Green Bay Packers safety Nick Collins won’t be returning to the field anytime soon.
After sustaining a season ending neck injury during Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers, Collins now awaits the verdict from spinal specialists in the coming weeks, a call which could decide his long term fate with both the team and his career.
Originally, Collins’ injury appeared far less serious once Mike McCarthy took to the microphone on Sunday to deliver the good news. Following some reassurance for Packer fans though, McCarthy backpedaled after learning the seriousness of Collins’ neck injury – and let’s just say, it doesn’t look good for the Packers safety position.
The kneejerk reaction as always was a mix of anxiety and familiarity. This is basically the same Packers team that won the Super Bowl with over a dozen players on injured reserve – and it’s not the first time Green Bay’s secondary has taken a big hit in recent years. Still, once Collins’ final diagnosis was reported in its entirety, the question marks surrounding Charlie Peprah filed their own orderly line.
For the record, Peprah played a part in 900 snaps last season for the Packers, but by far the biggest concern for defensive coordinator Dom Capers is whether or not he can handle the workload that comes with the next fourteen regular season games.
Peprah, who was recently signed to a $2.3 million deal in March, was initially brought back as an alternative to Ted Thompson’s glaring Atari Bigby problem. That plan has faltered a little with the full safety position now thinning out, but if Peprah is to receive a much more bona fide role on defense, his special team duties may reduce on the flip side.
The good news is, the Packers will hardly be losing any physicality by replacing Collins with Peprah. Both stand at 5-11, and are roughly the same weight. Of course, Collins’ big game experience will be desperately missed.
But if the Packers are really that uncomfortable with giving Peprah the final nod, there are two other serious and drastic options that the coaching staff can take a hard look at.
The first is by far the biggest rumor to come out of Monday’s mailbag – Darren Sharper. The former Packer now turned free agent tweeted today:
“Very interesting things going on now…, stay tuned!”
If anything, all of this is just a rumor, much like the Nnamdi Asomugha sweepstakes that took place over the course of the lockout. And as history shows time and time again, Ted Thompson doesn’t like to spend cash at all, let alone on pricy free agents who could wind up with the St. Louis Rams in the end.
Then again, that’s probably why the second option makes more sense: moving Charles Woodson to safety. It’s a tired old story that continues to be dragged up, and after securing two interceptions on Sunday against rookie Cam Newton, it’s a tough one for Capers and the coaching staff to make.
If it were to happen, the accusations of Woodson becoming old and slow would probably play a major part. Against Steve Smith on Sunday, Woodson struggled down the sidelines with a fellow veteran player, and if a move to safety did indeed happen, the Packers would then have three of their best defensive players on the turf (Woodson, Tramon Williams and Sam Shields) to play with.
Yet again though, that leaves other areas of the field vulnerable. The corner blitz may become less effective, a key play that Woodson plays a heavy role in – and at the end of the day it leaves the question of, why did the Packers sign Peprah to a $2.3 million deal if they never intend on starting him?
Luckily for Green Bay, Morgan Burnett has returned to form at the right time after securing an interception on the weekend.
But on the reverse side of the scale, the questions surrounding free agency, Sharper, Woodson and Peprah only further distract a defense that has been torched for 851 yards already in just two weeks.
If the coaching staff can indeed pull a rabbit out of the hat on this one, it would be no surprise, especially for the Packers. True to the script, Green Bay’s constant injury problems already have people talking early in the season.
Not that the Chicago Bears are complaining.
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