At no position can the Green Bay Packers afford an injury less than at inside linebacker, arguably the team’s least talented position, and the recent injury history of the Packers’ top players at the position is nothing if not concerning.
In fact, four of the team’s top inside linebackers are coming off a significant injury in 2019.
Newcomer Christian Kirksey has missed 23 of the last 32 regular-season games with injuries, ending both the 2018 and 2019 season on injured reserve. He missed all but two games last season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle. Kirksey is replacing Blake Martinez, who played in all 48 games for the Packers the last three seasons.
Oren Burks, a third-round pick in 2018, has suffered a significant injury during each of his first two preseasons. Like Kirksey, Burks tore his pectoral muscle last year, but only partially. The injury still ended his preseason early in August and hampered his ability to get back on the field as the injury healed during the regular season. He played all of 57 snaps on defense in 2019.
Curtis Bolton, an undrafted free agent who was pushing for playing time after Burks went down last August, tore his ACL during the team’s final preseason game and missed the entire 2019 season.
Kamal Martin, the team’s fifth-round pick in 2020, struggled through an injury-plagued senior season at Minnesota and eventually needed surgery on his knee.
The only inside linebacker returning in 2020 without a major injury question mark is Ty Summers, a seventh-round pick from 2019 who played only on special teams last season. The team also added undrafted free agent Krys Barnes, an undrafted free agent from UCLA. And defensive coordinator Mike Pettine is fond of using safeties as hybrid inside linebackers, so there’s some hidden depth there.
The Packers are confident Kirksey isn’t injury prone, and the veteran linebacker told reporters his surgically-repaired pectoral muscle is now fully healed. But one injury to Kirksey in 2020 and the position could become a real disaster, especially considering the lack of experience behind him.
It would be familiar territory for GM Brian Gutekunst, who was forced into player-acquisition mode during each of the last two summers. He traded for Antonio Morrison in 2018 and B.J. Goodson in 2019. Both played at a replacement level and weren’t retained.
While injuries are unpredictable and altogether unavoidable in the game of football, and an injury one season doesn’t guarantee an injury the next, the Packers are still playing with fire at a position that has been a recurring problem.
Pettine’s defense needs Kirksey to avoid the major injuries that have wrecked his last two seasons, while also getting a developmental jump and a healthy season from one of the other young linebackers. If one part of the equation doesn’t work out, Gutekunst will likely have to go dumpster diving for another throwaway linebacker at some point in 2020.