Add running back John Kuhn to the long list of wounded Packers.
Kuhn had to leave Monday’s practice because of an ankle injury and coach Mike McCarthy wound up ending practice earlier than expected as a result. The practice ended after 108 minutes, the fifth straight time that the Packers have practiced for less than two hours after routinely going close to three hours at the start of camp. Not all of those practices were cut short because of the lack of healthy bodies, but McCarthy admitted that the injuries are taking their toll on practice options.
“We’re not where we wanted to be,” McCarthy said, via the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “That’s obvious. But two of the four practices that have been cut were part of the design, so technically they weren’t cut because you come off a night practice to a morning practice, it’s not practical to go two hours and 45 minutes, two hours and 30 minutes. But today’s practice was supposed to be 2:21. The tempo was outstanding. I thought it was a heck of a practice just from an operation standpoint, but when John went down, I just didn’t think it was worth the risk to try to get through the last team period with three running backs. And whatever practice we had to cut back before, the injuries were just starting to pile up on us.”
James Starks, Brandon Saine and Du’ane Bennett were all out at running back for the Packers and Cedric Benson isn’t yet cleared for full participation. The Packers did get some good news with the return of left tackle Marshall Newhouse after an extended absence following a concussion earlier in camp.
The Giants showed last year that it’s better to get your injuries out of the way early in the year, something that the Packers seem to have taken to hear this season.
