Joemailman
10-25-2007, 10:04 PM
Notebook: Wynn's still the No. 1 running back
By Tom Pelissero
tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy has been reluctant to declare a No. 1 running back this season, but he made it clear today that rookie seventh-round draft pick DeShawn Wynn hasn’t lost his starting role.
“He’s in the No. 1 slot right now,” McCarthy said when asked whether Wynn, who leads the Packers with 49 carries for 202 yards (a 4.1-yard average) and four touchdowns, is the team’s best back.
“He has an opportunity to take it and do something with it. We’ll see what he can do.”
Ryan Grant took the majority of work in practice on Tuesday when Wynn sat out because of a neck spasm. But Wynn completed today's practice without issue.
“We can all overreact to that,” McCarthy said of Wynn’s injury, his latest in a series of ailments the past six months. “He’s been a professional. He’s been on time. He’s done all the things that are asked of him as far as the weight room, training room and so forth. … This is not a reflection of anything that’s happened in the past.”
Wynn was injured while lifting weights on Monday morning, and he aggravated it in practice that afternoon on what McCarthy called an “unnecessary” shot from a teammate. While Grant figures to play an expanded role on Monday night at Denver and Vernand Morency remains the third-down back, Wynn likely will handle a large chunk of the work against the Broncos.
“It’s definitely something I can’t get complacent with,” Wynn said. “You really don’t know who’s going to start at the beginning of the week really until the end.”
Rookie second-round draft pick Brandon Jackson continues to work with the scout team and probably will be inactive for the fourth consecutive game.
Harrell is out
Top draft pick Justin Harrell will miss Monday’s game and probably more after spraining an ankle when an offensive lineman rolled into the back of his legs in practice on Tuesday.
“He may be (out) a couple weeks,” McCarthy said.
It’s the latest setback for Harrell, who came through the Packers’ offseason program slowly while recovering from the ruptured biceps tendon that ended his senior season at the University of Tennessee.
The No. 16 overall draft pick was inactive for the season’s first four games and had one tackle each of the past two games, playing roughly 20 snaps total. He’s also been battling a sprained knee.
Room for Robinson?
Receiver Ruvell Martin sat out today’s practice because of a lower-back injury that bothered him earlier this week.
If Martin can’t play, the Packers wouldn’t have the option of waiting a week to activate Koren Robinson, who continues to show signs of rust but appears to be on track to play Monday.
Reinstated last week after serving a one-year suspension for repeat violations of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, Robinson was sore Wednesday after practicing on back-to-back days, and he still is getting up to speed on certain signals and game situations, McCarthy said.
In practice today, Robinson went through extra ball-security drills before dropping two balls from a machine while working with the kick-return unit.
“He’s just not sharp right now,” McCarthy said, reiterating he won’t make a decision on whether to activate Robinson until the end of the week. “He’s doing a lot of good things. He needs to play. He needs to practice.”
McCarthy provided no further information on Martin, who is to be re-examined Friday morning.
More injuries
Tight end Bubba Franks (knee) and cornerback Will Blackmon (foot) were the only other Packers listed as “out” on today’s injury report. Cornerback Frank Walker (knee) also sat out practice.
Right end Cullen Jenkins (ankle), who also has been hobbled by knee and abdominal pain, hadn’t made the progress trainers hoped he would by today. He participated only in individual drills in practice and said he was sore.
“(Today’s) visit with the doctor and how he feels in the morning will be a pretty strong indicator of where we are,” McCarthy said.
Cornerbacks Al Harris (back) and Charles Woodson (foot), guard Junius Coston (ankle) and Morency (knee) also were listed as limited.
Jason Spitz is on track to make his second consecutive start, this time at right guard in place of Coston, who participated only in individual drills today. Spitz started the Oct. 14 win against Washington at center in place of Scott Wells, who participated fully and is expected to return this week from a broken eye socket.
Wynn and end Michael Montgomery (knee) also had full participation. Montgomery is expected to play Monday for the first time since tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the Packers’ second preseason game Aug. 18.
“He looks to be strong,” McCarthy said. “He’s going through a little bit of what Koren Robinson’s going through as far as getting used to his pads and things like that, but I think he’s done a nice job.”
Denver removed defensive tackle Sam Adams from the injury report but made no other changes. Running back Travis Henry (ribs) did not participate and cornerback Champ Bailey (quadriceps) was limited for the second consecutive day.
Odds and ends
McCarthy said wide receiver Greg Jennings feels he’s beyond the hamstring injury that has dogged him since training camp and that his shoulder is getting better, too. … Crowd noise was pumped into the Don Hutson Center as preparations continued for the Packers’ first visit to Invesco Field at Mile High, which opened in 2001. The Packers haven’t played at Denver since 1999, when the Broncos still played at Mile High Stadium. … McCarthy said 20 minutes of extra individual work and almost 40 extra snaps of team running work for the offense were added to practice this week as coaches continue to preach fundamentals, but there are no plans to regularly extend the length of practice. “To stress our football team out, as far as keeping them on the field an extra 15 minutes each practice, I’m not interested in doing that,” he said. … Practice-squad wide receiver Chris Francies returned to practice for the first time since his father died last week.
We'll see what Wynn can do running behind last year's starting offensive line, and against the league's worst run defense. This is a big game for him. Good to see Montgomery back. He may play quite a bit with Cullen Jenkins ailing.
By Tom Pelissero
tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy has been reluctant to declare a No. 1 running back this season, but he made it clear today that rookie seventh-round draft pick DeShawn Wynn hasn’t lost his starting role.
“He’s in the No. 1 slot right now,” McCarthy said when asked whether Wynn, who leads the Packers with 49 carries for 202 yards (a 4.1-yard average) and four touchdowns, is the team’s best back.
“He has an opportunity to take it and do something with it. We’ll see what he can do.”
Ryan Grant took the majority of work in practice on Tuesday when Wynn sat out because of a neck spasm. But Wynn completed today's practice without issue.
“We can all overreact to that,” McCarthy said of Wynn’s injury, his latest in a series of ailments the past six months. “He’s been a professional. He’s been on time. He’s done all the things that are asked of him as far as the weight room, training room and so forth. … This is not a reflection of anything that’s happened in the past.”
Wynn was injured while lifting weights on Monday morning, and he aggravated it in practice that afternoon on what McCarthy called an “unnecessary” shot from a teammate. While Grant figures to play an expanded role on Monday night at Denver and Vernand Morency remains the third-down back, Wynn likely will handle a large chunk of the work against the Broncos.
“It’s definitely something I can’t get complacent with,” Wynn said. “You really don’t know who’s going to start at the beginning of the week really until the end.”
Rookie second-round draft pick Brandon Jackson continues to work with the scout team and probably will be inactive for the fourth consecutive game.
Harrell is out
Top draft pick Justin Harrell will miss Monday’s game and probably more after spraining an ankle when an offensive lineman rolled into the back of his legs in practice on Tuesday.
“He may be (out) a couple weeks,” McCarthy said.
It’s the latest setback for Harrell, who came through the Packers’ offseason program slowly while recovering from the ruptured biceps tendon that ended his senior season at the University of Tennessee.
The No. 16 overall draft pick was inactive for the season’s first four games and had one tackle each of the past two games, playing roughly 20 snaps total. He’s also been battling a sprained knee.
Room for Robinson?
Receiver Ruvell Martin sat out today’s practice because of a lower-back injury that bothered him earlier this week.
If Martin can’t play, the Packers wouldn’t have the option of waiting a week to activate Koren Robinson, who continues to show signs of rust but appears to be on track to play Monday.
Reinstated last week after serving a one-year suspension for repeat violations of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, Robinson was sore Wednesday after practicing on back-to-back days, and he still is getting up to speed on certain signals and game situations, McCarthy said.
In practice today, Robinson went through extra ball-security drills before dropping two balls from a machine while working with the kick-return unit.
“He’s just not sharp right now,” McCarthy said, reiterating he won’t make a decision on whether to activate Robinson until the end of the week. “He’s doing a lot of good things. He needs to play. He needs to practice.”
McCarthy provided no further information on Martin, who is to be re-examined Friday morning.
More injuries
Tight end Bubba Franks (knee) and cornerback Will Blackmon (foot) were the only other Packers listed as “out” on today’s injury report. Cornerback Frank Walker (knee) also sat out practice.
Right end Cullen Jenkins (ankle), who also has been hobbled by knee and abdominal pain, hadn’t made the progress trainers hoped he would by today. He participated only in individual drills in practice and said he was sore.
“(Today’s) visit with the doctor and how he feels in the morning will be a pretty strong indicator of where we are,” McCarthy said.
Cornerbacks Al Harris (back) and Charles Woodson (foot), guard Junius Coston (ankle) and Morency (knee) also were listed as limited.
Jason Spitz is on track to make his second consecutive start, this time at right guard in place of Coston, who participated only in individual drills today. Spitz started the Oct. 14 win against Washington at center in place of Scott Wells, who participated fully and is expected to return this week from a broken eye socket.
Wynn and end Michael Montgomery (knee) also had full participation. Montgomery is expected to play Monday for the first time since tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the Packers’ second preseason game Aug. 18.
“He looks to be strong,” McCarthy said. “He’s going through a little bit of what Koren Robinson’s going through as far as getting used to his pads and things like that, but I think he’s done a nice job.”
Denver removed defensive tackle Sam Adams from the injury report but made no other changes. Running back Travis Henry (ribs) did not participate and cornerback Champ Bailey (quadriceps) was limited for the second consecutive day.
Odds and ends
McCarthy said wide receiver Greg Jennings feels he’s beyond the hamstring injury that has dogged him since training camp and that his shoulder is getting better, too. … Crowd noise was pumped into the Don Hutson Center as preparations continued for the Packers’ first visit to Invesco Field at Mile High, which opened in 2001. The Packers haven’t played at Denver since 1999, when the Broncos still played at Mile High Stadium. … McCarthy said 20 minutes of extra individual work and almost 40 extra snaps of team running work for the offense were added to practice this week as coaches continue to preach fundamentals, but there are no plans to regularly extend the length of practice. “To stress our football team out, as far as keeping them on the field an extra 15 minutes each practice, I’m not interested in doing that,” he said. … Practice-squad wide receiver Chris Francies returned to practice for the first time since his father died last week.
We'll see what Wynn can do running behind last year's starting offensive line, and against the league's worst run defense. This is a big game for him. Good to see Montgomery back. He may play quite a bit with Cullen Jenkins ailing.