Packers, Bears both dealing with multiple injuries

All signs pointed to the Green Bay Packers getting safety Charles Woodson back for Sunday’s game at Chicago but doctors would not give him the green light to return from a broken collarbone.

So, the Packers will be hampered for the meeting at Soldier Field and it’s not clear year yet it outside linebacker Clay Matthews, the team’s only true pass-rushing threat, will be available. He’s been sidelined with a pulled hamstring.

“(Woodson) is ready to play but our medical staff has not released him,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “He is extremely frustrated with it. We feel it is best to take at least another week before we test him again.”

The Bears, meanwhile, made the rare move of electing not to practice on Wednesday because of injuries that have piled up for them. The club was required by NFL rules to release an injury report based on an estimation of what would have happened. Eleven players (eight of them starters) would have been held out including quarterback Jay Cutler (neck/knee), wide receiver Earl Bennett (concussion), linebackers Lance Briggs (knee, hip), Geno Hayes (knee) and Brian Urlacher (knee), running back Michael Bush (ribs), tight end Kellen Davis (knee), cornerback Tim Jennings (shoulder), right tackle Jonathan Scott (shoulder) and defensive linemen Shea McClellin (knee) and Henry Melton (chest).

“We have a lot of guys banged up,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “I just felt like we could get more work done. Meetings, we're going to walk through. We're just not going to have our full fledged practice that we would normally have on a Wednesday. We just felt like another day to heal up would benefit us more than trying to go out there and having guys double up on a lot of things.”

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune

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