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The Hurtin' Just Gets Worse

The injury list just keeps getting bigger! Of the five guys that did not practice on Wednesday, three are starters (Harris, Woodson, and Jennings) and the other two play as much as the starters (Williams and Franks). On the list of limited participation are five guys who have been starters this season (Clifton, Kampman, Jenkins, Spitz, Jolly).

Assuming that all these guys can't play, which is a near impossibility since teams usually just list all the injuries that players are playing through, the biggest problem is that injuries are hitting particular positions really hard.

At the top of the list is cornerback where the starting cornerbacks are both banged up. The good news is that the Packers intentionally held them back for most of the preseason, giving CBs Jarrett Bush and Will Blackmon a number of opportunities to start. Unfortunately the replacement nickel and dime CBs Frank Walker and Tramon Williams aren't very good, but San Diego isn't a team that relies heavily on their wide receivers in the passing game. QB Philip Rivers is struggling so far this season and the two most dangerous receivers, Gates and Tomlinson, are going to be covered most of the time by linebackers.

Without Clifton, Moll, and Spitz, the offensive line has four healthy lineman (Colledge, Wells, Tauscher, Coston) who have started at least one game this season plus rookie G Allen Barbre who still hasn't been activated for a game this season. Clifton will probably play and Moll was just cleared to play and is probably listed only as a precaution.

There are five defensive lineman listed (Kampman, Jenkins, Jolly, Montgomery, and Williams) but this is one area with a lot of depth. If someone has to be left inactive, then rookie DT Justin Harrell can finally be activated for his first action. Or someone like preseason star DT Daniel Muir can get more playing time. Kampman would be the biggest loss, but his rib injury has been listed for the last two weeks and it didn't seem to slow him down against Philadelphia or the Giants.

San Diego has four starters (RT Shane Olivia, ILB Matt Wilhelm and Steven Cooper, and SS Clinton Hart) who didn't practice on Wednesday, but it appears all of them will play. They only player out for sure is WR Eric Parker, who is a good player, but not a loss that alone will slow down the offense.