When I first read that Green Bay Packers LB Frank Zombo broke his shoulder blade, I thought he'd be put on I.R. and be lost for the season. It's gotta hurt to play with a broken bone in your shoulder. From JS Online:
"I thought it was a bruise," Zombo said. "It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. But you could see (on film) that some plays my arm was hanging a little bit."
He broke it in "pre-game warm-ups when teammate John Kuhn's helmet collided with his back." They also looked at other players who suffered the same injury. From JS Online:
The most recent Packer to suffer a shoulder blade fracture was tight end Spencer Havner, who broke it in a motorcycle accident. The prognosis for recovery for him was four to six weeks, but it ended up taking longer. The other notable shoulder blade break was to safety LeRoy Butler in 2001. It ended his career after 12 years.
Mike McCarthy said Zombo will be out for "a significant amount of time." His only good news is that this injury happened during the preseason. In the regular season, they would have certainly needed that roster spot. Also, he has a couple weeks to heal now, and he'll be available for a couple more regular season games. They could leave him inactive if he can return in October.
On the other hand, they've certainly got many talented young players who they'll have to place on waivers, and not all of them can be kept on the practice squad. By placing Zombo on I.R., they'll get to keep him for 2012, and open up a roster spot now. It will depend on the final roster cuts, and how the broken bone is healing over the next two weeks.