Rookie offensive lineman Daryn Colledge is back at his college position again.
Colledge took several snaps at left tackle on Tuesday night and will be adding backup work there to his reps at left guard, the position he has played since being drafted in the second round out of Boise State.
The Packers are trying to get the young backup linemen to provide as much depth as possible, and Head Coach Mike McCarthy said he's established a similar routine for Junius Coston to work at both positions on the right side of the line.
"Instead of flipping tackles and so forth, we're going with an emphasis on left side-right side, so he'll (Colledge) train at left tackle and left guard," McCarthy said.
A four-year starter at left tackle in Boise, Colledge was the Packers' starter at left guard until last week, when he was moved down to the second unit. He has maintained since then that his goal is to return to the starting group and prove he's one of the team's five best linemen, and in the meantime he'll do whatever he's asked in the backup role.
"I'm getting kind of used to guard, so it was actually a little bit of a flashback," Colledge said. "I had to kind of get back into my steps and get used to the rhythm because it's a little bit different. But there's parts of it that were what I know and what I'm used to and I fell back into."
Colledge knows any versatility he can display will work in his favor, and he expects any transition back to tackle will go much more quickly than his initial transition to guard. Plus, he has a potentially invaluable mentor at the more familiar spot.
"Chad Clifton is a great player and I have a great opportunity to stand behind one of the premiere left tackles in the league and learn as much as I can," he said. "That's awesome."
Quick turnaround time
The Monday night game at Cincinnati will give the Packers coaches and personnel staff very little time to evaluate players before the first roster cutdown on Tuesday, Aug. 29. Rosters need to be down to 75 players by 3 p.m. next Tuesday, probably less than 12 hours after the team returns from Ohio.
"It's very difficult," General Manager Ted Thompson said during his news conference Tuesday. "Most teams will probably be playing on Thursday and Friday of this week, and they'll take the weekend to get their rosters set. We play away on Monday night, probably get back here around 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning, and have cuts the next day."
That schedule works against the Packers for the final roster cutdown as well. Because the third preseason game is on a Monday night, the Packers were forced to schedule their final preseason game on Friday, Sept. 1, rather than Thursday, Aug. 31, like most teams. (Playing Monday-Thursday would have been against league rules, not allowing adequate time between games.)
The final roster reduction to 53 players is Saturday, Sept. 2, once again giving the staff one day to make its decisions.
"It's a disadvantage, but that's just the way it worked out schedule-wise," Thompson said.
Cutting players is not something Thompson relishes. He already has released five players over the last eight days.
It comes with the territory, but he considers it probably the worst part of his job.
"It absolutely is," he said. "You want to be in this league, but these next two weeks are the time you don't want to be in here.
"It's difficult to talk to these kids because most of them will have done everything we've asked them to do, and we opt to go in a different direction. It's not their fault, it's just the way the ball bounced this time around."
Perfect night
Dave Rayner appears to be taking advantage of getting all the field goal work in practice. Kicking inside the Hutson Center, Rayner was a perfect 8-for-8 on field goals, hitting from 34, 39, 42, 46, 48, 25, 49 and 53 yards.
Interestingly, the 48-yarder just snuck over the crossbar, but the last two kicks from 49 and 53 were good with plenty of room to spare.
First practice
Newly acquired Carlton Brewster arrived in Green Bay about an hour before practice and worked out with the team for the first time. He was getting work at both receiver and punt returner.
Injury update
Tight end Bubba Franks (foot sprain) and offensive lineman Josh Bourke (calf) did not practice. Running back Najeh Davenport dropped out of practice with a hip injury.
McCarthy indicated none of the injuries appears to be serious.
Defensive tackle Johnny Jolly limped off after one play with an apparent ankle injury, but returned to practice later.
Defensive end Aaron Kampman returned to practice after missing Monday's workout for personal reasons.
On Monday, defensive tackle Kenderick Allen (side), defensive end Dave Tollefson (back) and linebacker Kurt Campbell (hamstring) returned to practice. None of the three appeared to have any setbacks, and all practiced Tuesday.
