Sam Shields considered 'day-to-day' with shoulder injury, per report

The Green Bay Packers may have dropped their first game of the season on Sunday night, but it could have been much worse. Cornerback Sam Shields left the game during the first half with a shoulder injury and never returned to action. However, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Shields avoided a major injury and is considered "day-to-day."

Shields, the Packers top cover man, is a valuable piece of their defense whose absence was felt against the Denver Broncos. In his stead, fourth-year cornerback Casey Hayward spent most of the evening covering wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. Thomas easily won that battle, catching four balls for 109 yards with Hayward in coverage (Thomas finished with eight catches for 168 yards overall). Rookie corner Damarious Randall didn't perform much better either when lined up over the Broncos' No. 1 receiver.

The Packers don't face another elite wideout until Week 10 (Calvin Johnson), by which point it appears Shields should return. That's positive news for a Green Bay defense coming off one of its worst performances of the year.