The Packers have lost 24-year old OLB Brad Jones for the rest of the year with a neck injury.  Jones played in 6 games for the Packers this year and he had 27 tackles including 2 tackles for a loss.  Jones has now played in 20 games in his first two years in the NFL and he had 60 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 4 sacks.  This is another big blow to the Packers who have lost a lot of defensive players for the season due to injury.

The Packers have lost 31-year old linebacker Brady Poppinga for the rest of the year due to knee surgery.  Poppinga played in 6 games for the Packers this year and he has 14 tackles and 1 sack.  Poppinga has now played in 81 games in his six years with the Packers and he has 244 tackles, 7 passes defensed, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions.  The linebacking corps of the Packers is starting to get really, really thin.

The Packers have lost 23-year old rookie DE/DT Mike Neal for the rest of the season due to shoulder surgery.  Neal played in 2 games for the Packers this year and he had 3 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble.  The Packers have had a huge rash of injuries on D so Neal would have likely gotten his big chance soon if he could have just stayed healthy.  He was a second round pick of the Packers last April out of Purdue so they like him……they’ll just have to wait until next season to see what they have in him.

Starting QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a concussion during the O.T. against the Redskins on Sunday putting his availability this weekend against the Dolphins in doubt.  Rodgers has played in 5 games for the Packers this year and he has completed 111 of 168 passes (66.1%) for 1,233 yards with 9 TD passes and 6 INTs (90.7 QB Rating).  Rodgers has also carried the ball 19 times for 99 yards (5.2 ypc) so far this year.  The Packers could be in big trouble if Matt Flynn has to start this Sunday unless he gets help from the running game.  Flynn has completed 9 of 17 passes (52.9%) for 64 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (37.4 QB Rating) and has carried the ball 9 times for -1 yard (-0.1 ypc) in his career.  He has never played against a team going against starters in the regular season.

The Packers will be without 25-year old safety Derrick Martin for the next few weeks with a sprained knee.  Martin has played in all 5 games for the Packers this year and he has 9 tackles, 1 pass defense and 1 interception.  This is a blow to both the Packers’ secondary depth and the special teams. 

UPDATE:  (10/14/2010) – The Packers have placed Martin on the Injured Reserve List ending his season.

Jermichael Finley suffered a displaced hamstring ligament in yesterday’s game against the Redskins and it will likely cause him to miss the next couple of weeks.  Finley has played in 5 games for the Packers this year and he has 21 catches for 301 yards (14.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He is one of the few TEs that can stretch the football field and the Packers will miss that while he’s out of action.  Rookie Andrew Quarless (4 rec, 51 yards) and Donald Lee (4 rec, 36 yards, TD) will have to step up while Finley is out of action.

UPDATE:  (10/12/2010) – Jermichael Finley will miss the next 3-6 weeks due to arthroscopic surgery to his right knee.  If this news wasn’t bad enough, his backup, Donald Lee will miss the next 2 weeks due to a chest sprain.  That puts a lot of pressure on rookie Andrew Quarless who will likely be starting against the Dolphins this weekend.

UPDATE II:  (10/14/2010) – The Packers will now be without Jermichael Finley for the next 8-10 weeks as his surgery was more extensive then first believed.

UPDATE III:  (10/19/2010) – The Packers have placed Finley on Injured Reserve ending this season.

The Packers could be without 29-year old starting linebacker Nick Barnett for the rest of the year due to a severe wrist injury that probably requires surgery.  Barnett has 24 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed so far this year in 4 games for the Packers.  26-year old Desmond Bishop will likely take over at Barnett’s old position.  He has played in 3 games this year and he has 4 tackles.  This is a huge blow to the Packers’ D as Barnett has been a tackling machine in his NFL career so far.

UPDATE:  (10/12/2010) – Nick Barnett will have wrist surgery tomorrow likely ending his year.

The Packers have lost rookie starting strong safety Morgan Burnett for the year due to a torn left ACL.  Burnett played in 4 games for the Packers this year and he has 14 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  27-year old Charlie Peprah has not played yet this year but he will likely replace Burnett in the starting lineup.  Peprah has played in 4 years in the NFL appearing in 39 games in which he has 27 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  This is a big blow to the Packers’ D.

The Packers have lost 26-year old DT Justin Harrell for the season as he tore an ACL in the season opener against the Eagles.  Harrell has now played in 14 games in his three years with the Packers and he has a whopping 28 tackles.  He was the 16th overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft and he has been a complete bust to this point in his career.  B.J. Raji will likely see a huge bump in playing time with Harrell out of action.  He played against the Eagles and he had 2 tackles and 1 sack.  As a rookie last season he played in 14 games in which he had 25 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 sack.  He was also a first round pick so the Packers hope he picks up the pace.

The Packers have lost starting RB Ryan Grant for the season due to severe ankle and leg injuries.  Grant had 8 carries for 45 yards (5.6 ypc) before getting injured against the Eagles in the season opener.  This is a huge loss for the Packers as Grant allowed the offense to have some semblence of balance.  He played in all 16 games for the Packers last season and he carried the ball 282 times for 1,253 yards (4.4 ypc) with 11 TD runs.  Grant also caught 25 passes for 197 yards (7.9 avg) last year.  This is a big blow to the Packers.