NASHVILLE - After battling injuries early this season and in the preseason, Green Bay's offensive line regained some stability the last four games as they opened with the same five players. On Sunday they were forced to adjust on short notice in Tennessee when starting left tackle Chad Clifton fell ill Sunday morning.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy said Clifton had a reaction to some medication, and Daryn Colledge, who started the first seven games at left guard, moved over to take Clifton's spot. Guard Jason Spitz, who has played primarily right guard this season, slid over to the opposite side to replace Colledge.
Rookie Josh Sitton, who was making a push for the starting right guard spot in training camp before sustaining a knee injury in the preseason at Denver, got his first NFL start there in Spitz's place.
Colledge, making his first start at left tackle since Oct. 22, 2006, in Miami, said he got the word he would be starting there about 30 minutes before kickoff.
"It's hard to make the transition to left tackle just before the game, but that's why I am here," Colledge said. "It's what they pay me to do and I'm trying to grow at that position and get better. When you've got to move a guy like Spitz over to a different side, it's tough, but we were given an opportunity tonight and we didn't capitalize on it.
"I only know how I did and obviously I didn't do well enough to help this team to win, so I'm going to grade myself down and say it's a losing performance any time we don't win."
Colledge does have some experience this season at left tackle, with his first opportunity coming in Week 5 vs. Atlanta when Clifton left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return.
"My job is to back up Chad," Colledge said. "If he was to be injured in a game, I have to move, and that's even harder than knowing ahead of time. I knew ahead of time I was going to play tackle, so I got to work tackle in pre-game and it was fine.
"I'm going to grow a lot at left tackle (from) this game. I was a little uncomfortable in the first quarter but I calmed down and got more comfortable."
Clifton entered Sunday's game having started 33 straight and 86 of the last 87 at left tackle. The last game he missed was also due to illness when he missed Green Bay's game at Miami on Oct. 22, 2006, with the flu.
Clifton came out onto the field in uniform with a little over five minutes to go in the first half, but stayed on the sideline for the remainder of the game.
"I thought the doctors did a great job trying to get him ready for the game," McCarthy said. "He probably could have played in the second half, but we just stayed the course with the group that we started."
The change on the offensive line came against a Titans defense that entered Sunday's contest ranked No. 10 against the run and was allowing a league-low 12.4 points per game.
Tennessee's defense entered Sunday having allowed just 12 runs of 10-plus yards in seven games this season, but Green Bay posted three with gains of 13, 14 and 13 yards by running back Ryan Grant.
Green Bay's line did allow four sacks for 26 yards, including one in the third quarter that resulted in an Aaron Rodgers fumble to give Tennessee the ball at the Packers 17.
{sportsad300}"They're a great defensive line, even when you take (Kyle) Vanden Bosch out," Colledge said. "He was out a good chunk of the game (with an injury). They are still a great front four, and we knew that coming in. We knew it was going to be a heavyweight fight and we just had to throw more punches than they did, and obviously we didn't."
Grant finished the day with 86 yards on 20 carries. He came into Sunday with a streak of two straight games with 30-plus carries after posting 33 and 31 respectively in wins at Seattle and against Indianapolis.
"I would have liked to have run it more," McCarthy said. "Ryan Grant got nicked a few times and came in and out of the game a few times. We had some checks at the line and so forth based on the defense they gave us, but I thought for the most part we ran the ball efficiently."
Although the Packers were able to generate 390 yards of offense against one of the league's top defenses, Colledge said it was the opportunity missed that will be the focus.
"We had them on their heels a few times and we didn't capitalize," Colledge said. "They did, they made more plays than us, and that's why they are undefeated and we're 4-4. They are a very good football team, but we had a chance to do something special tonight and we didn't do it."
