The Green Bay Packers officially ended Nick Barnett’s season by putting him on injured reserve.
Barnett had wrist surgery earlier this week and there was a possibility he could have returned in eight weeks, but the Packers apparently weren’t interested in waiting to see if that would happen. Barnett injured his wrist in the Packers’ week four game against Detroit.
To fill Barnett’s roster spot, the Packers signed defensive end Mike Montgomery.
This is Montgomery’s second tour of duty with the Packers. He was originally drafted in the sixth round by the Packers out of Texas A&M, in 2005. He signed with the Vikings as a free agent in March, but was among their final roster cuts.
Montgomery’s best season in Green Bay came in 2008, when he recorded 59 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble filling in for Cullen Jenkins, who tore a pectoral muscle in September and spent the season on injured reserve.
Oddly, at 6-5, 282, Montgomery isn’t exactly suited for playing defensive end in the Packers’ 3-4 scheme. He’s probably too big to play outside linebacker and that’s one of the reasons the team didn’t bring him back this offseason.
I guess beggars can’t be choosers, though.
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I wonder how much longer Barnett will stick around; his production, at its best, is solid, but he’s not really great. And more significantly, this is two season-ending injuries in the past three seasons.
Also, is Montgomery that undersized? I mean, one of the great 3-4 ends, Aaron Smith of the Steelers, is nearly the same size (outweighs Mike by around 15 pounds).
He’s not undersized for passing downs. On 3rd and long, if there are still 3 DL in the game, you go with Montgomery, Raji, and Jenkins. All 3 have some pass rush ability.
Plus, we are bigger (and slower) now at ILB. So, having a smaller, quicker end to rotate in there doesn’t hurt as much.