Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said Thursday that 2016 has been a “challenging year” because of a pair of injuries.
He missed three games with a hamstring injury in the middle of the season and injured his left shoulder shortly after returning to action, which has left him to play a limited role on defense the last three weeks. Matthews hasn’t popped up much on the stat sheet in those games, but said Thursday that he’s feeling closer to be being back at full health than that lack of numbers might indicate.
“It’s one of those things where the timetable for this is not really set in stone,” Matthews said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s more so about getting strength and the range of motion back. I felt, despite what the numbers would indicate, especially last week, I felt like I started getting some ability to throw back in there and to kind of let it withstand the rigors of battling with some of those offensive linemen. I’m encouraged about that.”
Matthews said that playing through the injury has not resulted in a setback and he’s been a full participant in practice this week, so we’ll see if that results in a bigger role on defense against the Vikings this Saturday.
