GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Packers safety Nick Collins will miss
several games with a knee injury after making an awkward tackle.
"We all figured the worse the way he went down," Packers coach
Mike McCarthy said Monday. "It's going to be at least a couple of
weeks."
Collins sprained a ligament in his left knee on Sunday in Green
Bay's 33-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs as the Packers
improved to 7-1. Collins was injured while tackling wide receiver
Samie Parker early in the third quarter. As Collins collided with
Parker, Collins' knee was bent back.
Collins, a third-year safety who has started all 40 games in his
career, had an MRI done that revealed no damage, but he couldn't
bend his knee after the game and needed crutches.
"I got a little tangled up trying to make a play, my feet got
stuck in the ground and I got twisted up," Collins said after the
game.
McCarthy said Collins would not need surgery.
"Everybody saw it, it looked a lot worse on film," McCarthy
said. "The evaluation was actually positive, the MRI was
positive."
Rookie Aaron Rouse is expected to take Collins' spot in the
lineup after filling in for the rest of the game against the
Chiefs.
"If he has to go, we feel very confident," McCarthy said.
"We'll be fine."
Rouse joins safety Atari Bigby, in his second season, on a team
that's one of the youngest in the league despite 30-something
cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson. Bigby has eight career
starts, all this season.
Rouse, a third-round pick, missed a chunk of the preseason
because of a hamstring injury, while Charlie Peprah also has
limited experience at safety.
"Right now, Atari doesn't have a lot of experience, Charlie and
now Aaron, but hey, we like the talent level that they have,"
defensive backs coach Kurt Schottenheimer said. "The way they're
going to get better is have them out there playing, so this is an
opportunity for them."
McCarthy said the biggest worry is making sure there's not a
drop in communication between his safeties.
"It's all part of it," McCarthy said. "As long as they're
communicating and taking the gray area out of their
decision-making, based on their checks and everything, I think
he'll be fine. That's the hard part."
Penalties have been a problem for the entire unit, and Green Bay
has been flagged 26 times in the past two games, with 13 of those
against the secondary.
"Some of them, you don't know what to tell your defensive
players," McCarthy said. "We're not going to change the way we
play. That's the way we play, that's who we are. We're always going
to err on the side of being physical."
The Packers employ an aggressive bump-and-run defensive scheme.
"We teach the technique, get your hands inside, every single
day, and we'll continue to do that. But I can't deny the penalties
and the number of yards that we've given up is a concern,"
McCarthy said.
Collins' injury comes at a bad time.
Known for his ability to shut down dynamic running backs like
New Orleans' Reggie Bush and Philadelphia's Brian Westbrook,
Collins will not be able to face off with Vikings running back
Adrian Peterson for the second time this season on Sunday after
Peterson ran for 112 yards on 12 carries in Green Bay's 23-16
victory on Sept. 30.
"I wish Nick was playing, but I tell you what, I've got
confidence in Aaron, I've got confidence in Charlie,"
Schottenheimer said. "They're our people. It's not a one-man game.
We've got a football team, and collectively, we've got to pull
together."