We’ve been wondering what’s been going on with Desmond Bishop. He missed all of last season with a hamstring injury and then the Green Bay Packers tried to trade him during the draft.
That didn’t make any sense to us considering, when he’s healthy, Bishop has been the Packers best inside linebacker. Throw in the re-signing of Brad Jones to a $11.75 million, three-year contract and A.J. Hawk‘s pay cut and Bishop’s status becomes even murkier.
Well, now we know the Packers aren’t about to hand Bishop his starting spot back.
“I think there’s a mindset that when you get on that field, you’ve got to stay on the field,” inside linebackers coach Winston Moss said. “Because if you come off that field, having a job waiting for you when you get back is not a sure thing. You better make well sure that you don’t give somebody else an opportunity because everybody who’s gotten that opportunity has been able to take advantage of it, and that’s a credit to those guys.”
So far this offseason, Bishop hasn’t had anything to say about who starts because he’s been sidelined with the injury. Moss’ comments don’t bode well for Bishop’s chances at the moment, though.
In a way, he’s sending the message that players better play through injury if they expect to keep their jobs. We know how well that worked for Tramon Williams the past two seasons. It hurt the team, especially in 2011.
If there’s any good news here, it’s that Bishop is taking this as a cue to be even better.
“Bishop is a man on a mission,” Moss said. “He’s made comments that alluded to that and based upon what I’ve seen and how he’s treated this whole process, he’s a guy who is just waiting for his opportunity.”
Bishop has also stated that his goal is to be the defensive MVP this season. So we’ll see how that shakes out.