GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A future Hall of Famer left for a swan song in Carolina. A 2013 first-round pick signed with an NFC North rival. Meanwhile, Clay Matthews and Nick Perry have an injury history that makes Julius Peppers' return to the Panthers and Datone Jones' departure for Minnesota more than a tad worrisome when it comes to the Green Bay Packers' outside linebacker depth.

Unless you're coach Mike McCarthy.

Or defensive coordinator Dom Capers.

Or linebackers coach Winston Moss.

None of the three seems worried that the Packers have to replace 1,355 defensive snaps -- 719 by Peppers and 636 by Jones -- at outside linebacker last season, or that general manager Ted Thompson didn't add anyone in free agency at that position and drafted only one outside linebacker (Vince Biegel in the fourth round).

No, you didn't mishear McCarthy last week when he said "the outside linebacker position, this is probably as good a depth as we've had there in some time."

McCarthy and his coaches should know that counting on Matthews and Perry to be available and productive at the same time is risky. While Perry -- who battled injuries early in his career -- had his most productive year last season with a career-high 11 sacks, Matthews played barely more than 50 percent of the defensive snaps because of ankle, hamstring and shoulder injuries. Perry's best season prompted the Packers to make a major investment this offseason, giving the 2012 first-round pick an $18.5 million signing bonus as part of a five-year, $60 million deal.

"I think that, obviously, with Clay and Nick we have two guys that we think can be very productive for us," Capers said. "You look at the number of snaps -- Nick played the most snaps since he's been here last year, and we felt really good about his production in the run and the pass. Clay probably played around 50 percent of the snaps. The year before he was up much higher, so hopefully we can trend toward that."

Capers will need more than just Matthews and Perry. It might not be realistic to count on Biegel, not only because he's a rookie but also because he underwent foot surgery last month for a recurring injury.

That means the only experienced backups at outside linebacker are second-year pro Kyler Fackrell (a third-round pick in 2016) and fourth-year pro Jayrone Elliott (who signed a one-year, $1.6 million deal in free agency).

"I think the biggest thing is ... our front two guys [Matthews and Perry] being able to stay healthy, and I think right now Kyler and Jayrone, we feel good about their ability to go in and play," Capers said. "One of the things you've seen us do at that position is rotate guys a lot and try to keep guys fresh in terms of rushing the passer. I think we've got pretty good depth at that position, to tell you the truth. We've been thinner than what we are now."

Still, Fackrell and Elliott played only a combined 310 snaps last season and totaled just three sacks (two by Fackrell and one by Elliott). The Packers kept another outside linebacker, undrafted free agent Reggie Gilbert, on their practice squad all last season.

"You do not see depth at that position?" said a defensive Moss last week.

McCarthy apparently does.

"I think you'll really see some of our guys jump out in training camp as we get the pads on," he said.