Just when the Green Bay Packers pieced together their ideal starting offensive line, the group received a crushing blow in the team’s loss against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football:
#Packers RT Bryan Bulaga tore his ACL, source said.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 7, 2017
Tom Pelissero reports starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga tore his ACL, which will require him to miss the rest of the season. Bulaga, who has been one of the league’s most reliable tackles since being drafted in the first round in 2010, was carted off the field in the fourth quarter, quickly ruled out, and replaced by Justin McCray in the lineup. McCray has appeared in seven games as an offensive lineman, playing 339 snaps in those contests.
Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy expressed concern over the situation in his postgame comments to the media. His concern was confirmed on Tuesday morning with the news that Bulaga’s injury was a season-ending one. It’s a tough break for an offensive line that featured all five of its starters together for the first time since Week 6, but has taken just 15 snaps together this season because of a variety of injuries.
The Packers’ offense hasn’t been firing on all cylinders since Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in an October 15 loss against the Minnesota Vikings. Brett Hundley completed 68 percent of his passes and threw for 245 yards against the Lions on Monday as he engineered a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives, but it wasn’t nearly enough in a game dominated by Detroit.
For the second time this season, the Bears’ defense will face a Packers offensive front that has been decimated by injuries. Green Bay responded by putting 35 points on the scoreboard behind four Rodgers touchdown passes. But with Rodgers out of action, Chicago’s chances at scoring their first victory against Green Bay since November 2015 are a bit better.