For linebacker A.J. Hawk, not being out on the field is a feeling that he has grown unaccustomed to as he has never missed a game during his NFL or college career. But Hawk likely will be on the sideline again this week with a chest sprain he suffered in the preseason opener vs. Cincinnati.
Hawk, who missed Green Bay's game at San Francisco on Saturday, sustained the injury on a third-down play when he broke up a pass intended for a Bengals tight end. Head Coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday night after practice that Hawk will be week-to-week.
"It's definitely tough," Hawk said. "It's new to me, not being out on the field, but I'm slowly learning how to be smart and take care of your body and figure things out. I'll be all right.
"That's why we have the doctors and trainers around here that do a good job. Whether players like it or not, they are pretty conservative with what they are doing and they want to take care of players. I respect that and I respect our doctor's decision and what the trainers tell us."
Hawk said as difficult as it is to not be on the field working with the rest of the defense, he knows he needs to be patient and let the injury heal.
"You see them out there having fun and working," Hawk said. "It's tough not being out there with your teammates, but I know if I want to get to where I have to be, it's something that I have to do."
Back at it
Aaron Rodgers' trip home to California on Saturday didn't exactly go the way he envisioned it, but he is focusing on getting the offense back on track at Denver on Friday night.
Green Bay's No. 1 offense managed just 46 yards of total offense and four first downs in 25 snaps against the 49ers, and Rodgers (9-of-16, 58 yards, 64.1 rating) was sacked four times.
"It's always difficult after a half like that," Rodgers said. "The thing you really want to do is go back out the second half and try to fix the things you made mistakes on in the first half, but that's the nature of the preseason.
"We watched the film and made the corrections and now we're going to move forward. Hopefully we'll have a better performance this week against Denver.
Typically the Packers' starting units have played into the third quarter in the third game of the preseason.
"We're going to definitely game plan a little bit more for these guys, more than we have in the first two games," Rodgers said. "This should be a good opportunity for us to figure out what we are made of and kind of what our identity is going to be."
Shuffling continues
With center Scott Wells re-aggravating the trunk injury that has caused him to miss time this preseason, the Packers re-shuffled their offensive line again on Monday night.
With starting left tackle Chad Clifton also sitting out (soreness), Green Bay's first unit was Tony Moll at left tackle, Daryn Colledge at left guard, Jason Spitz at center, Josh Sitton at right guard and Mark Tauscher at right tackle.
{sportsad300}Colledge also got some work at left tackle, with Allen Barbre seeing time then at left guard.
"We've been bouncing around, moving around, changing lineups since we have been here," Spitz said. "It's something we are used to, and we just know that we are expected to come out and do our jobs and play well and be accountable every week."
Like the entire team, the offensive line struggled at San Francisco, but Spitz said they are looking forward to redeeming themselves this week against the Broncos.
"You never want to have a week like that," Spitz said. "Obviously it was embarrassing the way we played. Luckily for us it was only the preseason. Hopefully we can learn from it, see what not to do in a football game, and then move on and get better."
Injury/participation update
Remaining out were Hawk, safety Charlie Peprah (hamstring), defensive tackles Ryan Pickett (hamstring) and Justin Harrell (back), tight end Tory Humphrey (Achilles), and running back DeShawn Wynn (ankle).
Wide receivers Greg Jennings and Ruvell Martin and linebacker Desmond Bishop returned to the field with full participation.
Running back Ryan Grant, defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and tackle Orrin Thompson were in uniform but just participated in the jog-through portion of practice.
New to the absentee list were defensive tackle Daniel Muir (groin), cornerback Al Harris, tight end Evan Moore (knee), cornerback Joe Porter (personal reasons), Wells (back), and Clifton. McCarthy said Moore could be out a few weeks.
