DT Ryan Pickett (left) helps make a tackle in Monday's game in Denver.
Ryan Pickett is listed as questionable on the injury report for Sunday's game in Kansas City due to the knee injury he sustained last Monday in Denver.
But the mammoth defensive tackle has no doubts he'll be taking the field at Arrowhead Stadium.
"Not in my mind," Pickett said. "I don't know what the coaches will do, but in my mind, I can go. If I had to play today, I could play."
Pickett banged his knee a couple of times in the Denver game, but returned to play with a brace on it. The defense's key run stuffer toughed it out, even down the stretch. He tackled Denver's Jay Cutler on a quarterback draw inside the 5-yard line in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter and then sprinted off the field before the final play so the Packers wouldn't be penalized as the Broncos tied the game with a field goal.
But the knee didn't feel so hot on Tuesday, and Pickett has been limited in practice all week because of it.
"When you have an injury, the next day, that's when it hurts the most," Pickett said. "The next couple of days after that it was pretty sore and banged up. So they held me out of practice for the last couple days just to try to get it right.
"I had a normal Friday practice, went out there and ran around. Coach had me run a little extra to test it out, and it felt pretty good."
If he is able to play, Pickett will certainly play a valuable role in trying to slow down Kansas City running back Larry Johnson, who started slowly after a long training camp holdout but has topped 100 rushing yards in three of his last four games.
Itching to play
Wide receiver Koren Robinson returned to full duty in practice on Friday after taking a planned day off Thursday to rest his sore knee. He's officially probable on the injury report.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy said he would wait and see how Robinson's knee responds on Saturday after another full practice before deciding whether to activate the recently reinstated receiver for his first NFL game in more than a year.
Robinson, who likely would be the primary kickoff returner if activated, wanted to play last week in Denver, but recognizes he's in a better position to contribute now.
"I just feel so much more comfortable this week than I did last week, and I expected to," he said. "The terminology is getting easier, my legs feel good, they're up under me. I feel like I'm getting acclimated to everything I have to do, my body is also. Mentally and physically, I feel like I'm going in the right direction."
During his one-year suspension, Robinson spent some time in jail for alcohol-related offenses and worked extensively on overcoming alcoholism. It almost goes without saying how uplifting it would feel for him to get back on the field in a game.
"It's going to be confirmation that I'm doing something right, and that I did what I needed to do to get to this point," he said. "I don't know how I'm going to show it or how I'm going to feel. I might cry, I might just be excited and happy. I don't know, but I know it's going to be special just thinking about it."
Back in the mix
It's been four games and five weeks since rookie running back Brandon Jackson was active for a game, but he'll be back on the 45-man gameday roster this week as one of Ryan Grant's backups.
{sportsad300}Jackson started the first three games of the season before a shin injury sidelined him for a couple of weeks. Then when that healed, he was the odd man out in the running back rotation and has been a healthy inactive since.
But he's back in the mix now, with fellow rookie DeShawn Wynn going on injured reserve earlier this week with a shoulder injury, and he feels like he's coming back a better, more well-rounded player.
"Most of all it's just been a learning process," Jackson said of the last five weeks. "Since I couldn't play I felt like I had to get an edge on the (offensive) system, just by learning why we run this route, why we do this play, why we run the ball this way. Just learning the system from the sidelines."
Vernand Morency also will back up Grant, and McCarthy said earlier in the week that Jackson and Morency likely would share situational duties, such as third downs.
Injury update
Center Scott Wells appears to be over his pneumonia and has been a full participant in practice the last couple of days. McCarthy said if the game had been Friday, Jason Spitz would have started at center, but he'll wait until Sunday to make a final decision.
Guard Junius Coston is still questionable with an ankle injury, and Tony Moll is scheduled to start in his place for the third straight game.
The only other player who is questionable is cornerback Frank Walker. The others are listed as probable - tackle Chad Clifton (knee), safety Nick Collins (knee), fullback Korey Hall (neck), cornerbacks Al Harris (back) and Charles Woodson (knee) and receiver Ruvell Martin (back).
