GREEN BAY, Wis. -- For the second straight year, Nick Perry will need hand surgery.
The Green Bay Packers outside linebacker will undergo the operation this week, coach Mike McCarthy said Thursday. Last year, Perry missed two games in December after he underwent surgery to have multiple screws placed into several broken fingers on his left hand.
McCarthy wouldn't say whether it was the same hand this time, but a source said the injury was much less severe and was only to treat one finger. Perry finished Sunday night's game at Atlanta with no apparent problem, playing 53 of 58 defensive snaps, including the final one of the game, but he showed up on the injury report Wednesday.
When Perry returned last season, he played with a large club cast on his surgically repaired hand and was still effective. He had two sacks in his Week 16 return and another in the regular-season finale to post a career-high 11 sacks.
"Until we get through the surgery, I don't really have a timeline for you," McCarthy said.
The Packers gave Perry a five-year, $60 million contract this offseason in a move that was viewed as an injury risk given his history. If Perry misses Sunday's game against the Bengals, it will ensure that he fails to play in all 16 games for the sixth straight season since the Packers drafted him No. 28 overall in 2012.
"He's a violent football player," McCarthy said. "He's physical. He plays the game the right way. If you look at his play style, I mean that's really part of his game, the violence that he plays with, with his hands."
Perry was one of 13 players listed on the Packers' injury report after Wednesday's practice.
The Packers expect to get back outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who missed the Atlanta game after he sustained a concussion in the regular-season opener. Brooks, who signed with the Packers the week of the opener, cleared the protocol and was a full participant in Wednesday's practice.
"Great to have him back," McCarthy said. "I think he's a great fit for what we're doing. ... So his role will definitely be bigger this week."