Packers vs. Bears: Wednesday Injury Report

Finally, good news comes with the injury report this week. First of all, this is one of the first weeks where the Packers chart is actually less than our opponent’s chart. Isn’t that a nice change of pace? Second the Packers get some key players back at practice. This is always good to see. Of course it’s not all good news coming with the injury report this week there is also some bad news to go along with it of course (it is the injury report after all).

Here’s the Packers report:

Let’s start with the good news….Clay Matthews is back! Kevin already got this news out, but it’s so good that it deserves some extra attention. Also, Mike Neal was back at practice today as well as T.J. Lang. The offensive line and defensive line have each been brutally thin the last two weeks so it's good to get both of them back in action.

The bad news is that Charles Woodson has already been ruled out this week. All signs were pointing to his return this week, especially with him practicing last week, but the medical staff decided he needed at least another week to heal. A shame, but not the end of the world considering the depth the Packers have in the secondary right now. Admit it, if you were forced to choose between having Woodson back and having Matthews back you’d probably go with Matthews….especially considering how bad our OLB play has been the last four weeks.

Other Packers who did not participate were James Starks, C.J. Wilson, Jordy Nelson, and Davon House. Out of all of these the most concerning is Nelson, who now may miss his third game due this hamstring injury. House’s absence is an illness, which hopefully should clear up in time for the game. Wilson will be needed for the rotation, but not a pivotal player for the defense. Starks is not needed as much with the signing of Ryan Grant and rise of Alex Green and DuJuan Harris.

All in all there is more good than bad this week, but the Packers will still sorely miss Woodson and possibly Nelson if Jordy can’t get on the practice field this week.

Before we look at the Bears injury list this week there is one essential note to consider….this is just an estimated injury report since the Bears did not practice on Wednesday. Or they ran a "scaled down" run through...whatever that means. So I would advise taking this report with a grain of salt….who knows how things would change if it were an actual practice today.

That said, here's the report:

Okay this one is long and a lot of players not participating. The most important injury of all is that to Jay Cutler. Cutler has two injuries on the list and is listed under the not participating. Despite this ominous start to the week for Cutler, every quote he has put out this week has stated that he expects to play and I don't see that changing right now.

The other major injuries I plan to keep an eye on as actual injury reports come out will be Lance Briggs and Henry Melton. Melton is a bit inconsistent, but when focused can be a force at DT for the Bears. If they are missing him then the running game should be able to benefit. Most important though is the injury to Briggs. Is his "estimation" of not practicing because he is truly injured, or is he an aging vet who needs a day off practice to keep him fresh? Will he practice tomorrow? The Bears without Urlacher, Briggs, and Jennings is just not the same defense as what was seen in Week 2. I will be surprised if Briggs does not play, but it’s still something to keep tabs on as we move forward this week.