GREEN BAY, Wis. -- In the eyes of coach Mike McCarthy, the Green Bay Packers
just lost their starting running back for the season. McCarthy announced
Tuesday that DuJuan Harris will be placed on injured reserve with a patellar
tendon injury to his right knee.
"It's a tough one," McCarthy said. "He was
definitely a young player I felt was going to be impactful on offense. I know
it's a tough blow for him, but we need to get him healthy and we will start
that process."
Despite the Packers drafting Eddie Lacy in the second round
and trading up for Johnathan Franklin in the fourth round, McCarthy described
Harris as the team's starting running back on multiple occasions during
training camp. Even though Harris missed the first couple weeks of practices --
as well as the offseason training activities -- with an earlier version of this
same injury, McCarthy didn't change his mind, classifying him as Green Bay's
top running back.
"I didn't want to let them down. I want to be out there
for them," Harris said. "They know this. I was going to give them my
all. It hurts not to be able to do that for them. I'll definitely work my
(butt) off to get back healthy."
Over the past 12 months, the 24-year-old Harris went from
being a used cars salesman to a player on the Packers' practice squad to
starting for Green Bay in its two playoff games.
"It just adds on to the story. It's not over
with," Harris said. "We're probably reading like, let's just say it's
a 12-chapter book, we're probably on (chapter) 4 or 5. We've got a long story
ahead of us."
The Packers will now almost certainly turn to Lacy as their
starter, potentially even making the former Alabama star their every-down
running back.
