GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If Mike McCarthy is to be believed, then the Green Bay Packers might only have two players unavailable for Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Bears.
That’s not counting those on injured reserve, of course. The Packers made two more additions to that list this week: tackle Kyle Murphy (foot) on Tuesday and long snapper Brett Goode (hamstring) on Monday.
The only two players on the 53-man roster who failed to take part in at least some portion of practice were cornerback Davon House (quad) and right tackle Bryan Bulaga (ankle).
“If an individual doesn’t get into the limited practice category today I think he’d be hard pressed to play in the game Thursday,” McCarthy said before Tuesday’s practice.
But the situation on the offensive line, specifically at tackle, remains dire.
Even with left tackle David Bakhtiari back on the field after missing the last two games because of a hamstring injury, his status remains up in the air. Bakhtiari was limited in all three practices leading up to the Week 2 game at Atlanta but did not play. Last week, he did not practice at all and did not play against Cincinnati. Bulaga, who made his season debut last Sunday against the Bengals, didn’t make it through the game. He re-injured his right ankle in the fourth quarter.
Behind those two preferred starters, none of the top three backups going into the season remain on the roster. Murphy started Week 1 at right tackle and Weeks 2 and 3 at left. Jason Spriggs (hamstring) went on injured reserve following the opener, while Don Barclay (ankle) went on IR right before the opener.
Bulaga and Bakhtiari are the only two tackles currently on the roster who had ever played for the Packers before this season. Their backups now are Justin McCray, Adam Pankey and Ulrick John.
McCray has one career start for the Packers (it came in Week 2), while Pankey (who was promoted from the practice squad in Week 2) has never played a snap on offense. John started three games for the Cardinals last season but didn’t arrive in Green Bay until late Monday night after he was signed off Arizona’s practice squad.
The Packers are trying to nurse a few others back to health. Receiver Randall Cobb (chest), outside linebacker Nick Perry (broken left hand), inside linebacker Jake Ryan (hamstring/concussion) and defensive tackle Mike Daniels (hip) all were on the field for the beginning of what McCarthy said would be an abbreviated practice with no competitive periods. None of them played Sunday against the Bengals.