One of the quietly concerning issues coming out of Sunday's game between the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets, was an injury to Packers safety Micah Hyde.
While returning a punt, Hyde came down with an issue in his left knee and came out of the game. Despite the facts that he was repeatedly spotted working on the exercise bike on the sideline and that he remained in full uniform, Hyde did not return to the game and was replaced by rookie safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
Thankfully, Hyde's injury appears to be minor, as he discussed it with the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Ryan Wood:
#Packers safety Micah Hyde said his left knee is good. Just a bruise, some swelling. Hyde said he expects to play Sunday in Detriot.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) September 15, 2014
This is excellent news, and hopefully Hyde will indeed be in the lineup as expected for Week 3. Against a Lions offense with many receiving threats (among them Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Reggie Bush, and rookie tight end Eric Ebron), Hyde will likely be asked to play an active role both at safety and in the slot in sub packages. Yesterday in the dime package, when Hyde normally moves into the slot and is replaced by Clinton-Dix at free safety, Jarrett Bush was instead inserted into the lineup in Hyde's spot. Casey Hayward might have been the logical choice instead of Bush, but Hayward's hamsrting tightened up in pre-game, according to defensive coordinator Dom Capers.
If Hyde is indeed back at full strength on Sunday, that should be an important factor for both the Packers' secondary and the punt return unit.