GREEN BAY, Wis. – Josh Sitton showed last season he can play – and play well – without much practice time, but the Green Bay Packers' Pro Bowl left guard still would rather be on the field during training camp.
At least it's not the painful toe injury that limited his practice time the second half of last season that's keeping him out so far.
"My toe feels great right now," Sitton said Saturday after he did little or nothing despite being in full pads for practice.
So why are the Packers limiting his snaps?
"Josh has played forever here," coach Mike McCarthy said. "He's one of our older guys. He's got some bumps and bruises and things like that. We're just being smart with him."
It's a plan they have enacted in the past, usually to protect his often-sore back. Last summer, for example, Sitton took only one rep in the one-on-one pass-blocking drill during the first nine days of practice.
Sitton was a spectator for that drill on Saturday. However, keeping him out of team drills, as McCarthy has the last two days, is far more extreme.
"I need my practice, and I've always wanted to practice," Sitton said. "This is new, and it's not easy to sit and watch, especially when the offense is out there kicking [butt] like they were today. You want to be out there and be a part of that and be with your guys and make your team better.
"Workload, I just need to be in football shape. Usually that takes a week or two for linemen. For receivers and other positions, they can get their bodies in shape during the offseason. You can't really condition yourself for a four- or five-second fight every play as a lineman. That takes a little bit of time, and usually for me it's about a week or two."
Speaking of being in shape, Sitton said questions Saturday about whether he has lost weight were nothing new. He's heard it from several people recently, but the 6-foot-3, 318-pound lineman, who has always had an, um, ample midsection, said if it's true, it was nothing intentional.
"Do I look thinner?" Sitton said lifting up his shirt. "I don't appreciate the word fat. I'm probably a little bit [thinner], not a whole lot. My weight's about the same. I think I've just cut a little bit of fat. People have been saying that, but I think I'm the same weight. Maybe I just put it in the right places."
