GREEN BAY, WIS. (AP) - The Green Bay Packers expect cornerback Charles Woodson to play against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Woodson, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and the 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is listed as probable for the game after suffering an ankle injury in practice Wednesday.
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers saw the 34-year-old Woodson get hurt and briefly felt some uneasiness.
“You’re always concerned when you see one of your guys go down,” Capers said. “But he bounced back up.”
Woodson has missed only one game because of injury in his five seasons with the Packers, who signed the former Oakland Raider as a free agent in 2006. The 13-year pro has played in every game the past three years.
He has played all of this season with a toe injury that has curtailed how much he practices each week, but Capers hasn’t seen his play suffer.
“I think he’s played at a pretty high level for us,” Capers said. “Probably everybody wants to compare it to last year, but that’s one of those rare years that may come around once in a career.”
Last season Woodson had career highs of nine interceptions and three interception returns for touchdowns, along with a personal-best-tying four forced fumbles.
Through 12 games this season, Woodson has just two interceptions, his fewest as a Packer, but has forced four more fumbles.
Capers singled out Woodson as the difference maker in the Packers’ 28-26 win over Detroit in Week 4.
Woodson had a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown in the opening minute of the second half to put the Packers ahead 28-14.
After the Lions got within 28-26 and were driving again, Woodson came up with three big plays in succession to force a punt. The Packers’ offense ran out the clock.
“We don’t win that football game if he doesn’t make the plays that he made,” Capers said.
Defensive end Cullen Jenkins is out indefinitely after he aggravated a calf injury in Green Bay’s last game. Rookie C.J. Wilson and second-year player Jarius Wynn are options, or the Packers could go heavy on the line with B.J. Raji, Ryan Pickett and Howard Green.
“It will depend on how the game’s going a little bit, the run-pass ratio,” Capers said.
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