You probably noticed a lot of Nate Palmer at inside linebacker on Sunday.
There’s good reason for that. Sam Barrington, who played despite an ankle injury that had him listed as questionable, left the game in the second quarter and didn’t return.
By all indications, he aggravated the injury. That suggests the Green Bay Packers will have to sit Barrington in order for him to fully recover, lest they want to play him for a quarter every week and then see him head to the sidelines when his ankle doesn’t hold up.
That probably means more Palmer.
And the jury remains out on whether that’s a good thing.
Palmer tied for the team lead with seven tackles on Sunday. He didn’t have any impact plays though.
Kind of like your old pal, A.J. Hawk.
A guy.
Out there.
In fact, you see Palmer getting run over by Matt Forte in the photo. Guess what happened at the end of that play.
Palmer’s helmet flew off, just like who?
Your boy Hawk.
Just sayin’.
The inside linebacker play is under the microscope now that the Packers once again showed they can’t stop the run or, you know, tackle.
We’re not going to dump that all on Palmer or Barrington, or Clay Matthews, for that matter.
Safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was garbage. He’d probably whiff on a tackling dummy.
Morgan Burnett also sat out with a calf injury. Micah Hyde, who started in his place, just isn’t as good against the run.
We know what we have in those guys, but we don’t know what we have in Palmer.
It looks like we’re about to find out, though. And with Marshawn Lynch coming to town, we can’t say we’re terribly excited.