not be shocked if Matt Flynn is the starter against Miami during week six.
Meanwhile, Finley has been diagnosed with a hamstring injury according to the Packers beat reporter, Jason Wilde’s (@jasonjwilde) twitter account:
@JermichaelF88 said his injury wasn’t his knee, it’s the hamstring tendon. He could be fine, or it could be a few weeks. Not season-ender.
Going forward, I think most fans are waiting for Ted Thompson to pull the trigger on some kind of trade before the October 19th deadline. If no deal is made, there could be a lot of unhappy fans calling for Thompson’s job because this was suppose to be the year for the Packers.
What are your feelings on the actions of Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson at this point in the season? Are they holding the team back or merely stuck with an situation too ugly to fix? Any other thoughts on the Packers 2010 season, please comment below.
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