Saturday, September 23, 2006

Green Questionable vs. Detroit

Just what you want going into the second "must win" game of the year: your starting running back coming up with a hamstring injury. Not! Ahman Green showed up on the Packers injury report yesterday as "questionable" for Sunday's game at Detroit.

If Green can't go, the Packers seem set to start newcomer Vernand Morency. The only other running back on the active roster is Noah Herron, who may be suitable as a situational back but not as a starter...unless things get really desperate...like last year. Hopefully, we're not at that point in the third game of the season.

It should be noted, however, that there is not even another running back on the practice squad. Arliss Beach is on injured reserve. But that's it. Refresh my memory: how many running backs did the Pack go through last year? OK, that was an aberration, granted. But when you have a starting 29-year-old running back, who has taken a lot of pounding in his nine years in the league, and who is also coming off a major leg injury, having an unknown second-year guy and another average player as the only backups...well...

The Packers like Morency, and at least a few scouts reportedly say he has the ability to become a starter. Let's just hope that if he gets that chance tomorrow, Morency does to the Lions what any number of unknown players have done to the Pack over the years: have the game of their lives. (Do the names Brad Hoover and Jason Garrett ring a bell?)