Marco Rivera has a shiner that would give Rocky Balboa pause, but nothing to keep him out of the lineup next week against the Chicago Bears.
That's good news for the Packers' starting offensive guard, who as of Sunday evening was experiencing double vision and wearing a patch over his injured right eye.
GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman said there had been some fear among the Packers' medical staff that Rivera might have suffered a fractured eye socket, but Rivera said an MRI conducted Monday didn't reveal any breaks.
"It's all black and blue, and it's still a little blurry," Rivera said, "but I just left the doctor's office and he said that when the swelling goes down and the blood goes away, I'll be back to normal."
The eye wound is just the latest in a long line of maladies for Rivera, who despite being banged up has played in 70 consecutive games including playoffs.
In the preseason Rivera sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals he took a knee to the head, before later being inadvertently poked in the eye by nose tackle Barron Tanner.
"He didn't do it maliciously," Rivera said. "I went down to cut (block) him and he was just protecting his knee and he kind of reached down with his hands and, perfect spot, his fingers just went into my facemask and pushed my eyeball to the back of my head."
There's a chance Rivera would wear a visor over his facemask to protect the eye, but the eighth-year veteran said that's something he'd like to avoid.
"I'll feel kind of funny wearing that thing," Rivera said. "I'll let Gilbert (Brown) and (Al) Harris wear it. I don't want to deal with that thing."
In other injury news, Sherman said that the right knee injury to wide receiver Robert Ferguson is simply an aggravation of his previous MCL sprain, suffered against Minnesota, Sept. 7.
An MRI performed Monday showed no additional damage.
"It hasn't changed," Sherman said. "It's not loose. It's tender though. When his leg gets torqued it seems to resurrect the pain in his leg."
The Packers get an extra day to heal their wounds. Their next game isn't until Sept. 29, a Monday night showdown with the Bears.
