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Posted August 18, 2006
Green, Poppinga pushed each other while rehabbing injuries
By Dylan B. Tomlinson
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green and linebacker Brady Poppinga seem the most unlikely of pairings.
Green is the veteran Pro Bowler. Poppinga is an unproven player entering his second season. Green is surly, with usually little to say. Poppinga is one of the friendliest players on the roster.
But Green and Poppinga shared a common goal during the offseason. Both wanted to get back on the field after sustaining season-ending injuries last year.
Green was placed on injured reserve after he tore a quadriceps tendon on Oct. 23. Poppinga joined him on the injured list on Dec. 11 after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while covering a kickoff.
Both injuries required surgery, and typically take up to a year to recover. But just three weeks into training camp, Green and Poppinga are back at practice and hoping to play in the Aug. 28 preseason game at Cincinnati.
Each credits the other for getting back so quickly.
"We were able to go at it together instead of individ-ually, and having a partner there allowed us to bring it to a level that you maybe wouldn't have reached yourself," Poppinga said
"Ahman Green is a great worker. He trains the way I like to train."
Green agreed.
"It's worked out well," Green said.
"It's probably how God planned it. Rehabbing with a linebacker, it makes it perfect. He practices blitzing, and I practice picking up the blitz. I need that, and he needs that."
The quick recoveries caught the attention of Packers coach Mike McCarthy.
"I don't know if they keep records about coming back from knee surgery, but what Brady Poppinga has done is amazing," McCarthy said.
"With Ahman, he looks like he never missed a day. He looks great out there."
Poppinga said he and Green began working out together in April, which was the first time he could begin running on his repaired knee.
"That was when I was able to really start moving around, and he could do the same," Poppinga said.
"It was really a great environment, because we really pushed each other and encouraged each other."
The results of that encouragement can be seen on the practice field.
"Look at both of them," linebacker Nick Barnett said. "They've both been injured, and they still look like they're in better shape than anyone here."
Green said with as much as he and Poppinga pushed each other, there's nothing McCarthy can do at practice to faze them.
"When I'm inside the practice center with Brady Poppinga, we're going way harder than they are," Green said. "Taking nothing away from football practice, but when you've been out of football as long as I have and as long as Brady Poppinga has, we've got to simulate it the best we can. That's why both of us are above expectations. Now, we can both just focus on football."
Dylan B. Tomlinson writes for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. E-mail him at dtomlins@postcrescent.com
DAM !!
GO PACKERS ! FAITH PACKER FANS !!
Green, Poppinga pushed each other while rehabbing injuries
By Dylan B. Tomlinson
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green and linebacker Brady Poppinga seem the most unlikely of pairings.
Green is the veteran Pro Bowler. Poppinga is an unproven player entering his second season. Green is surly, with usually little to say. Poppinga is one of the friendliest players on the roster.
But Green and Poppinga shared a common goal during the offseason. Both wanted to get back on the field after sustaining season-ending injuries last year.
Green was placed on injured reserve after he tore a quadriceps tendon on Oct. 23. Poppinga joined him on the injured list on Dec. 11 after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while covering a kickoff.
Both injuries required surgery, and typically take up to a year to recover. But just three weeks into training camp, Green and Poppinga are back at practice and hoping to play in the Aug. 28 preseason game at Cincinnati.
Each credits the other for getting back so quickly.
"We were able to go at it together instead of individ-ually, and having a partner there allowed us to bring it to a level that you maybe wouldn't have reached yourself," Poppinga said
"Ahman Green is a great worker. He trains the way I like to train."
Green agreed.
"It's worked out well," Green said.
"It's probably how God planned it. Rehabbing with a linebacker, it makes it perfect. He practices blitzing, and I practice picking up the blitz. I need that, and he needs that."
The quick recoveries caught the attention of Packers coach Mike McCarthy.
"I don't know if they keep records about coming back from knee surgery, but what Brady Poppinga has done is amazing," McCarthy said.
"With Ahman, he looks like he never missed a day. He looks great out there."
Poppinga said he and Green began working out together in April, which was the first time he could begin running on his repaired knee.
"That was when I was able to really start moving around, and he could do the same," Poppinga said.
"It was really a great environment, because we really pushed each other and encouraged each other."
The results of that encouragement can be seen on the practice field.
"Look at both of them," linebacker Nick Barnett said. "They've both been injured, and they still look like they're in better shape than anyone here."
Green said with as much as he and Poppinga pushed each other, there's nothing McCarthy can do at practice to faze them.
"When I'm inside the practice center with Brady Poppinga, we're going way harder than they are," Green said. "Taking nothing away from football practice, but when you've been out of football as long as I have and as long as Brady Poppinga has, we've got to simulate it the best we can. That's why both of us are above expectations. Now, we can both just focus on football."
Dylan B. Tomlinson writes for The Post-Crescent of Appleton. E-mail him at dtomlins@postcrescent.com
DAM !!
GO PACKERS ! FAITH PACKER FANS !!
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