GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Hoping to get back two injured starters on offense this week, the Green Bay Packers got some discouraging news on Thursday.
Running back Vernand Morency's knee injury flared up, and wide receiver Greg Jennings still had some soreness in his hamstring. The lingering injury issues left both players' availability in doubt going into the Packers' road game against the New York Giants on Sunday.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Morency, who hurt his knee on the first day of training camp and was inactive for the season opener last Sunday, will be listed questionable going into Sunday.
"It's very unfortunate for Vernand, but that's where we are," McCarthy said. "We're kind of at that last hurdle, and just based off the doctor's opinion, we want to (wait) until he's 100 percent, no soreness, before we move forward."
Jennings' availability also is up in the air after hurting his hamstring late last week and missing the opener.
"He looked really good yesterday, but he was a little sore today," McCarthy said.
If Jennings can play, he'll add another dimension to the Packers' offense.
If not, they'll be facing depth issues in the passing game.
No. 1 receiver Donald Driver is coming off a foot sprain, but played Sunday and has not been listed on the Packers' injury report this week. But Jennings is still sore, and backup receiver Carlyle Holiday didn't practice on Thursday because of a knee injury.
If Jennings and Holiday can't play, the Packers would be down to Driver, rookie James Jones and second-year player Ruvell Martin as their healthy receivers.
"You're one play away from being out of some personnel groups, and that's what you try to avoid in game planning," McCarthy said. "That's the reality of where we would be. We'd have some backup plans."
Holiday's injury also puts the Packers in a potential problem at quarterback. The Packers kept only Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers on the roster. Holiday, a former college quarterback at Notre Dame, is the Packers' emergency quarterback.
But with Favre expected to extend his quarterback-record starts streak to 239 on Sunday -- 259 including playoff games -- that's not as major a concern.
"Brett's played more games than anyone in history, so I'm going to play the odds there," McCarthy said. "But the wide receiver depth is a concern as we move into tomorrow's practice."
Morency, the Packers' projected starter after veteran Ahman Green signed a free-agent contract with the Houston Texans in the offseason, only recently had returned to limited participation in practice.
Morency participated in nearly all of the practice on Wednesday, only to have the injury flare up. He sat out most of the portion of practice that was open to the media on Thursday, and was listed as having limited participation in practice on the Packers' injury report.
"It's tough," Morency said. "You definitely want to be out there with your teammates and fight and claw. The only thing I can do is rehab and do what I can do to get better."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
