Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert held their press conference earlier today, as most of you know. Over the next couple of hours, I'll have a few posts that highlight some of the specific issues they talked about. First up: updates on some of the team's injured players.
Running back Brandon Jackson passed his exit physical after being placed on the injured reserve in the preseason with turf toe. That means he will be ready to go for the team's offseason programs, and if the team doesn't re-sign Peyton Hillis, he would become the team's starting running back. Jackson signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal last offseason. I assume Jackson would have been ready to play in final few games of the regular season had he not been placed on the IR.
One person who doesn't sound like they would've been ready is left guard Eric Steinbach, but Heckert said that the veteran lineman was "close to being able to return." Steinbach had surgery on his back before the start of the regular season. He is under contract for the next two years and is scheduled to make about $6 million next season.
Defensive end Marcus Benard is "doing all right," according to Heckert. He is scheduled to be a free agent, and right now I would not expect him to be re-signed. Linebacker Titus Brown had surgery on his knee Wednesday. Lastly, linebacker Scott Fujita's broken hand has not healed completely yet, but it's not something that will affect him long-term.