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The week's list is long for the Green Bay Packers. While a lot has gone wrong for the Buccaneers during their 0-7 start, injuries have not been their biggest problem. 

For the Packers, a couple players (Lang and Allen) were injured during practice this week. Chillar is out for a couple weeks after having surgery on his broken hand. Driver (neck stinger) and Rodgers (feet) were held out all week, until Friday's practice, but they're almost certain to play through the pain. Clifton was back at practice all week, apparently his practice on Friday was limited just as a precaution, and he should start on Sunday. Hall was back in practice, after missing a couple weeks, but he was still limited and a good candidate to be left inactive on Sunday. Maybe the same can be said for Martin. There was nothing written, at least that I read, about Woodson's injury, so it's apparently not serious and he should start on Sunday. Again this week, Finley, Nelson, and Spitz are all out.

For the Bucs, their starting WR Antonio Bryant is likely to miss the game due to the knee injury he aggravated while flying coach. Maybe they'll be without 2nd year CB Elbert Mack, but since he's only started 1 NFL game, he's probably not a key part of their defense.

The complete injury lists, for both teams, are after the jump.

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Mike McCarthy addressed a few big points in his Wednesday press conference.

• QB Aaron Rodgers didn't practice due to his foot sprain, but McCarthy said "I fully anticipate him playing in the game."
• RT Mark Tauscher "took the majority of the reps" and LT Chad Clifton "looked healthy today."
• C Jason Spitz's lower back injury is "just kind of not making progress" so C Scott Wells looks to remain the starter for a while longer.
• LB A.J. Hawk "will take the majority of the reps in both the base and nickel" in place of LB Brandon Chillar, as he recovers from his hand surgery. Why won't LB Desmond Bishop start? Because "based on our evaluations...someone goes in front of the other."
• On the blitz packages: "Our number one target was to be better in run defense, so we're doing a better job there, and I think we'll continue to grow in our pressure packages throughout our other situations." 
• On penalties: "Trust me, Johnny Jolly has been spoken to."
• TE Jermichael Finley is probably out again on Sunday. His absence hasn't been noticed in large part due to TE Spencer Havner, about who McCarthy said "He runs better than than people think that he does, and he's been productive. He's got very natural hands. You've always seen that in his time here...I'm very proud of him."

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

5 days ago: Green Bay Packers' Brandon Chillar (54) and Minnesota Vikings' Phil Loadholt (71) scramble for Vikings fumble during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers recovered the fumble. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

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I should have posted this yesterday. The Green Bay Packers will be without starting ILB Brandon Chillar for at least the next game against the Bucs. From Mike McCarthy:

We had a number of players banged up from the game, but the one significant injury, Brandon Chillar had a broken hand. He will have surgery today, and with the information that will come out of the surgery, the forecast will probably be a couple of weeks, and I think he'll then be able to play with a club.

Although the coaches obviously prefer him over LB A.J. Hawk or LB Desmond Bishop, his absence for 1 or 2 games is not a big loss. Hawk or Bishop replace most of what Chillar provides at inside linebacker. It appeared that Hawk and Bishop rotated in place of Chillar against the Vikings, but it didn't seem to be broken down by passing vs. rushing downs. As much as I'd like to see Hawk fulfill some of his potential, I hope it's Bishop who plays most of the time in Chillar's absence. 

More photos » by Jeffrey Phelps - AP

5 days ago: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, right, and Green Bay Packers' Donald Driver put their helmets together and embrace after the Vikings beat the Packers 38-26 in an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

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Right after the game, there was a Brief Recap post with my initial thoughts after the game. Take a look at that post for a brief summary of the game. After the jump is the specific break down from the play-by-play.

The only significant injury was LB Brandon Chillar, who has a broken hand. Luckily they've got a solid backup in LB Desmond Bishop, and it meant more playing time for LB A.J. Hawk too. We'll have to wait until later this week to see whether Chillar can have it placed in a cast and so he can continue to play. Even in the best case scenario, he should miss next week.

I'll give a break to rookie LT T.J. Lang. He's gotten thrown into a tough situation, and has gotten beaten badly by DE Jared Allen in 2 games against him. But he's shown some promise. Even if he did leave Allen unblocked on one sack. But as far as this season goes, it's great news that LT Chad Clifton will be back next week. Tom Pelissero said "[Clifton] expects to practice on Wednesday and be ready to face Tampa Bay."

There is no excuse for not benching RT Allen Barbre at this point. RT Mark Tauscher went through his first full practices last week, and is as ready as he is going to get.

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QB Brett Favre sure was pumped up beating his old team. I lost whatever respect I had left for him after that one. He wasn't supposed to throw the game, but for all his talk about being "it's just another game", it sure looked like payback time. I'm a Packer fan first, although you can find me defending him up-and-down if you feel like combing through this site's archives. Hopefully karma kicks him hard some day.

As to the rest of the game. It sure would have been great if the offense had shown up in the 1st half. Or the special teams unit had shown up at all. And it sure would be nice if LT T.J. Lang and RT Allen Barbre could be benched in favor of LT Chad Clifton and RT Mark Tauscher as soon as next game. Or they could rush the passer, or play better defense in the red zone.

But it's easy to find fault in a 12 point home loss, so let's end with the positive. The team played hard, physical, and rallied when they fell down 24-3. The receivers and backs worked hard for extra yards. QB Aaron Rodgers kept getting back up whenever his offensive tackles let a defensive lineman come in unblocked. The defense played very physical and made some big hits. The pass defense had only allowed 9 TD passes in the first 6 games, so the 4 TDs allowed today were more fluke then trend. 

It's hard not to be emotional, but they'll lick their wounds and move onto next week. What stood out for you in this game?

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It's a good sized injury list for both teams this week. For the Packers, they are missing players that have been out the past couple of weeks, while the Vikings might have a problem with depth at WR and LB.

Mike McCarthy spoke about the injuries at his press conference. Clifton and Tauscher were both listed as full participants in practice, but McCarthy said he and his staff will decide on Saturday who will start. Reading between the lines, LT T.J. Lang and RT Allen Barbre will remain the starters. He said Finley had a chance to play, but he hasn't practiced all week, so I expect he's out. I didn't know either Martin or Woodson was hurt, it must have happened last week in Cleveland, and while Martin is probably out, Woodson will almost certainly play. Matthews was knocked out mid-game against the Browns, but he should play against the Vikings. Rodgers has been bothered by a sore foot for a couple weeks, but it hasn't kept him out yet. Sitton must have gotten hurt this week in practice, but he should start. Hall, Nelson, Spitz and Wynn have all been out for at least two weeks, and none of them should be expected to play this week either. WR James Jones might play a big role as the 3rd WR this week as he should take all of Nelson's playing time.

For the Vikings, their big problem is that CB Antoine Winfield is out again. CB Karl Paymah is one of his replacements, they're rotating 3 different backs in place of Winfield, and he's battling a quad injury. 3 WRs are hurting. Even if Berrian does play, he won't be 100%. Harvin's injury has been undisclosed, but he's likely battling a migraine, which may or may not clear up by Sunday. Reynaud is their punt returner, and he was out for the Packers' game in Minneapolis too. I'm a fan of both Henderson and Leber, and while both starting LBs should play, neither will be 100%. Obviously Favre will play despite being listed on the injury report. It's not a critical injury report, but with 3 players listed from both WR and LB, they could run into problems if another player is hurt at either position.

The complete injury list is after the jump. 

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As part of the JCPenney Van Heusen Pro Football Hall of Fame Fan's Choice campaign, I had the opportunity to interview Hall of Fame K Jan Stenerud. He will be at Lambeau on Sunday to participate in a Q&A session, alongside fellow HoF members Paul Krause and Bart Starr. He couldn't have been nicer on the phone and it was a pleasure to speak to him.

He spent most of his career in Kansas City and he joined the Chiefs the year after they lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl. He was let go after the 1979 season, and joined the Packers in 1980. At the time, the Packers had already gone through two other kickers that season, so bringing in a reliable veteran was a great move. He only attempted 5 FGs in 1980, but in 1981 he was nearly perfect, hitting 22 of 24 FG attempts. 

Unfortunately he was part of the purge of veterans by Forrest Gregg in the mid-1980s, and he finished up his career in Minnesota. He was replaced in 1984 by K Eddie Garcia, who only lasted 7 games, until they found K Al Del Greco (who then was part of another purge himself in 1987).

Brandon: You were a favorite player of mine because the Packers had a revolving door at kicker when you came in during the 1980 season. How did you wind up becoming a Green Bay Packer?

Stenerud: In 1980, Kansas City was coached by Marv Levy, and they had brought in a young K Nick Lowery. Marv wanted me to kick different, and he decided to go with the young kicker. I had a chance to go to Tampa Bay, but I didn't want to try out. So I sat out until Bart Starr called and invited me up. I hadn't kicked in two or three months. I enjoyed my time in Green Bay. Then Forrest Gregg came in and traded me to Minnesota for a 6th round draft pick. And I went and made the Pro Bowl.  

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