Packers' Lang and Sitton questionable, but Lang 'wouldn't bet against us playing'
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There is hope that both of the Green Bay Packers' injured starting guards will be ready in time for Sunday night's game. It all depends on how Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang respond Saturday to their pre-practice evaluations.
Sitton and Lang have yet to practice this week, but the Packers listed both as questionable for their upcoming rematch against the Chicago Bears.
"They're old-school pros," head coach Mike McCarthy said Friday. "You don't really wait around to feel good to play. If you think that's reality, there wouldn't be a lot of guys playing on Sundays. They fight through all the different levels of things they have to deal with. I think it's a real credit to both those guys. I think that's what you look for."
Green Bay doesn't practice on Fridays, but Sitton and Lang went through an early-morning workout about 60 hours before kickoff.
"The work load they were asked to do, they exceeded it," McCarthy said. "That part went well."
Sitton was somewhat encouraged by what he was able to do Friday morning.
"Moved around a little bit, pushed on it; it felt all right," Sitton said in the locker room. "Didn't feel 100 percent, but I felt pretty decent."
Sitton then added he was "doing certain movements that I'll be doing on Sunday."
Wait. That he'll be doing Sunday? Did Sitton perhaps tip his hand that he intends to play?
"I'm going to see how it feels (Saturday); it's still a little swollen up," Sitton said. "We have to see how it reacts to the workout today (Friday). That was part of the reason about doing the workout today was so we could see how sore it is tomorrow and go from there."
For Sitton, it's about testing the torn ligament in his left foot's big toe. For Lang, it's about making sure the ligament and muscle damage he suffered in his left ankle won't hinder him too much.
"History tells you we're guys that tend to play through some things, if we can," Lang said. "I wouldn't bet against us playing this week."
Both players, with the help of the team medical staff, need to fully evaluate if there is any risk of further damage if the choice is for them to play Sunday.
"I had a conversation with Doc (team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie) about that, and I think that risk is going to be there the rest of the season no matter what," Sitton said. "It's not something that's going to be a huge threat. That doesn't worry me as much."
Sitton added that "it's possible" he'll eventually need surgery.
"It will heal on its own, but I'm assuming if I go out and play with it, it's not going to get any better the next eight weeks," Sitton said. "We'll see how that goes. Hopefully I don't need surgery."
Lang's situation seems less likely to ever require surgery.
"Setbacks, that's probably the biggest thing," Lang said of his injury. "Obviously, when you have some ligament tears and muscle tears, it takes time to heal. If I were to do the same thing over again, it would set me back another week or two. That's obviously something you have to think about is weigh the options and not getting better for the rest of the season and be kind of at that 60-70 percent, whatever it is, or just waiting a couple of weeks and being 80-90 percent. That's something that we're taking into consideration.
"That'd be my biggest fear is having a setback and missing a couple more weeks."
Sitton and Lang have easily been the Packers' two best offensive linemen this season. Sitton was a second-team All-Pro in 2013 and is rated by ProFootballFocus this year as the NFL's second-best guard. Lang is rated as the league's seventh-best guard.
"It's a blow," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of possibly being without them. "Those guys are very talented. They're having great seasons, Pro Bowl seasons."
Even if Sitton and Lang do well in their evaluations Saturday morning, Sitton confirmed he will still not take any snaps with the offense in the ensuing practice session. McCarthy wants to make sure that backups Lane Taylor, JC Tretter and Garth Gerhart are ready in the event that Sitton and Lang don't get the all-clear before Sunday night.
"I think Garth Gerhart's had an excellent week of practice, I think Lane Taylor's had an excellent week of practice (and) JC's getting more comfortable," McCarthy said.
The rest of Green Bay's roster used the bye week to get healthy. Most importantly, Rodgers is probable after injuring his hamstring in New Orleans.
"I just got done meeting with Aaron; he feels good," McCarthy said. "He had a couple throws to his left (in Thursday's practice), so it's really kind of the last thing he wanted to feel and see. He's ready to go."
Starting safety Morgan Burnett (calf) and starting cornerback Sam Shields (knee) are also both probable and have been full participants in practice all week.
"They're having solid weeks of work," McCarthy said of Burnett and Shields. "I know Morgan is still working through, but he's been a full participant. Sam has kind of just picked up right where he left off."
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