Burks’ injury leaves void at LB
OAKLAND, Calif. - Perhaps the fact that rookie inside linebacker Oren Burks’ injury occurred before the Green Bay Packers took on the Oakland Raiders in their third exhibition game Friday is a good sign.
How badly can a guy get hurt in pregame warm-ups?
The Packers expected to learn more about that when they returned home Saturday and were able to take a better look at Burks’ left shoulder.
According to the rookie, his shoulder “popped out,” which means he suffered a dislocation. He didn’t say much else as he exited the locker room quickly at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum late Friday night, but his status for the final exhibition game against Kansas City on Thursday and, more importantly, the Sept. 9 season opener against Chicago is in doubt.
“It was out of nowhere,” inside linebacker Blake Martinez said. “All of a sudden he’s like, ‘Oh, my shoulder hurts.’ Then the next thing you know it was like, ‘Oh, I guess he’s not playing.’’’
It would be one thing if Burks were a rookie fighting for a backup job on defense and playing time on special teams, but the Packers lost veteran Jake Ryan to a torn ACL in camp and Burks was instantly elevated to a starting position next to Martinez.
Since Ryan went down July 30, Burks has been taking a crash course on the “Will” or weakside position in coordinator Mike Pettine’s defense. He had showed gradual improvement in two exhibition starts and was expected to play the entire first half against the Raiders.
But the Packers are down to Martinez and a group of guys with no regular-season experience for however long it takes Burks to come back. It’s possible the Packers were lucky the contact occurred during half-speed drills instead of fullspeed contact, but they won’t know for sure until they see the extent of the injury.
After general manager Brian Gutekunst focused on replenishing the tight end and cornerback positions during the offseason, he’s suddenly in dire straits at inside linebacker. He could take a flyer on a free agent such as NaVorro Bowman or wait until cuts are made and see if someone he likes comes free.
The alternative is doing what Pettine did against the Raiders, which was rotate undrafted rookie Greer Martini and street free agent Ahmad Thomas. Martini started and played on run downs and Thomas rotated in on passing downs.
“It was kind of in pregame when it happened so they were saying, ‘You’ll start at the Will position in base,’” Martini said. “I don’t get much reps at that position, so it was just getting in a different mindset and try to execute as much as I could.”
Martini finished with three tackles and a fumble recovery.
Thomas, who was a safety in college, mostly played in passing situations, had three tackles, including one for loss, and a nice pass break-up when the Raiders were threatening on their first possession. He also gave up a 19-yard completion to tight end Jared Cook on the same drive.
“I mean, it’s one of those things that the next guy up is the best guy up,” Martinez said. “I think the guys we got in the room right now are other guys that we need, and they’re getting the job done when they’re out there. I trust in them, and we’ll be good to go.”
Pettine has some options if he doesn’t want to go the free-agent route and is worried about the two young linebackers. He could move Clay Matthews to inside linebacker, where he played in 2015 when the Packers were short at the position.
Or he could use a combination of Martini, Thomas and safeties Josh Jones, Jermaine Whitehead and Quinten Rollins. The scheme already has a big safety playing inside linebacker built into it, so he could find a way to play guys based on match-ups.
Against the Raiders’ No. 1 offense, first with starter Derek Carr at quarterback and then with backup Connor Cook, the run defense was solid with Martini in the game. The Packers stuffed running back Doug Martin on back-to-back runs at the 4-yard line on Carr’s only series of the game.
Raiders running backs rushed 12 times for 46 yards in the first half with a long-run of 16 yards. Facing Martin and Chris Warren isn’t the same as taking on Marshawn Lynch, so take those statistics with a grain of salt.
The true test will come in the first two weeks of the season when the Packers face the power running attacks of the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. If Burks isn’t back then – and it’s not like he is known for playing the run anyway – the Packers could be vulnerable.
And now they absolutely can’t lose Martinez, who besides being an allaround good player, makes all the calls and adjustments for the defense. It would be nothing short of a disaster if he were to get hurt.
For now, he said he’ll accept any extra responsibility that comes his way.
“I mean, I like the pressure,” Martinez said. “The more pressure the better. I think it’s just going to help me out that much more. I can handle that load, whatever they need me to do.”
Finding his groove: Rookie receiver J’Mon Moore has been plagued in both practice and games with dropped passes and seemingly fell behind fellow draft picks Marquez Valdes-Scantlng and Equanimeous St. Brown.
It was evident that against the Raiders, Moore was going to get every chance to redeem himself.
He played in all four quarters and finished with four catches for 62 yards, including a 27-yard ball down the sideline from quarterback DeShone Kizer with just over 4 minutes left in the game. It was third and 5 at the 23 with the Packers trying to drive the length of the field for a game-tying touchdown.
“Definitely got my confidence back getting started early, make some plays,” the fourth-round pick said. “I definitely needed that, definitely going to be a jump start so I can start making some plays.”
Moore had to grind through some bad moments the past two weeks to get where he was Friday night.
“Adversity is going to hit eventually,” he said. “You have to keep working. Stay as positive as I can and let the past go.”
Nelson reunion: After the Raiders defeated the Packers, 13-6, no one would have blamed receiver Jordy Nelson if he’d walked into the visitors’ locker room.
As it turned out, Nelson made several visits there, once right after the game and then later after he had showered and dressed in the home locker room.
The former Packers and now Raiders receiver spent a lot of time with his former teammates before and after the game, chumming around with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and laughing it up with Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and a whole bunch of others during early warm-ups.
When it came to the game, Nelson remembered to line up on the Raiders’ side and played a series or two before exiting for the night. Not only did he not catch a pass, neither Carr nor Cook threw his way.
“First of all, good seeing him,” cornerback Tramon Williams said. “Played so many years with him, it’s like playing against a brother. I thought they’d throw him more balls.
“I was covering him for the most time, but I thought they’d get him a couple passes just because, you know, against Green Bay, get him started and let him make some plays and get out of the the game.
“He didn’t get any, but I was glad to see him come out healthy. He looks good in black and silver but better in green and gold.”
After the game, Nelson made a point of seeing some of the training and equipment staff.