The Green Bay Packers will have running back Cedric Benson back about a month from now.
Benson, who was put on injured reserve with the designation to return after suffering a Lisfranc foot sprain in week five, is eligible to return for the Dec. 9 game against Detroit. Whether he’ll be ready then up in the air, but it seems almost certain Benson will be ready by the time the Packers face the Bears on Dec. 16.
” I think we’re still a couple of weeks away from that, but very close, very close,” Benson said. “Kind of the way the doctor puts it to me all the time is regardless of anything, whether you could play tomorrow, you’ve still got three weeks where you can’t play.”
The real question when Benson returns is what his role will be.
Before the injury, Benson was getting almost all the carries and, you could argue, becoming the focal point of the Packers offense.
Since then, the Packers have figured out how to throw the ball again and James Starks appears to have reemerged.
If Starks starts running like he did during the Super Bowl run, there’s little reason for the Packers to switch horses. In that scenario, the Packers either go back to to a running-back-by-committee approach or they end up with a luxury item.