DeShawn Wynn injured, again...

[Fatman]

Neck spasms!

 

Packers: Wynn injures neck

By JASON WILDE

608-252-6176

jwilde@madison.com

GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers are looking at another week of musical chairs at halfback after starter DeShawn Wynn didn't practice Tuesday because of what coach Mike McCarthy termed "neck spasms."

 

McCarthy did not expound on the nature of the injury, but Wynn said it happened while he was lifting weights Monday morning and worsened during practice that afternoon.

 

When Wynn came out of the lineup, Ryan Grant got the bulk of the work with the No. 1 offense, and Grant said he did so again Tuesday during the closed-to-reporters 11-on-11 periods of practice.

 

The neck injury is the latest in a string of issues the rookie seventh-round draft pick has had, including a calf injury that kept him out of most of the minicamp practices, a stomach virus that delayed his training-camp debut, a quadriceps injury that kept him out of three weeks of camp and dehydration-related cramping against Chicago on Oct. 7 after a boffo opening series.

 

Wynn, who leads the team with 49 carries for 202 yards (4.1 average) and four touchdowns, attended Tuesday's practice in sweatpants but didn't do anything. If he can't go on Monday night at Denver, the Packers likely would turn to Grant, who hasn't carried the ball since fumbling with 1 minute 40 seconds left in the Packers' victory at Minnesota on Sept. 30. (Grant did catch one 7-yard pass against the Bears.)

 

Asked if Grant had been in the doghouse since the fumble, offensive coordinator Joe Philbin replied, "Obviously everybody was disappointed that the ball went on the ground in that situation, but I don't know that anybody had relegated him to the doghouse. Sometimes opportunity knocks at different times, and we just have to see how things go this week."

 

Said Grant: "I don't really think I was in the doghouse. I've been in there for a couple run plays that have been checked (to passes) by (quarterback) Brett (Favre). I'm going to do everything I can to take advantage of whatever opportunity I get."

 

Rookie second-round pick Brandon Jackson, who started the season's first three games before suffering a shin injury, is also a possibility, while Vernand Morency was limited in practice Tuesday and will likely remain only on third-down duty. Jackson was a healthy inactive in the Packers' last game, Oct. 14 against Washington.

 

"I thought I was going to be back in the groove of things, and I wasn't active. That hurt a little bit, but it's the nature of the game," Jackson said. "It was tough during those three weeks, having to sit out and watch those other guys play and knowing my opportunities were getting slim. Now that I'm back, I can only control what I can control."

 

The Packers enter Monday night's game at Denver with the worst rushing offense (65.7 per game) in the 32-team NFL, while the Broncos own the league's the worst rushing defense (176.2).