Green Bay Packers: 3 Players Who Need a Big Final Week of Practice
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers ILB – Oren Burks
Now, I’m not saying that Oren Burks is going to be cut, but I’m also not saying that he isn’t going to be cut either. The former third-round pick from Vanderbilt has been penciled in as a starting linebacker in each of his first three seasons but is yet to see much playing time at all.
The injury bug would bite Burks during his first two training camps, but even when he was healthy, he wasn’t much more than a special teams player. While he has the athleticism and football IQ to make an impact at the linebacker position, especially in coverage, he hasn’t shown it when on the field.
Through his first two seasons, Burks struggles to diagnose what is taking place, which leads to indecisiveness and eventually missing out on the play. He also hasn’t shown that he can make an impact in the run game either, oftentimes being taken out of the play once he is engaged by a blocker.
Although he entered camp fully healthy after dealing with a torn peck in 2019, the same issues are still there. And now, it appears that he’s been passed on the depth chart by Kamal Martin for the ILB2 role, and Ty Summers has put together a solid camp as well.
As I said, I’m not saying he’s going to get cut, but I wouldn’t rule it out either. Burks – who missed Sunday’s scrimmage – will hopefully be able to return to practice and make one final push, because he certainly needs to.