Report: Oren Burks suffered torn pectoral muscle

-- Any heightened expectations the Green Bay Packers had for second-year linebacker Oren Burks will have to be put on hold.

According to ESPN's Rob Demovsky, the 2018 third-round pick suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Thursday night's preseason win over the Houston Texans.

Burks suffered the injury early in the first quarter while trying to tackle Texans quarterback Joe Webb. It was initially believed to be a shoulder injury after he exited the team's medical tent with ice around that area of his body.

Despite playing in 14 games in his rookie year, Burks didn't see the field very much on defense, seeing action in just 11.5 percent of the team's defensive snaps. He did, however, play in over 53 percent of their special teams plays where he likely solidified his role.

But the Packers were hoping for the athletic Burks to take the next step in year two as a primary starter in their base defense alongside Blake Martinez. For now, it's beginning to appear like one of the Packers' safeties will need to drop down and play more of a premier role there as a coverage linebacker in their nickel defense.

Burks, an ex-safety, was the prototype for that position. Either one of Josh Jones or Raven Greene may end up being his replacement.

Ty Summers, who exited his preseason debut with a team-high 10 tackles, wasn't exactly a force to be reckoned with in coverage. Placing him next to Martinez in the base defense would be far less impactful as well as derivative given their style of play.

Depending on the severity and recovery time of Burks' injury, this also opens the door for an undrafted free agent like Curtis Bolton to make the roster. Bolton impressed in the 29 snaps he saw against the Texans.

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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].

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Comments (31)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
jeremyjjbrown's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:02 pm

Burks doesn't seam to have very good luck. At least Bolton and Summers looked good.

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Coldworld's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:17 pm

Ugh. Hate to see that happen. It looked bad at the time.

Although the article seems to imply the replacement may be Jones/Campbell/Greene, I’m not sure that works if it’s not an obvious passing down. They are a lot smaller. Ok as a 3rd ILB/box safety but ILB 2?

Surely base will look more like today (and Thursday). With Bolton as the starter at ILB 2 at the moment?

Which of Bolton, Crawford, Summers and Bolton, if any, can show short area pass coverage through preseason seems like the question of the moment.

Bolton handled pass coverage well once on Thursday. Summers and Sheldon had an interception in practice today. Crawford had a number this summer but didn’t shine in that area on Thursday.

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CJ Bauckham's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:56 pm

Bolton did well in coverage I thought, besides the one.. few plays where the ball didn't come his way where he was right on his man. Looking forward to watching him and Summers the rest of the preseason

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

August 10, 2019 at 06:26 pm

"Which of Bolton, Crawford, Summers and Bolton, if any, can show short area pass coverage through preseason seems like the question of the moment."

Yup. Add Josh Jones and any possible acquisition.

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murf7777's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:25 pm

I like Bolton after watching again but feel we will need to search the waiver wire or trade jones in the next couple of weeks. Maybe the talent is there already. Hope so.

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Coldworld's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:32 pm

It is somewhat ironic after the summer. If ever a player had been given a favorable wind to seize a role it is Josh Jones at this point. Can he use this to finally break out?

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Lare's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:29 pm

At least Burks & KIng's injuries in the preseason give the Packers time to identify replacements before the regular season.

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Coldworld's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:56 pm

King is not expected to be long. In any case, internal depth looks strong there if Brown can handle the perimeter and Hollman continues to show.

ILB is less clear. Let’s see if Gute has anything up his sleeve. We have two roster spots free (though Campbell will take one soon I suspect another will open if Burks is placed in IR). Not sure what’s out there though, apart from some thumper types, including Morrison, until cut down after last preseason game (and practice).

Internally, Crawford and Sheldon are former safeties in high school so maybe some ball skills (Summers was a dual threat QB).

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Lare's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:07 pm

You're probably correct, their replacements may very well be already on the roster. At any rate, with their injury history I'm sure this has been discussed and prepared for.

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Fire_Gute's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:55 pm

King is not expected to be long, or it's not long before king is expected to be injured again. If the future plan at CB counts on king being healthy, there's something wrong

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Jonathan Spader's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:49 pm

Sign Mason Foster

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Coldworld's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:08 pm

Didn’t he struggle in pass coverage? Good tackler but not an obvious fit for the Burks role if so.

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GBPDAN1's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:14 pm

I was thinking the same thing, but how is Mason Foster in coverage ?

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Lare's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:32 pm

Josh Jones would be the obvious replacement, but he's not very good in coverage either.

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kevgk's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:27 pm

One of the reasons he was cut was for threatening a fan on twitter. Zero percent chance the packers go there

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jannes bjornson's picture

August 10, 2019 at 06:23 pm

If that's the case , sign him up.

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EddieLeeIvory's picture

August 10, 2019 at 04:58 pm

Vontaze?

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Coldworld's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:10 pm

Thumper, currently on Raiders roster.

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Demon's picture

August 10, 2019 at 05:49 pm

Is Burks part of the newest installment of the Packers Fragile 5?

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cheesehead1's picture

August 10, 2019 at 06:23 pm

ILB has been a weak spot for years. We have a lot of promising receivers so maybe Gute can find a good trade partner.

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PackfanNY's picture

August 10, 2019 at 07:41 pm

Let’s stop acting like Ray Nitschke just went down. Many here weren’t convinced he would play well. Gute and Pettine don’t seem to overvalue the position. Plenty of options on the market. I’ll wait to see what happens.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

August 11, 2019 at 01:30 am

Very true. Many of us were taking some comfort in sheer numbers, hoping that one of Burks, Summers, Bolton or Crawford would emerge. Now we are down to hoping one of three guys emerge instead of one of four. Burks wasn't Nitschke, and that's why there are only twenty-something comments for this article, and someone called this a slow news day.

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Lphill's picture

August 10, 2019 at 07:42 pm

I said since the draft the Packers are thin at inside backer , Summers was s great pickup but even with a healthy Burks I think the Packers needed another inside guy who can play the run and pass , now with Burks out let’s see if Summers can develop , he has the speed so maybe he can.

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Cubbygold's picture

August 10, 2019 at 08:47 pm

Major injury at the weakest position on the team. Need to pick up a vet or make a trade. Prospects are for developing, not relying on immediately

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Spookyfox's picture

August 10, 2019 at 09:32 pm

Jayrone Elliot could fill that spot. :D

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Jonathan Spader's picture

August 10, 2019 at 09:46 pm

Jake Ryan is still out there

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DraftHobbyist's picture

August 12, 2019 at 10:51 am

He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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DraftHobbyist's picture

August 12, 2019 at 10:51 am

He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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Wilment's picture

August 10, 2019 at 10:59 pm

Not such hot news, injury at a position thats super thin already. Josh Jones could be added to the mix, but he cant cover anyone, and his attitude has sucked. Mason Foster is out there and available. I think he is a good fit. He can certainly tackle.

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Ryan3468's picture

August 11, 2019 at 06:40 pm

Jake Ryan lacks the speed to play inside linebacker. To many fast running backs, and tight ends for Jake to be on a good team's roster as a starter in the middle.

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DraftHobbyist's picture

August 12, 2019 at 10:49 am

People are probably going to think I'm crazy, but I'm a bit relieved that the injury is a pectoral muscle. This is an injury that usually heals 100% with no debilitating consequences. I also believe the injury length could be much shorter than other people think. It depends on the severity, though, so we'll see if the Packers put him on IR or not and if he can come back or not with time.

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