Green Bay Packers Clay Matthews out against Giants

The Milwaukee Jouranl-Sentinel’s Bob McGinn has tweeted that Green Bay Packers star pass rusher Clay Matthews will be out for the second straight game and has not been seen so far at practice today. This is indeed terrible news for the Packers, because they will be losing a player who has averaged more than a sack per game.

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Matthews has had 17 quarterback hits in total, and the Packers lost production will greatly benefit Eli Manning, who has been dealing with “tired arm” this season. The Packers could still be able to get some pressure on him with the combination of Frank Zombo and Dezman Moses on the outside, largely because Moses had a big game last week with two QB hits against the Detroit Lions. Zombo has far less potential than Moses, so it will be interesting to see if the Pack can still generate pressure even without Matthews. They will to a certain degree, but the downgrade is obvious.

He is out for the second straight week with hamstring issues and has not practiced thus far, and it’s no surprise that Matthews will be missing another game. He has been dealing with hamstring injuries throughout his career, and the Packers can’t afford to rush the 26-year-old star back. He was extremely doubtful for last week’s game, and that same classification should be used in Week 12 against the New York Giants.

Greg Jennings is practicing today, however, but he will still most likely miss the game against New York.

In other news regarding star receivers in the division, there is still a small chance that the Minnesota Vikings will have Percy Harvin against the rival Chicago Bears this weekend. That chance, however, is as slim as it gets and is mainly the last stretches of hope from the organization. It could get rough for the Minnesota passing offense.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.