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Blackmon to start for GB?


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JASON WILDE 608-252-6176

October 10, 2006

 

GREEN BAY - Even though he did only individual drills, Will Blackmon was so encouraged by what he did in practice Tuesday the Green Bay Packers' rookie cornerback thinks he may actually play in the team's next game, Oct. 22 at Miami.

Blackmon, a fourth-round pick who broke his foot May 21 during an offseason minicamp and missed all of training camp, hadn't practiced since suffering a setback in his rehabilitation during the week leading up to the Sept. 10 opener.

 

"It's a huge step up," said Blackmon, who also did additional work inside the Don Hutson Center while the rest of the team went through 11-on-11 drills.

 

Asked if he could play against the Dolphins, Blackmon replied, "There's a chance. I'm out there preparing like I'm going to. So, hopefully."

 

Blackmon said he expects to play on special teams initially, but with Patrick Dendy, a former undrafted free agent, and Jarrett Bush, a waiver wire pickup following final training-camp cuts, as the top two options at nickel back, Blackmon could move into that role somewhat quickly. Dendy played OK in that position in Sunday's loss to St. Louis.

 

"We're encouraged, and hopefully he'll be able to come back and get in the mix here," secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer said. "He's a very bright young man. Mentally he's probably up on his stuff pretty good right now, I would think. But until you go out there and do it, that's the hardest thing."

 

Schottenheimer said the Packers could move either of their starting cornerbacks - Al Harris or Charles Woodson - inside to cover the slot receiver and put Blackmon on an outside receiver, lessening the burden of him learning multiple positions. Earlier this season, departed cornerback Ahmad Carroll played outside in the nickel package and Woodson moved inside.

 

Still, Blackmon has to show he's physically ready, given how long it's been since he played in a game.

 

"It's felt like a year," Blackmon said. "The last time I actually went full go with pads was probably the Senior Bowl. So it's been a really long time."•

 

Robinson focused Wide receiver Koren Robinson expects to finish out the season with the Packers and vowed he won't be distracted by his impending NFL suspension.

 

"You can't dwell on something. Especially if it's out of your hands," Robinson said. "What can you do now to fix it? What can you do now to change it? Nothing. So you have to let it go. I let it go.

 

"I worry about what I'm going to do today, what I'm going to do tomorrow, what I'm going to do the day after. I can't do anything about what happened in the past. I can try to learn from it and try to better myself in a positive way, but what's done is done, so why dwell on it? (Why ask), 'What's going to happen?' I'm not going to do that. I like living life."

 

The Green Bay Press-Gazette reported Tuesday that Robinson's attorney has asked the NFL to delay the appeal hearing of his suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy until the criminal charges against him in Minnesota are resolved.

 

Robinson, 26, was notified by the league recently he has been suspended for one year, but because Robinson has appealed the ruling, he has been able to continue playing. Apparently, Robinson's arrest in August near Mankato, Minn., on several alcohol- and traffic-related charges was enough to trigger the suspension, and Robinson is arguing the league shouldn't suspend him until that case is completed.

 

Asked if he'd be better off just getting the suspension over with so he can come back next year and play in the final 11 games, Robinson, who is signed through 2007, replied, "I'm not thinking about it like that, as far as if I'm going to be gone or anything like that. Whatever happens when we get there, we'll cross that road when we get there." •

 

Extra points Eleven players did not practice Tuesday: Woodson (knee); quarterback Brett Favre (rest); left tackle Chad Clifton (shoulder, knees); wide receivers Donald Driver (ribs, hip) and Robert Ferguson (foot); halfback Ahman Green (hamstrings); fullback Brandon Miree (eye); linebackers Abdul Hodge (knee) and Ben Taylor (hamstring) and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (ankle). ... Punter Jon Ryan was absent from practice, presumably for a personal matter. ... The players posed for the team picture Tuesday.

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