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Green Bay Packers still searching for answers in ground game

By The Sports Xchange
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has compensated for the indefinite absences of Eddie Lacy and James Starks by lining up wide receivers in the backfield. Photo by Art Foxall/UPI
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has compensated for the indefinite absences of Eddie Lacy and James Starks by lining up wide receivers in the backfield. Photo by Art Foxall/UPI | License Photo

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Packers cut running back Knile Davis on Monday, less than 24 hours after he did little in a 33-32 loss at the Atlanta Falcons and less than two weeks after Green Bay acquired him in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.

"We appreciate everything that Knile did," offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said after the team announced the transaction. "Outstanding work ethic and really good young man, so we wish him the best."

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Davis' abbreviated tenure with the Packers amounted to five carries for only 5 yards and two catches for 4 yards in two games. That nullifies the seventh-round draft pick in 2018 they would have owed the Chiefs had Davis reached certain playing conditions with Green Bay.

Of the four Packers who carried the football at the Georgia Dome on Sunday, Davis was at the bottom of the statistics sheet with three carries for 4 yards.

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The team's rushing leader? Aaron Rodgers, who pulled the football down six times for 60 yards, a career-high rushing output during the regular season.

The Packers ran for 108 yards, their third-highest total of the season, despite playing a second straight game with undrafted rookie Don Jackson and Davis instead of the injured halfback duo of Eddie Lacy (ankle) and James Starks (knee).

Jackson made his starting debut Sunday but was barely more effective than Davis, finishing with four carries for 10 yards.

Fullback Aaron Ripkowski was Green Bay's second-leading ball carrier with six carries for 34 yards. The second-year pro went into the game with six carries for 25 yards in his career.

"Coach called my name a few times, and I did the best I could with it," Ripkowski said.

The quick departure of Davis could signal an impending return for Starks, who has missed the last three games as he recovered from a minor procedure on his injured knee.

"It's early in the process to be able to just give you a flat-out decision as far as who's doing what this week," said Bennett, who indicated Jackson would get more opportunities Sunday, when the Packers host the Indianapolis Colts.

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Head coach Mike McCarthy, the play caller for Green Bay's offense, also has compensated for the indefinite absences of Lacy and Starks by lining up wide receivers in the backfield.

Ty Montgomery was the starting halfback in the Packers' 26-10 win over the Chicago Bears on Oct. 20. Davante Adams assumed that role for the first time in his career Sunday, when Montgomery and fellow receiver Randall Cobb (hamstring) didn't play.

Montgomery was held out for precautionary reasons because of a reported kidney-related ailment that kept him off the field last week and produced blood in his urine. Montgomery said Monday his condition is symptomatic of a sickle-cell trait.

"It doesn't concern me," Montgomery, 23, said. "A lot of people have sickle-cell trait, and some of them don't even know, and not everybody experiences symptoms of it. I'm not concerned about anything."

Montgomery is hopeful about being cleared to return to the practice field later this week and play Sunday against the Colts.

"We're just going to take it day by day," he said. "So far, all signs lead to we feel confident to just take it day by day and play this week. So, we'll see."

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McCarthy wouldn't speculate Monday on Montgomery's status for the next game.

"It's something we're working through, obviously definitely aware of," McCarthy said. "I think our history medically is we play the high side of caution when we get into these types of situations. But, he's doing great. If you asked Ty (on) Sunday if he could play he wanted to play. But, this is just gathering all of the information and making the right decision."

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