When wide receiver Terry Glenn injured his left knee twisting to make a catch during practice August 7, it first appeared that only his participation in the preseason opener would be in jeopardy. More than two weeks later Glenn has seen limited time on the practice field and the Packers must be beginning to wonder if he'll be ready to go come the regular season opener September 8.
According to Glenn, Monday's game against the Cleveland Browns is out, but the preseason game against the Tennessee Titans the following Friday is still within the realm of possibility.
"We'll just see how it goes," Glenn said Saturday in regard to the Tennessee game. "I'm definitely not going to miss the (regular season) opener, but we'll see . . . We've still got two preseason games left and then the opener to start it off and we're not counting anything out."
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman also said that Glenn could see time in the Tennessee game next week, but only under the condition that the seventh-year veteran gets some significant practice sessions under his belt beforehand. Otherwise, Sherman would rather keep Glenn on the sideline than rush him back.
"I think it would be crazy to wait this long then push him out there and risk further injury," Sherman said. "He hasn't had contact, hasn't really run routes successively in quite a while, so I think it would behoove us to hold him back."
While Glenn had his toughness called into question during his days with the New England Patriots, his delayed return in this instance seems less related to pain tolerance and more to do with an initial misdiagnosis of his injury. What first was deemed a mere hyperextension turned out to be a more serious sprain of the medial collateral ligament.
"It's probably my fault to misjudge the terminology the training staff gave me in regard to the extent of the injury," Sherman said. "It was more severe than we expected it to be. But certainly looking at the tape again and again and again, it certainly showed severity."
While the team practices on Clarke Hinkle Field, Glenn has spent the majority of that time rehabbing inside the Don Hutson Center. Sherman said Glenn's knee has shown enough improvement to handle straight-ahead running, but not enough to withstand the trauma of lateral movements.
Glenn said the knee is still sore, but that it was "time to get out there." As for missing time, he's just relieved that his return seems to be around the corner.
"It's frustrating, but what can you do?" he said of the injury. "I was fortunate and the team was fortunate that it wasn't worse than what it was. It could have been something where I was out for the whole season and I'm just looking to get back.
"Last year I didn't go through any training camp and I missed the first four games and came out without any practice time and had a hell of a game and we won that game. If I can do that (with New England), I definitely know I can do that here."
After serving a four-game suspension to start the season, Glenn made his 2001 debut by making seven receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown against the San Diego Chargers.
