The Green Bay Packers got a little bit of good news on the injury front today, as a few players who either were recently injured or who have been out lately were working in practice on Wednesday. Jamari Lattimore, who had a neck injury in Sunday's game against the Dolphins, was back practicing, at least in a limited fashion, and so were Jarrett Boykin and Datone Jones, who both missed Sunday's game.
Here's the full practice injury report for Wednesday, and we have updates from the head coach below.
Full Participation
ILB Sam Barrington (hamstring)
DL Josh Boyd (knee)
Limited
WR Jarrett Boykin (groin)
DE Datone Jones (ankle)
ILB Jamari Lattimore (neck)
Did Not Practice
CB Sam Shields (knee)
CB Tramon Williams (ankle)
Mike McCarthy spoke to the media after practice, addressing the injuries and other concerns. First up was the status of Shields and Williams, but McCarthy did not have any significant updates. However, he said that since they are veteran players, "we'll give them every opportunity to get ready." McCarthy also said that he believed that Williams is closer to returning to full action than Shields is.
That said, McCarthy is grateful to have players like Casey Hayward and Davon House able to fill in for the starters. Considering their good play, the coach said "It's definitely a credit to our depth and those two guys. The way they stepped up in the Miami game...it's definitely a benefit."
Jamari Lattimore is also a topic of concern, but he practiced in a limited fashion. When asked if Lattimore's neck injury suffered on Sunday was a stinger, McCarthy said that "Yes, I think 'stinger' would be accurate."
Defending the read option has been a challenge for the Packers since it bacame a major part of NFL offenses a few years ago, but McCarthy refused to compare past struggles to the present, saying : "Two years ago (this) was a different football team." He did say though that the team "spent a lot of time" working on defending the read option in practice on Wednesday.
As for his quarterback, McCarthy likes the way Aaron Rodgers is playing, but still sees areas for improvement. He would not elaborate, just saying "I've seen him play better."