Listen, I know that every team in the National Football League has players that are injured.

For some reason, this year has been worse than normal. I can think of a big name, all-pro player on almost every team that is missing due to an injury.

So I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses for the Green Bay Packers.

However…

This season has been an absolute nightmare for the health of our guys in green and gold. Every week there’s been a player injured that ends up being a significant blow to the Packers.

Za’Darius Smith, Jaire Alexander and Marquez Valdes-Scantling early in the year. Josh Myers, Robert Tonyan and Kevin King during the middle of the year. The last two games have been brutal with Aaron Jones, Whitney Mercilus, Rashan Gary and now Elgton Jenkins (season-ending) all ending up on the injury list.

Let’s not forget about David Bakhtiari, who hasn’t played at all this season — and recently had arthroscopic surgery to clean up a knee that was reconstructed in January after an ACL tear.

It’s amazing that this team is even 8-3.

The players and the coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for winning football games without so many key players.

But when do these injuries become too much?

I think on Sunday we might have seen it for the first time.

That game against the Vikings was a very win-able football game. A completely healthy Green Bay Packers football team beats Minnesota every time, in my opinion.

I give a lot of credit to the Vikings. They played well offensively, and the Packers couldn’t overcome key injuries, a slow start and missed opportunities in the loss.

I can’t wait for this football team to get healthy. But first, a talented Los Angeles Rams team stands in the way of a much-needed bye week. And if the Packers want the first seed in the NFC, a win in this game is crucial.

If the Packers can escape this weekend with a win and no more injuries, the squad will have an extra two weeks to get healthy.

If that happens, I like this team’s chances in the final five games of the year.

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Gunnar Davis is a lifelong Packers fan and a recent graduate of Simpson College, where he was a 3-year letterwinner on the offensive line and graduated with a degree in multimedia communications. You can follow him on Twitter at @Gunnar57Davis.

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