House making progress from shoulder injury

The right shoulder injury Davon House sustained two weeks ago against Atlanta was related to his scapula bone, which connects the upper arm with the clavicle.

The Green Bay Packers' fourth-year cornerback doesn't anticipate the injury will require season-ending surgery, but said there's no timetable for his return. He crossed one hurdle Thursday when he was cleared to run the first time.

House wasn't able to practice Wednesday or Thursday. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said earlier this week House would be "hard-pressed" to play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"From Tuesday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Thursday, 10 times different," said House of how he's feeling. "From me not being able to sleep on my shoulder to me now being able to run and do all the activities I want to do with my shoulder."

The injury occurred when House fell onto the knee of Falcons receiver Julio Jones late in the Packers' 43-37. Jones suffered a hip injury on the play that not only forced him from the game, but also Atlanta's 27-20 loss to Pittsburgh.

House said he'd never been a part of play quite like that and didn't realize how bad it looked initially until he watched the game film. Although it's not certain he'll be able to return to the field during the regular season, House says he wouldn't have done anything different.

"It was worth it," House said. "We ended up winning the game. I don't know if I played a big part but I played my role I guess you could say."

Right tackle Bryan Bulaga (concussion) was the only other active player to miss Thursday's padded practice, though he was able to watch.

It's another sign of progress in the concussion protocol for Bulaga, who was able to get into the weight room on Wednesday despite not being visible at practice.

Outside linebackers Clay Matthews (biceps), Mike Neal (abdomen) and Nick Perry (shoulder) were all limited.

EXTRA POINTS

-- Offensive lineman JC Tretter didn't go into specifics, but said he had his fine reduced upon appeal for a leg whip last month against Philadelphia.

He was hit with a $16,537 fine for the incident, but repeatedly stated the incident was accidental. It occurred when Tretter whiffed on a cut block of Eagles defensive lineman Trent Cole and had his back leg swing around and hit Cole.

"It got knocked down a little bit, but still had to pay a little chunk," Tretter said.

-- Although Josh Sitton (toe) and T.J. Lang (ankle) were again limited in practice this week, Packers special-teams coach Shawn Slocum isn't closing the door on either veteran rejoining the field-goal unit this week or moving forward.

Neither lineman has played special teams since suffering their respective ailments against New Orleans in October. The Packers have had four combined blocked field goals and point-after attempts this season.

"It's not unrealistic," said Slocum of either guard playing on limited practice reps. "It's something we look at it terms of big picture. We could use them at any time during the game. We could use them the whole time. We'll discuss that during our game-management meeting (Friday)."

-- Ryan Wood contributed to this report.