PUP List is scary, but not a huge concern
Okay, two disclaimers I want to get out of the way right now. 1) The combination of you, the reader, and myself knows less than the average member of the Packers' football staff (meaning everybody whose job is related to football directly) and 2) Aaron Rodgers IS the Packers, or have you forgotten the season where he broke his collarbone?
The Packers listed their PUP list right before training camp starts, which is the norm by the way, and it consisted of six players: WR Jordy Nelson, WR Ty Montgomery, LB Sam Barrington, G TJ Lang, C Corey Linsley and TE Jared Cook. I list the first three first because these players suffered season ending injuries last season for the Packers, and therefore are in a different category than the other three. In this article, I will be going through all of these players and trying to determine why they are on the PUP list and why you shouldn't have concern (yet) about it.
I'll get Jordy out of the way, and he's been going through rehab well, doing his exercises, catching passes, and never have I once heard he might miss the start of the season. Do you want to know what I think about why he is there, and why the Packers probably put him there? So he doesn't have to play in five preseason games, and they have an excuse for the NFL personnel who wants (solely) money-making preseason games competitive. That's it, he's there for his protection, NOT because he can't perform.
Next is WR Ty Montgomery, and I'm not concerned about him for entirely different reasons. If he starts the season on the PUP list, that eliminates the decision making for who out of the group of Jared Abbrederis, Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery, Trevor Davis and Jeff Janis gets cut. And sorry to burst the Janis' lovers bubble, but Montgomery was probably the safest of the five, since he was recently drafted and performed well. Until one steps up though, these five are interchangeable, so Montgomery being on the PUP just solves a problem, it doesn't necessarily create one.
LB Sam Barrington is third on my list, and the potential absence of Barrington is probably the worst of the six on the PUP list. Not only does the receiver grouping seem loaded, but the offensive line has great depth, and should be able to last through a Lang/Linsley injury for a while. Without Barrington, it means the Packers rely on the core of Jake Ryan, Joe Thomas, Carl Bradford, and rookie Blake Martinez. The reason the concern isn't high for me is that the Packers will rely on at least two of them anyways. This is a news flash for those of you who haven't been on Earth the past thre years, but the Packers haven't had great inside linebackers since the departure of Desmond Bishop. And Clay Matthews doesn't count. That's why I'm not concerned with Barrington.
The other three guys I wasn't even aware of injury, but I'll start with TE Jared Cook as he is the unique member of the group. From what I've read, it seems like they are just taking it easy with Cook, and he will probably be active sometime in mid-August. Regardless, I like Richard Rodgers as a tight end, and he had eight touchdowns last season, so it wasn't like he was as unproductive as people feel. But those 8 TDs are more than that of Cobb, Abbrederis and Adams combined, so he was relatively effective. No, he's not what Jermichael Finley was, but the Packers also won a Super Bowl when Finley went to IR. Just saying, and it's why I'm not worried about Cook.
Finally, I'll do both G TJ Lang and C Corey Linsley together. These guys are better than average at their position, and their health is essential to the success of the Packers. But, at least one of these guys will be starting week 1 against Jacksonville, and the other won't be behind for long. This group of linemen traditionally has played hurt, and although it's not recommended for them or the Packers, they usually play pretty well. And the trio of Lane Taylor, Josh Walker, and JC Tretter, along with the newly drafted Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy make one of the best group of backup offensive linemen in the NFL. Some of them, especially Tretter, Taylor and Spriggs, can start for other teams, so the Packers shouldn't be worried about line depth.
Ultimately, this version of the PUP list is all about health, and it should be. We don't need these guys in August, and for all I care, the Packers can put anybody on the field, and it won't matter to me in August. The NFL should (but won't) bring the preseason down to 2-3 games, because important players always tend to get hurt during the preseason. So, in my opinion, better safe than making more (lame) signs saying "Oh Lordy, Where's Jordy?"
