The Green Bay Packers has officially kicked the injury bug that has attacked them the past couple of years, effectively experiencing one of the most healthy years in Mike McCarthy's tenure as head coach.
Per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, "only one offensive starter has missed a game (right tackle Bryan Bulaga in Week 2). On the other side of the ball, defensive end Datone Jones leads the way among starters with three missed games, while cornerback Sam Shields has missed two. No other defensive starter has missed more than one unless you count Brad Jones, the Week 1 starter at inside linebacker who upon his return after missing three games because of a thigh injury did not get his job back."
A lot of the credit for the Packers' recent spell of good health has to be laid at the feet of McCarthy. McCarthy has pulled back on the team's practice schedule this year, instituting a similar program to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly.
"I look at really my time here, we've probably been through three generations of practice schedules," McCarthy said. "The first couple years, the amount of time that we were on the field was obviously extremely higher than it is now, and then we made adjustments, which I thought were favorable."
For a normal seven-day work week in Green Bay this year, the Packers practice without pads on Wednesday, go full-contact Thursday, then rest Friday before a short practice/walkthrough on Saturday without equipment.
This approach has worked wonders, as the Packers' Week 11 injury report (like it has been most of the season) is pretty spare compared to the massive injury totals of years past.
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