The rash of major injuries around the NFL has hit the Green Bay Packers as starting left tackle Bryan Bulaga has suffered a torn ACL in his knee and will miss the rest of the year. The injury happened during Saturday night?s intra-squad scrimmage. Bulaga didn?t miss a rep, but he complained about a problem with the knee after the practice.
A first-round pick in 2010, Bulaga was moved from right tackle to left tackle during the offseason as the Packers try to improve an offensive line that allowed 51 sacks of quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2012. Bulaga, 24, has been performing well there.
Bulaga, a 2010 first-round pick out of Iowa, has started 33 of 37 games during his first three seasons in the NFL, with almost all of his snaps coming at right tackle. Bulaga finished the 2012 season on injured reserve after suffering a fractured hip, but was healthy this offseason.
The Packers now have two options. They could move right tackle Marshall Newhouse back to left tackle, where he played all 1,103 snaps in 2012 and started 13 games in 2011.
Or they could keep Newhouse at right tackle and start rookie David Bakhtiari, their impressive fourth-round draft choice, at left tackle. Bakhtiari alternated with Newhouse at right tackle in the scrimmage and didn?t have an obvious bad play in his 31 snaps. Don Barclay, the late-season starter at right tackle a year ago, has focused on center and right guard in the last week.
Newhouse started every game at left tackle last season, but he struggled mightily during the campaign. ProFootballFocus graded him as the 54th overall tackle in the NFL last year. That?s awful news for Rodgers and the Packers. The Packers were also tied for 30th in the NFL (with the New York Jets) in Football Outsiders? ?Adjusted Sack Rate? metric.
The Packers made it to the second round of the playoffs with their patchwork offensive line last season, but lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 45-31. Rodgers averaged just 6.6 yards per pass attempt in that game, while tossing two touchdowns to one interception.
Green Bay opens its preseason schedule on Friday against Arizona.
A first-round pick in 2010, Bulaga was moved from right tackle to left tackle during the offseason as the Packers try to improve an offensive line that allowed 51 sacks of quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2012. Bulaga, 24, has been performing well there.
Bulaga, a 2010 first-round pick out of Iowa, has started 33 of 37 games during his first three seasons in the NFL, with almost all of his snaps coming at right tackle. Bulaga finished the 2012 season on injured reserve after suffering a fractured hip, but was healthy this offseason.
The Packers now have two options. They could move right tackle Marshall Newhouse back to left tackle, where he played all 1,103 snaps in 2012 and started 13 games in 2011.
Or they could keep Newhouse at right tackle and start rookie David Bakhtiari, their impressive fourth-round draft choice, at left tackle. Bakhtiari alternated with Newhouse at right tackle in the scrimmage and didn?t have an obvious bad play in his 31 snaps. Don Barclay, the late-season starter at right tackle a year ago, has focused on center and right guard in the last week.
Newhouse started every game at left tackle last season, but he struggled mightily during the campaign. ProFootballFocus graded him as the 54th overall tackle in the NFL last year. That?s awful news for Rodgers and the Packers. The Packers were also tied for 30th in the NFL (with the New York Jets) in Football Outsiders? ?Adjusted Sack Rate? metric.
The Packers made it to the second round of the playoffs with their patchwork offensive line last season, but lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 45-31. Rodgers averaged just 6.6 yards per pass attempt in that game, while tossing two touchdowns to one interception.
Green Bay opens its preseason schedule on Friday against Arizona.
