Packers have overcome plenty of key injuries

Imagine a Packers offense with Ryan Grant at running back and Jermichael Finley at tight end, and a Packers defense with linebackers Nick Barnett and Brad Jones blitzing and dropping into coverage.

Mike McCarthy has. In fact, he spent most of the offseason expecting that to be a reality.

"It's depressing, frankly," the Packers' coach said this week of having 15 players on injured reserve this season and, according to his calculation, missing 193 starts because of injuries.

That includes the four players mentioned above, rookie safety Morgan Burnett and starting tackle Mark Tauscher. And it doesn't take into account the nearly two games the Packers played without Aaron Rodgers, games they lost that nearly cost them a playoff berth.

"The injuries came on us so fast," McCarthy said. "I really haven't even talked about injuries to the team very much . . . I think we are just used to dealing with it now."

The Packers' injured-reserve team might be good enough to reach the playoffs. Their backups and replacements did enough to get the actual team there, too, and they'll be the ones facing the Eagles in Sunday's wild-card game in Philadelphia.

In fact, linebacker Erik Walden was named NFC defensive player of the week for a team-leading 11 tackles, including two for losses, and three sacks of Jay Cutler in Sunday's playoff-clinching win at Lambeau Field. Walden wasn't even on the Packers' roster at the start of the season, and was playing only because fill-in Frank Zombo was injured.

"Obviously, there's a bunch of new starters, guys who weren't even here when we played Philadelphia [in Week 1], who are now contributing in big ways," linebacker Clay Matthews said. "We've changed our personnel tremendously, but it's a testament to the coaches and the players who have stepped up to keep this thing rolling. Now here we are in the playoffs."

It's a place that didn't seem possible when the players started dropping. Or when the Packers lost back-to-back games to the Redskins and Dolphins in October.

"Our toughest spot that I recall was Washington because it happened so fast, the adjustments made in that game," McCarthy said of losing Finley on the first series. "We don't get it done and the following week against Miami. I think once we got through that spot, we just continued to improve and started to play better, stayed true to the fundamentals."

Now, for the first time in a while, the Packers actually have some good injury-related news. Pass-rushing defensive end Cullen Jenkins appears on pace to play Sunday after missing the last month with a calf injury. He's been limited in two practices this week.

"Just as we said at the beginning of the week, we're going to take the full week of preparation and have a decision at the end of the week,'' McCarthy said of Jenkins. "He's getting better.''

Notes & quotes: Rodgers, who missed most of two games with a concussion, was named NFC offensive player of the month for December. He no doubt was helped by his career-high 404 passing yards and four touchdowns without an interception against the Giants in Week 16 . . . Zombo (knee), S Atari Bigby (groin) and FB Korey Hall (knee) did not practice for the Packers yesterday. G Todd Herremans (calf), G Max Jean-Gilles (ankle) and LB Bradley Stewart (elbow) did not practice for the Eagles.