The Packers have lost CB Al Harris for at least 3-4 weeks after he suffered a ruptured spleen last week against the Cowboys.  He has made 7 tackles and has defensed 5 passes this season.  Harris will be hard to replace as he is a lockdown CB but Tramon Williams will get the first chance.  Williams has made 8 tackles and defensed 1 pass this season.  The Packers will miss Harris big time starting this week against the Buccaneers.

The Packers have lost starting left guard Josh Sitton for at least three games due to a sprained knee.  The Packers will likely have Junius Coston replace Sitton in the starting lineup.  He is a center by trade but he should be able to handle playing guard.  He played in 13 games (7 starts) for the Packers last season and he’s a big boy at 6′3″, 313 pounds.  The Packers probably won’t see that big of a dropoff with Coston starting instead of Sitton.

WR James Jones could miss several weeks with a knee injury.  He caught 7 passes for 68 yards (9.7 avg) with a TD grab this preseason as he was looking to be the #3 WR for the Packers again in 2008.  Jones had a fine rookie season in 2007 with the Packers as he played in 16 games (9 starts) and he caught 47 passes for 676 yards (14.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Look for Ruvell Martin and rookie Jordy Nelson to move up the depth chart until Jones is ready to return.  Martin has caught 4 passes for 51 yards (12.8 avg) this preseason for the Packers.  He played well for the Packers when given the chance in 2007 as he played in 15 games (5 starts) last year for them and he caught 16 passes for 242 yards (15.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Rookie WR Jordy Nelson has caught 5 passes for 48 yards (9.6 avg) this preseason for the Packers and he appears to have a much bigger upside than Martin does.

WR Shaun Bodiford will miss the entire 2008 season due to knee surgery.  He was going to have a hard time making the Packers anyway as he was pretty far down the depth chart.  Bodiford played in 6 games (0 starts) last season for the Packers and he caught 1 pass for 13 yards.  Bodiford played in six games in his NFL career prior to 2007 and he didn’t catch any passes.  The Packers won’t miss Bodiford in 2008.

The Packers will be without backup QB Aaron Rodgers for 1-2 weeks with a pulled hamstring.  Rodgers has played well this season and with Brett Favre also gimpy his injury could hurt the team.  Rodgers has played in 2 games so far this season and he has completed 20 of 28 passes (71.4%) for 218 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions (106.0 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 7 times for 29 yards (4.1 ypc).  The Packers have signed former Packers QB Craig Nall and he will be Favre’s backup this week.  Nall has played in 6 games in his NFL career and he has completed 23 of 33 passes (69.7%) for 314 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 interceptions (139.4 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 5 times for 5 yards (1.0 ypc).  Packers fans should pray that Favre stays healthy because Nall would likely be pretty rusty.

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