The Green Bay Packers will be without linebacker D.J. Smith and running back Brandon Saine for the rest of the season.
Both players suffered knee injuries against the Houston Texans on Sunday. Saine has already been placed on injured reserve and the Packers filled his roster spot by claiming running back Johnny White on waivers from the Buffalo Bills.
White is a 5-10, 210-pound bruiser, who was a fifth-round draft pick by the Bills in 2011 out of North Carolina. Like Saine, he’ll probably only see the field on special teams.
Smith’s loss is a bit more of a concern.
He actually became a starter when Desmond Bishop‘s season was ended by a hamstring injury. The Packers will replace him with either Brad Jones, Robert Francois or Jamari Lattimore.
Jones finished the game in Smith’s place on Sunday and has been a part-time starter at outside linebacker for the Packers. Francois started last season alongside Smith in the middle when both Bishop and A.J. Hawk were injured and played well. Lattimore was actually the most impressive of the three in training camp, so the cupboard isn’t exactly bare.
It should also be pointed out that although we was solid against the run and a decent blitzer, Smith wasn’t exactly great in coverage. In fact, you might even say he was terrible.
So it’s probably not time to panic quite yet.
The Packers also received some good news in all of this. Linebacker Nick Perry‘s injury wasn’t as severe as initially thought. We should know more on Wednesday.
Andrew Quarless and Frank Zombo will be back practicing this week too. McCarthy also said Raji “maybe” could have gone Sunday but the medical staff didn’t feel it necessary.
I think by the end of next week, with the road trip ending, and coming home to play Jax. GB should have Jennings, Raji, Zombo, Sherrod (maybe) and who cares about Finely — but they all should be back or close to full health.
Right now here’s your best bet at the FA market.
Inside Linebacker
Stephen Cooper
Andra Davis
Gary Guyton
E.J. Henderson
James Farrior
Omar Gaither (WLB in 4-3)
Greg Jones
Scott McKillop
Leon Williams
Rennie Curran
Nate Triplett
Phillip Dillard
Outside Linebacker
Brian Rolle (WLB in 4-3)
Reggie Torbor (ILB in 3-4/SLB in 4-3)
Ernie Sims (WLB in 4-3)
Travis LaBoy (OLB in 3-4/DE in 4-3)
Brady Poppinga (SLB in 4-3/OLB in 3-4)
Ernie Sims (WLB in 4-3)
Kevin Bentley (SLB/MLB in 4-3)
Darryl Blackstock (SLB in 4-3)
David Vobora (SLB in 4-3)
Na’il Diggs (SLB in 4-3)
Isaiah Ekejiuba (SLB in 4-3)
Xaiver Adibi (WLB in 4-3)
Prescott Burgess (OLB in 3-4/ILB in 3-4)
Danny Batten (SLB in 4-3/OLB in 3-4)
Cameron Sheffield (OLB in 3-4)
Spencer Adkins (SLB in 4-3)
Thaddeus Gibson (SLB in 4-3)
Cyril Obiozor (SLB in 4-3/OLB in 3-4)
Eric Bakhtiari (OLB in 3-4)
Ricky Elmore (OLB in 3-4)
Good post, PackAttack.
Since the Packers love giving their own guys a shot, I don’t see any pick ups being imminent. If anything, this just makes getting Quarless and Zombo back onto the roster that much easier.
Personally, I would LOVE to see an effective Andrew Quarless back on the football field. We won a Super Bowl with the guy, and he was developing into an excellent blocking TE when he had his BS injury.
Saine is a non-factor who shouldn’t have even made the team in my opinion.
I guess the guy played special teams, though I don’t remember him ever making a tackle. When they showed 33 on the cart, I thought Doug Evans was still on the team.
DJ Smith was not playing well, and I was missing Desmond Bishop more and more each week. Teams were running at him and specifically targeting him in the passing game. The best part of his game so far was actually his blitzing, where he was showing to be pretty effective thanks to his agility.
Personally, I would have liked to see Lattimore or Robert Francois on the field. I was surprised when it was Brad Jones who got the call. In his couple games last season, Francois played better than Smith was playing this year. His size makes him a better match up against TEs.
D. J. Smith was playing awesome ball….with Bishop already goen, this is a tragic blow to us…
This will be a tough loss. Damn.
It’s not tragic…a Ray Lewis loss is tragic. This is not that.
The only thing I like about DJ Smith was his ability to sniff out screen passes without a problem.
Saine was suppose to be the best blitz blocker of the bunch of RBs last year. I wonder why McCarthy wasn’t using him in certain situations to help out Rodgers.
With this being week six what players will join the 53 man roster from the PUP list. All the news is saying Quarless and Zombo with Sherrod going on IR. Wonder if that is why Greg Van Roten was promoted.