McCarthy Presser 8/7: Injuries and More Injuries

As anyone who's read this blog over the past few days is aware, injuries have been the dominate story of the Packers' training camp this year. During his post-practice media availability, head coach Mike McCarthy discussed those injuries and some new ones.

The running backs have been thinned over the last two days, most notably with today's absence of Eddie Lacy. According to McCarthy his absence was due to a hamstring pull. As for Alex Green sitting out Tuesday's practice, McCarthy attributed that to knee swelling. Both cases don't seem serious, and hopefully both backs will be on the field tomorrow.

As for the elephant in the room, Bryan Bulaga has indeed opted for ACL reconstructive surgery. Some believed he would try to play through it with a brace like Logan Mankins had in 2011, but this is the right decision. Bulaga is only 24 and has a long career ahead of him. While the Packers would benefit from Bulaga's availability this season, it could jeopardize his feature.

Moving on to more injury news, McCarthy said the team wasn't worried about Randall Cobb's bicep injury, yet they're "just being cautious." Cobb hurt the arm in yesterday and concluded practice with ice wrapped around his shoulder. It looks like the team dodged a bullet, as losing Cobb the same day the team announced that Jordy Nelson would miss the entire preseason would be a significant blow to the offense.

McCarthy discussed the fighting that occurred during today's practice, "Punching a man while he's wearing a helmet is not the smartest thing." Clearly, it's time to play a preseason game. The players need to take their anger out on someone else rather than each other.

The head coach singled out interior offensive lineman Greg Van Roten for praise. Van Roten continues to flip between guard and center, and apparently he has outperformed the other options in those roles. As we predicted in our 53-man roster forecast, Van Roten is likely to make the team as their interior swing guy, much like Evan Dietrich-Smith was before becoming a starter. With Don Barclay continuing to struggle with snapping the ball, Van Roten may be running away with this job.

McCarthy concluded by stating that while the team has discussed having scrimmages with other teams, the Packers will never leave Green Bay for training camp. So if you're a fan who hasn't yet made the trek up to Green Bay for camp in the past and can't this year, you'll still have chances in the future.

Jason Hirschhorn covers the Green Bay Packers for Acme Packing Co. He has previously written for Lombardi Ave, College Hoops Net, LiveBall Sports, and the List Universe. He is also currently a senior writer for Beats Per Minute, an indie-music webzine. Follow him on Twitter: @JBHirschhorn