National Football League

Soft tissue injuries debilitating Green Bay Packers' roster

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sunday’s heartbreaking 33-32 loss to the Atlanta Falcons was a crucial game for many reasons.

A win in Atlanta versus a solid Falcons team would certainly have helped the Packers argument that they are a serious contender for a wildcard playoff spot. A loss, well, it didn’t help their case much.

The Packers are now sitting at 4-3 and second place in the NFC North, behind a Vikings team that isn’t looking to slow down anytime soon. While the Packers are surely not out of the playoff race just yet (there’s still a lot of season left) the big question is, can Green Bay stay healthy enough to realistically perform to playoff standards?

It seems every year the Packers are plagued with a slew of injuries that damage their chances at a Super Bowl. Going into each season, the roster looks strong and hopes of making it to the championship game are high (rightly so) in Green Bay. Unfortunately, sometime around week seven or eight, those hopes begin to look like a distant and far-reaching memory as injuries start to pile up.

For the Packers, there is one type of injury that appears more on the injury report each week than all the others – soft tissue. Since week one, the Packers have had at least three players listed on the injury report with either hamstring or groin issues. Yesterday, the Packers were missing four key players; Randall Cobb (hamstring), Clay Matthews (hamstring), Damarious Randall (groin), Quinten Rollins (groin). Matthews has notably struggled with hamstring injuries for much of his career in Green Bay.

While the Packers offense performed well for the most part, it’s easy to see that these defensive holes due to injuries were the biggest reason for the Packers’ struggles versus Atlanta. To their credit, Green Bay did an excellent job of using second-year CB LaDarius Gunter (who at one point also left the game due to a hamstring injury, but later returned) to contain Julio Jones. However Falcons receiver Mohamed Sanu finished the day with nine catches for 84 yards, including 5 for 51 yards and a TD pass to put them ahead on Atlanta’s final drive.

Green Bay Packers cornerback LaDarius Gunter. Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

This is where the Packers soft tissue injuries are key. In a game as vicious as football, injuries are expected and usually planned for. But soft tissue injuries like hamstring and groin can be prevented for the most part with proper training and conditioning. In 2014, an injury rating system developed by Football Outsiders ranked the Packers among the three most-injured teams in the NFL three times between 2010-2014. The soft-tissue epidemic was noted even back then, but it seems the Packers have done little to address the issue since.

In a Week 8 comparison of the NFC North, the Bears have two players listed with soft tissue injuries, the Lions have just one and the Vikings are listed with zero. While it is just a small sample size, one or two soft tissue injuries is common, but consistently having three to four is borderline problematic and hinting at a larger issue.

For the most part, the Packers have been tremendous at filling the gaps to accommodate holes left in the roster due to injuries. But when it comes to preventable injuries like the hamstring and groin, the Packers need to take a deeper look at their strength and conditioning regime. The Packers deal with an above-average amount of soft tissue injuries that, if dealt with, could be the difference between being knocked out of playoff contention to a Super Bowl appearance in the near future.

With Matthews, Randall, Rollins and Cobb healthy in yesterday’s game, the outcome likely would have looked much more favorable to Green Bay.