http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=425729
Notes: Davenport will sit until training camp
Coaches won't rush him back to field
By LORI NICKEL
lnickel@journalsentinel.com
Posted: May 20, 2006
Green Bay - It's been seven months of "hurry up and wait" for Green Bay Packers running back Najeh Davenport.
fter suffering a broken ankle in the New Orleans game on Oct. 9 last season, Davenport immediately had surgery. He rushed to get back to where he could at least run in time for the free agency period, but then was re-signed to the Packers anyway in March. And now he's back to the kind of rehabilitation where he has to hop on one foot to strengthen the ankle and convince the trainers he's OK.
And so he waits.
With a 5-inch scar up the side of his foot and enough scar tissue to leave the ankle a little swollen, Davenport still had hoped he would be able to play in the Packers' second minicamp of the Mike McCarthy era this weekend.
Instead, he won't be ready until training camp sometime in late July or early August.
"A lot of guys want to rush back," said offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski. "But he's been here for the whole off-season program. He has an idea of what we're trying to get done out there. We're playing it on the safe side. Why would you lose a guy in shorts?"
But knowing what this new staff is planning is exactly why Davenport is so eager to get back on the field. For one, he likes the zone-blocking scheme this staff will use apparently more often than in Davenport's previous four years in Green Bay.
"I'm a big back, and this is a one-cut lead type thing," said Davenport. "So one cut will do me just fine. Nine times out of 10, my damage is going to come straight ahead, downfield, that's when I'm most powerful. I don't have to follow a guard here, follow a guard there, I just hit it and see what I need to see and just go."
Davenport also is eager to get back because he has been promised more involvement in the offense. Davenport has always been Ahman Green's backup, even when he has been healthy, which has been spotty so far in his career.
But the complementary role to Green will change for Davenport if both he and Green, recovering from a torn tendon in his thigh, come back fully from their injuries.
"They say we're going to do a lot of running," Davenport said.
That doesn't necessarily mean a multiple-back system like they had in Pittsburgh, sharing snaps. The Packers will train Davenport at fullback.
"Maybe both of them will be in the backfield at the same time," Jagodzinski said. "We can do that. In this scheme, the fullback position has always been able to go back and play tailback because of what we do. I think he can do both. He's athletic enough to do it."
The Packers like that Davenport is big enough to block at fullback. They also like him as a running back because he's such a big load for linebackers to bring down. Davenport said he's above his ideal weight of 242 pounds, but that will come off when he can run more consistently.
Davenport to play Fullback
Davenport to play Fullback
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