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Packers RT Bryan Bulaga Tore MCL, According to Report

According to a report, Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga has a partial tear of the MCL in his left knee.

By Jason B. Hirschhorn and Evan "Tex" Western
Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Outcome aside, the two biggest concerns the Green Bay Packers face following their 36-16 demolishing at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks was the health of injured starters Bryan Bulaga and Eddie Lacy. While Lacy's status is still unknown at this time, a report has surfaced suggesting that Bulaga's injury will keep him out for multiple weeks.

While ligament tears are never good, an MCL tear is considerably less severe than the dreaded torn ACL. The biggest difference is in most cases, the ligament can heal on its own without surgery. Unfortunately, the injury is still likely to keep Bulaga out for at least the next few weeks and perhaps longer. Until he returns, Derek Sherrod will start at right tackle.

As for a possible timeline, ESPN's Rob Demovsky speculates that this injury could keep Bulaga out for up to a month:

Bulaga hurt his knee when teammate Richard Rodgers collided with him during a play in Thursday night's game. Bulaga was down on the turf for some time, but walked off under his own power. Later he was seen walking around the locker room without crutches.

UPDATE: There is actually some good news - Bulaga's MCL is only sprained (another word for "partially torn"), as Adam Schefter reports:

This is promising, though the Packers may still be relying on Derek Sherrod for a few weeks while Bulaga recovers. Still, Packers fans should breathe a slight sigh of relief knowing that Bulaga should be back soon.

UPDATE: Mike McCarthy implied on Friday afternoon that Bulaga could potentially return as soon as week two against the Jets.

Jason Hirschhorn covers the Green Bay Packers for Acme Packing Company. He also serves as an SB Nation Newsdesk Contributor and writes for Sports on Earth.

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