TODD McMAHON
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers will have one lineup change for their first game at Lambeau Field this season.
The possibility for another one is in play.
The Packers won’t know until Saturday whether injured right tackle Bryan Bulaga will be available for their home opener the next day. The Packers are listing Bulaga as questionable for the game against the New York Jets.
Bulaga suffered an injury to his surgically repaired left knee in the first half of Green Bay’s season-opening loss at Seattle on Sept. 4 and didn’t play the rest of the game. The team’s medical staff re-evaluated Bulaga on Friday morning after he took part in some practice drills Wednesday and Thursday.
“Bryan Bulaga with his exam (was) sore, which I think you’d expect, so we’ll see how he progresses through today and see what he can do tomorrow,” said coach Mike McCarthy. “Working both days, I think this is what’s to be expected.”
If Bulaga can’t play, McCarthy said Derek Sherrod will jump in as the starter Sunday. It would be the first NFL start for Sherrod, Green Bay’s 2011 first-round draft pick. Sherrod took over for the injured Bulaga in the second quarter of last week’s 20-point loss to the Seahawks.
After some initial promise blocking in front of Aaron Rodgers, Sherrod gave up two critical sacks of the star quarterback on back-to-back plays. The latter resulted in a fumble that Sherrod retrieved back in the end zone for a Seattle safety.
Sherrod said Friday he has prepared all week to make his starting debut Sunday, which he admitted would be a special moment in a pro career marred by injury.
“Obviously, everybody in the NFL wants to start. To get that first one would be a pretty big event,” said Sherrod, who missed the entire 2012 season and the first half of last season because of a broken leg.
Top running back Eddie Lacy is probable for Sunday’s game. Lacy was knocked out of the opener with a concussion but returned to practice Thursday.
Inside linebacker Brad Jones has been ruled out for Sunday with a recurring quadriceps injury. McCarthy said Jamari Lattimore and Sam Barrington are the options to replace Jones in the starting lineup.
Lattimore made four starts in the absence of an injured Jones last season and delivered with 29 tackles and two sacks in those games. He told reporters he played all of last season with an illness that was never diagnosed.
“It was something like a virus, but it was mixed with virus, (being) allergic to things and stuff like that,” Lattimore said.
He said he needed to be treated with medication at one point, but missed only one game and that was for a quad injury. Healthy again, Lattimore is ready to be productive on defense again.
“My number’s being called, so I’ve got to step up and show what I’m about and do the best job I can. Simple as that,” he said.
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