The Packers won’t have linebacker Jake Ryan in the lineup this season as he’s been diagnosed with a torn ACL after hurting his knee in practice earlier this week.
Ryan was set to start alongside Blake Martinez on the inside of the Packers defense and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine broke down the other in-house options during a Wednesday media session.
“Certainly, we have an experienced guy and a guy who was very productive last year in Blake,” Pettine said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “The rookie [third-round pick Oren Burks] has flashed some things, but the transition from the college game takes some time. Ahmad Thomas has flashed some coverage ability, and then we have some younger guys. We’ll see how it plays it. It’s a big loss with Jake.”
Pettine added that there are “open lines of communication with the personnel department” should the coaching staff feel that there’s a need to add help from outside the organization ahead of the regular season.