Who’s ready to lose to the Detroit Lions this week?! The Green Bay Packers better prepare for that possibility if linebacker Clay Matthews doesn’t get his ass back on the field.
Matthews missed practice for the third straight day on Wednesday because he’s dealing with his annual hamstring injury. Matthews missed four games with a hamstring injury last season.
The last we saw Matthews he was standing on the sideline during the second half of the Packers loss to Cincinnati. He said, at the time, that sitting out was a precaution.
That would suggest the injury wasn’t that serious. Then again, his not practicing at all this week suggests otherwise.
The Packers defense gave up 13 second-half points to Cincinnati with Matthews sitting out. They gave up 14 points in the first half with him in the game, but he also forced two fumbles.
Cincinnati is 22nd in the league in total offense. Detroit is fifth with an average of 404.8 yards per game.
Ruh-ro, Raggy!
Hey, the news ain’t all bad, though. Tight end Jermichael Finley, fullback John Kuhn and cornerback Jarrett Bush all returned to practice today. Morgan Burnett will also make his first start of the season at safety on Sunday.
Cornerback Casey Hayward and running back James Starks remained out. Hayward, it seems, will never play a down of football again. I’m kidding, of course, but he was supposed to be back this week and it looks like that isn’t happening.