Savage Doesn’t Think Hamstring Is ‘Concern’

Starting safety Darnell Savage missed most of Friday’s Family Night after injuring his right hamstring.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Darnell Savage has started 46 of a possible 49 games during his three seasons, including 27 in a row. The Green Bay Packers hope he’ll be available for Week 1 of the NFL season.

Savage suffered an injured right hamstring during the early stages of Friday’s Family Night practice at Lambeau Field.

“It’s a fast-people injury,” he said. “Some of those things you can’t avoid. I’ll just handle it the right way and listen to those guys back there and I’ll be all right.”

With the season kicking off at the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 11, time is on his side.

“I don’t think it’s a concern,” Savage said.

The first competitive period of the night was a one-on-one drill matching receivers against defensive backs. Savage was covering Amari Rodgers when he pulled up and clutched his right leg. He watched the rest of practice from the sideline with ice wrapped around his right leg.

“I just was running and I felt a little tightness,” Savage said.

Savage started all 17 games last season and was second on the defense with 1,038 snaps. He finished fourth on the team with 63 tackles, tied for third with two interceptions and third with nine passes defensed. While he gave up a career-worst six touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus, he had a big hand in the team limiting big plays.

Vernon Scott took over as the other safety alongside Adrian Amos.

“Losing a guy like Darnell is devastating for the defense because he’s a great player, but for me to show that I can step in and be that next-man-up in our defense is really good,” Scott said. “It’s a great opportunity and I just really wanted to show that there’s no drop off with not having Darnell out there. The defense is just as good when I’m out there. So, it was a tough loss losing him and I hope he gets back healthy soon but it was a great opportunity for me.”

While Savage was the lone starter unable to finish the practice – the team’s fifth in as many days – coach Matt LaFleur canceled the final 15-minute period.

“What a great atmosphere for these guys,” LaFleur said. “You could feel the energy out there from our fans. I think a lot of guys probably exerted a little too much in that pregame routine that we did. You could tell, especially within our special teams, as well, there was a lot of running out there. That definitely took a toll on our guys. But, certainly, we need to get in better shape. That’s one thing that kind of stood out to me. It looked like there were a couple guys dragging, so whether we have to do more conditioning, whatever it may be. But we definitely are not where we need to be right now as far as overall conditioning.”