Lang hopes to play Sunday

T.J. Lang appears to have avoided a significant knee injury after leaving in the first half of Sunday’s 24-10 win over St. Louis and not returning.

The Green Bay Packers’ starting right guard was in the locker room Monday with a soft cloth around his right knee, but didn’t speak to reporters. He said during his weekly WHBY radio show Monday night that it’s nothing significant and he hopes to play Sunday against San Diego.

Lang has missed only one game since he became a starter in 2011. He fought through an ankle injury during the second half of last season to start all 18 games, including playoffs.

“Honestly, I really tried hard to get back in the game yesterday because I didn’t feel like it was anything too serious,” Lang said. “But that’s what the doctor is for. He makes the smart decisions. We had to do some testing today and I’m pretty optimistic about getting back out this week. I just really hate missing time. Sitting in the training room watching the game on the TV kind of hurts you a little bit. Yeah, I’m pretty optimistic. It’s nothing too bad. I’ve played through worse. I’ll be ready to go Sunday.”

Left guard Josh Sitton said he wouldn’t be surprised if Lang played Sunday. “He’s a pretty tough son of a (gun),” Sitton said. “I wouldn’t be shocked, but I don’t know.”

Outside linebacker Nick Perry left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury and did not return. The severity is unknown. He’s been off to the best start of his career after undergoing shoulder surgery early in the offseason. He has 31/2 sacks this season, a half sack shy of his single-season career high.

“It is unfortunate,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “Nick has been having a great year, so as we continue to gather the information we’ll see how he is and we’ll have a better idea on all these guys on Wednesday.”

McCarthy didn’t expound about the neck injury that is likely to cost Packers safety Sean Richardson his career and would not confirm whether Richardson will be lost for the season. An NFL source said Friday that the fourth-year safety sustained another herniated disc last week that could be career-threatening.

“Really, in respect for Sean and the process he’s going through, this is really not the time to talk about that,” McCarthy said. “There’s still things that need to be looked at, and he needs to go through the whole process until the final judgment comes in.” Richardson had surgery to fix a herniated disc in his vertebrae in 2012.