|
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -The decision was made during the offseason by Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who'd grown tired of watching what he called ``musical chairs'' being played on his offensive line for the previous three seasons. After starting five different line combinations in 2006, six in 2007 and five last season, McCarthy and his staff settled on their starting five after just two preseason games this summer. The idea was to generate some continuity on a line that had been in flux for far too long. So much for that.
Through nine games, the Packers have started six different line combinations, and the only reason they won't be using a seventh mix in Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lambeau Field is because center Scott Wells has been cleared to play after a concussion suffered last weekend against Dallas. ``It's a challenge. I have not - as a coordinator, and I can't really remember as an assistant coach - had so much change as far as players missing practice time and the number of starting lineups that you have week-in and week-out,'' McCarthy said Friday. ``You can't control the injury list.'' How bad have things been? With the Packers' other starting-caliber center, Jason Spitz, on injured reserve following back surgery for a herniated disc, Wells' replacement against the 49ers would have been undrafted rookie free agent Evan Dietrich-Smith. On Friday, Dietrich-Smith sat out practice with a sprained ankle and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game. If he can't play and something were to happen to Wells against the 49ers, left guard Daryn Colledge would have to fill in at center. ``If I'm the backup center, we find a way to make it work, right?'' said Colledge, who has started all nine games - seven at left guard, two at left tackle - this season. ``We said from the very beginning that the success of this offensive line would be based on if we could stay healthy. And we've had, what (six) different lineups now? In 10 games, that's hard. That's hard for any offensive line. It obviously hasn't worked as well as we wanted.'' Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been sacked an NFL-high 41 times, putting him on pace to break the franchise records for most sacks absorbed by one quarterback (Don Majkowski, 47 in 1989) and most sacks allowed in a season (62 in 1990). McCarthy said veteran Mark Tauscher, who was re-signed by the team Oct. 12 after spending the offseason out of football following reconstructive left knee surgery in January, will start at right tackle. The plan was for him to rotate with Allen Barbre, who started the first seven games at right tackle. But Tauscher sprained his left knee about a dozen plays into the game, then missed last week's victory over Dallas. Rookie T.J. Lang, after starting two games at left tackle, started at right tackle in Tauscher's place against the Cowboys and is expected to spell Tauscher during Sunday's game against the 49ers. Barbre, incidentally, is listed as doubtful for Sunday with a sprained ankle. No one epitomizes how the Packers' plans went south more than Wells. Despite starting 56 games over the previous four seasons, he was the odd man out when the coaches committed to their starting five in training camp and made Spitz the starting center. ``They told me, 'You're a starter, even though you may not start this Sunday, we still consider you a starter,''' Wells said. ``It's a long season. Things happen. It's a league of opportunity. You never know how it's going to play out.'' Sure enough, left tackle Chad Clifton sprained an ankle in Week 2 against Cincinnati, forcing the Packers' line to be rejiggered with Wells at center, Colledge at left tackle and Spitz at left guard. And Wells has started every game since. | 
