Encouraging News for Both Raji and Perry

When the Green Bay Packers practiced on Wednesday, they had everyone on the field except nose tackle B.J. Raji and linebacker Nick Perry.

We expected Perry to be out. He has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder and the earliest he was said to be available was two weeks from now. Raji has an inflamed groin and that’s about all we know there.

Coach Mike McCarthy had some good news on both players Thursday morning, though.

“The report is (Perry is) advancing through the process faster than anticipated. So is B.J.,” McCarthy said.

What exactly that means is unclear, but it certainly sounds promising.

The severity of Raji’s injury hasn’t been reported. However, “inflammation” doesn’t sound terribly serious, even it if is in the general area of his balls.

Raji’s a big boy, but he’s also a veteran. We would wager that the Packers are just resting him during the week and that they’ll plug him into the lineup on Sunday. Raji isn’t the kind of guy who needs practice reps to go out and do his job effectively.

As for Perry, we’re still not betting on him this week.

You can look to Randall Cobb for a timetable.

Cobb suffered the same injury during the preseason. He missed one game — the final preseason contest.

When Cobb returned in week 1, he was limited both in snaps and by the game plan. So with Perry on the “2-4 week” timetable, we suspect this news means he’ll be back on the field after the Packers bye week.