Paul Bretl | 11/1/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Among those on the injury report this week for the Packers is center Josh Myers, who is again dealing with a wrist injury.
Myers sustained the injury at some point during the Houston game. He would then appear on last week’s injury report and was ultimately listed as questionable before playing through the pain this past Sunday in Jacksonville.
Perhaps things again play out that way this week, but one noticeable difference is Myers practiced on Thursday and Friday of last week after missing Wednesday. So far this week, he has missed both Wednesday and Thursday.
“I’m taking it day by day,” said Myers of the injury. “It’s hard to say. We’re going to do everything I can though, I can guarantee that.”
The injury is to Myers’ left wrist, which was obvious to see as he sat at his locker on Thursday afternoon putting his socks one with his right hand only. The positive, I suppose, is that Myers is right-handed so he can still snap the ball. But how does an offensive lineman go about blocking with only one good arm?
“I mean, it’s hard that’s for sure,” said Myers. “Just have to be great with my feet, have to be great with my right hand and if I play, I’m going to have to throw my left, too, and be able to land it. So just going to have to find a way.”
As Myers noted, technique, quick feet, and a really good right hand will all be crucial to overcoming the injury if he does play on Sunday. But an equally important part of that equation has nothing to do with fundamentals or compensating in another area–in a contact sport, there’s going to be contact no matter what. So to some degree, a seemingly large one, Myers will simply have to fight through it.
“You just gotta gut it out,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich. “It’s one of those things, it’s been done before, guys have played through broken hands or things like that, sprained whatever. You’ve just gotta get it done. There’s really no other explanation than that. Do a better job with your other hand, move your feet better, all those things. He’s one of those guys who will just go out there and prove it.”
Of course, as is the case for any lineman, the ability to hold up as a blocker in both the run game and pass protection is pertinent, but a center’s job begins pre-snap with identifying defensive personnel, alignments, along with any potential blitzers and then communicating that effectively to the rest of the blockers so everyone is on the same page with their responsibilities.
Without being able to be on the practice field, Myers isn’t able to run through those live but simulated looks against the Packers’ scout team defense, who is doing their best to mimic what the Detroit defense does.
“Just have to stay in the book, got to study, got to know the game plan through and through, and just got to stay locked in, engaged mentally on days like that,” said Myers.
If Myers can’t go, we may have already gotten a glimpse earlier in the season of what the Packers’ plan is at backup center. In those brief instances, we saw Elgton Jenkins move to center, Sean Rhyan slide over to left guard in place of Jenkins and then Jordan Morgan taking over at right guard.
Jenkins’ has played 304 career snaps at center in the NFL, and he’s actually spent more time at left guard, left tackle, and right tackle while in the NFL–although center was his primary position in college. The last time Jenkins took legit center snaps was back in 2020, his second year in the league.
“I don’t think so, for real,” said Jenkins when asked if moving to center would be difficult. “You’ve got to go out there and do your job. It’s not like something that I haven’t played before, so being able to go out there, communicate, get everybody on the same page. I’m familiar with the offense, so it’s really just the fundamentals and things like that.”
Myers has rarely missed a snap, let alone a game in his NFL career. That availability is one of the many aspects of his game that makes him such a valuable member of the offense. Whether or not Myers can go will be dependent upon how he’s feeling, specifically, as Myers put it, making sure that he’s not hurting the team by being on the field.
When it comes to making the Packers’ offense go, from an operation standpoint, it all begins with Myers before the snap of the ball.
“Just his availability has been huge for us, the continuity up front,” said Matt LaFleur of Myers. “He’s the guy kind of driving the ship up front, making all the calls. He’s battled through a lot, but I think what’s been so impressive is just, obviously he battled through a lot off the field, but also on the field. And his ability to get ready each week for us and his availability has been pretty impressive. I think he means, to me, he’s one of those guys that’s kind of like the heart and soul of the team.”