GREEN BAY, Wis. — Ryan Grant lost so much time rehabbing a serious ankle injury last season he doesn’t really have the patience for a kidney bruise.
The Green Bay Packers running back expressed frustration Wednesday that he might be held out of Sunday’s game against the Broncos because the medical staff is reluctant to clear him. A decision won’t be made until Friday, but Grant was held out of practice and probably will be again today.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Grant said. “That’s kind of the mood that I’m in right now. I think it’s even harder because of me sitting out so many games last year. I don’t want to miss a game at all. But I kind of have no say in this.”
The circumstances have been made worse by the fact Grant looked like his old self last week against the Chicago Bears, carving out 92 yards on 17 carries. It was his best game since gaining 97 yards and two touchdowns against the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 27, 2009.
Grant was patient with his reads, played the blocks in front of him adroitly and hit the holes hard. He has always been a guy who gets better with more carries and he was counting on getting a lot more against the Broncos.
“I think as a team we did some good things,” Grant said. “I was able to see some holes; we got into a rhythm running the ball as a team; the line felt good like we could run the ball; I got into a groove early.
“I’ve said before, I think you’ve got to maximize what you get. And to keep that confidence in that running game, you’ve got to do that early. And I think we did that. And that kept it going, it kept us balanced.”
Grant had to leave the game in the fourth quarter after linebacker Brian Urlacher hit him in the back with his helmet. Grant was down on his knees for several minutes, and while it was announced in the press box that he had gotten hit in the face, it was his back that stung. However, the pain went away and Grant returned to the game for the final two series, showing no signs of being injured internally.
After the game, the medical staff ordered him to provide a urine test and sure enough there was blood in it, so Grant was taken to the hospital to make sure it wasn’t worse than a bruise. He was sent home and said the next day felt like nothing had happened.
“I feel fine,” Grant said. “I wouldn’t know (he was hurt), you guys wouldn’t know. I guess the tests show (something). That’s it. But I feel fine.”
Grant was surprised to find out he wouldn’t practice Wednesday and darn right depressed to hear he might not play Sunday. He doesn’t think the injury is as serious as everyone is making it out to be, but he has to defer to the doctors.
“I don’t have any control over it,” Grant said. “You’ve got to trust the doctors, and I do trust them and I’m going to follow their lead. I’m going to do what I can do, which is hydrate.”
Coach Mike McCarthy said the doctors treat internal injuries cautiously and aren’t going to bend the rules for Grant. Because the Packers have James Starks and rookie Alex Green, they don’t have to press Grant into action even if he’s cleared late in the week.
“There’s a protocol based on the history of Ryan’s specific injury, and we’ll go through that protocol,” McCarthy said. “Once again, you get into, the player thinks he’s able to go but the medical staff is going to go through the precautionary test and there’s certain markers they feel they need to hit before they can release the player to play.”
