Packers notes: Knee injury keeps TE Jimmy Graham out of practice

GREEN BAY - Right tackle Bryan Bulaga was a surprise participant and tight end Jimmy Graham a surprise non-participant in practice Wednesday.

Bulaga left the game at halftime Sunday against Washington because of a back injury and McCarthy had given no indication that his starting right tackle might be back this week. Though he was a limited participant, Bulaga was going through all the drills the other linemen were doing during the part of practice open to the media.

Graham didn’t appear to suffer an injury Sunday, but he missed the entire workout with what was listed as a knee injury. McCarthy did not address the injury during his news conference before practice.

Right guard Justin McCray (shoulder) did not practice and his status remains in question. McCarthy hasn’t said who would start for McCray, but Byron Bell finished the game Sunday.

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Cornerback Kevin King (groin) was in attendance but did not participate. He said he was able to run inside the Don Hutson Center and is getting better.

"I feel good. I feel really good,” King said. “I've just got to keep going day to day, doing what they tell me to do, rehab it and see how I feel.”

If King doesn’t practice Thursday it would seem likely he’d miss another week. He injured his groin in Week 2 against Minnesota.

Outside linebacker Nick Perry is in the concussion protocol and did not practice.

Safety net

Running back Aaron Jones received a hearty thank you from Washington quarterback Alex Smith during the middle of the game Sunday.

Smith was running to the sideline when linebacker Clay Matthews gave him a two-hand shove just before he went out of bounds. Smith went flying toward the bench where Jones was sitting.

Jones stood up and caught Smith, then fell back in a sitting position with Smith on his lap.

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“I was watching it on the screen and I saw a bunch of the guys sitting next to me getting out of the way,” Jones said. “I looked up and here he was coming. There was a fan behind me and an oxygen tank.

“He could have really gotten hurt. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I would want someone to do the same if it was me on the sideline.”

Jones said Smith got up and told him, “Thank you very much.”

My bad

The mix-up between quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver Davante Adams on a run-pass option play was not the result of the two having less practice time together.

At least that was Adams’ opinion.

“All my fault,” Adams said. “He called that, I went and blocked. That’s my fault.”

Aaron on Aaron

Rodgers didn’t mince words when he was asked about the importance of Jones to the offense.

“We’ve got to find ways to get him the ball,” Rodgers said.

Despite having runs of 8, 10 and 17 yards, Jones received just six carries in the loss to Washington, his first game back after a two-game suspension. He averaged 7.0 yards per carry, but McCarthy stuck to a three-man rotation with Jamaal Williams and Ty Montgomery.

“When you bring '33' back on the field, you kind of forget when he’s out the kind of dynamic abilities he can bring to a game with his running style,” Rodgers said of Jones. “He’s a different type of runner than we’ve had here.

“He’s very similar to Ryan Grant, who we had for years with his slashing style. He’s probably a little more elusive in the open field than Ryan was and maybe slightly greater top-end speed.”