If all the reports are true, and there should be little doubt that they are, Brian Bulaga has suffered his third injury in three years, two of which being very serious. He has not been a reliable player for the Packers organization.

And yet there we were at the beginning of the off-season firmly planting Bulaga in that left tackle spot, while the only open competition on the starting line was to be on the right side.

With this injury, a brand new competition has opened up on the left side with little available veteran presence to back him up. With Aaron Rodgers being our largest team commodity, the lack of back up plan has sometimes appeared foolish in nature.

What makes this injury more frustrating is that Bulaga was having a fantastic camp up to this point. Unfortunately, he continues to prove to the team that he is not a reliable player.

A question to fans is this: Who do you think becomes the front runner to take his spot during training camp, and what will this mean to Aaron's playing time during pre-season games?

I wouldn't say there was absolutely no back up plan.
They've got a guy on the roster who has 30+ starts at that position.
Newhouse is the obvious front runner at that spot and barring an unlikely Sherrod comeback this offseason I don't think he'll have much competition for it.

Most teams are always in re-building phase, and good teams like us, draft and develop, so I am okay with that to an extent. They brought in Saturday as an option at center last season to provide a qualified veteran presence at that position.

They always say the most important position is Left Tackle on the o-line as it protects the QB's blindside. With Sherrod's injury situation, I do not believe this team considered Bulaga anything but a sure thing this off-season.

This article was to offer the idea that given his injury history, perhaps that was a bit foolish.

DarkaneRules;252618If all the reports are true, and there should be little doubt that they are, Brian Bulaga has suffered his third injury in three years, two of which being very serious. He has not been a reliable player for the Packers organization.

And yet there we were at the beginning of the off-season firmly planting Bulaga in that left tackle spot, while the only open competition on the starting line was to be on the right side.

With this injury, a brand new competition has opened up on the left side with little available veteran presence to back him up. With Aaron Rodgers being our largest team commodity, the lack of back up plan has sometimes appeared foolish in nature.

What makes this injury more frustrating is that Bulaga was having a fantastic camp up to this point. Unfortunately, he continues to prove to the team that he is not a reliable player.

A question to fans is this: Who do you think becomes the front runner to take his spot during training camp, and what will this mean to Aaron's playing time during pre-season games?

I'm not sure what you mean by open competition.
Bulaga was moved to the left side and because everyone knew he was going to play this position it made no sense to have an open competition.
I'm sure that there were other linemen who worked with the second team at those positions just in case of an injury (teams do that for every position)
They have a backup plan.
I'm not sure what it is and I'm not sure if it will work but you make it sound as if they expected Bulaga to be able to take every snap so they never bothered to have any one else play the position.

I do understand the injury prone thing and I do agree that Bulaga might warrant that label but I'm not sure that means they should have done things much differently.
About the only thing they could have done differently was to bring a a veteran LT as a backup but that is not the Packers style.
They do have other players practicing the position but you have to remember that Bulaga was playing there for the first time in a while and he needed as many reps as he could get to work himself back into it as well.
IMO when you've made the decision to move a guy you need to give him the snaps he needs to make the move work and not slow his development by making him split time with someone else.
I could see if Bulaga had always been their LT and they wanted to play it safe with him but he was learning, or relearning as well.

As for the front runner for his replacement I think it will be someone in house.
They may sign another lineman to compete but I doubt they will sign someone to come in and be the starter.
I don't think there is anyone out there who could come in and automatically be the starter over the guys they have.

I guess I am hoping that Bakhtiari can step up since Newhouse is getting a lot of work at right guard no sense on moving everyone around...again.

sschind;252627I'm not sure what you mean by open competition. Bulaga was moved to the left side and because everyone knew he was going to play this position it made no sense to have an open competition. I'm sure that there were other linemen who worked with the second team at those positions just in case of an injury (teams do that for every position) They have a backup plan. I'm not sure what it is and I'm not sure if it will work but you make it sound as if they expected Bulaga to be able to take every snap so they never bothered to have any one else play the position.

It meant that he was the projected starter and therefore there was no competition for his starting spot.

The team cancelled practice and media availability today. You KNOW they are not taking this lightly at all now.

DarkaneRules;252643The team cancelled practice and media availability today. You KNOW they are not taking this lightly at all now.

Okay, I understand telling the media to take a day off.
But taking an unplanned day off from practice in training camp?
Isn't that kind of weird?

If a key player goes down, wouldn't you want more time working with the other guys rather than less?
I mean, can't the coaches adjust on the fly?

Even Campen.

Wade;252646Okay, I understand telling the media to take a day off.
But taking an unplanned day off from practice in training camp?
Isn't that kind of weird?

If a key player goes down, wouldn't you want more time working with the other guys rather than less?
I mean, can't the coaches adjust on the fly?

Even Campen.

probably flipping OL back

Yeah this is definitely like a coach day: A behind closed doors round up of higher ups and the offensive coaching staff to decide what to do given the news they have received internally.

DarkaneRules;252643The team cancelled practice and media availability today. You KNOW they are not taking this lightly at all now.

Yeah, that's fucked up.

It's like admitting, NOW WE'RE SCREWED UNLESS WE COME UP WITH SOMETHING.