Clay Matthews’ return to 11-on-11 work this week is a sign his shin injury finally is improving and could bode well for him making more impact-type plays the final two weeks of the regular season. Matthews’ sore shin became a full-fledged injury after the Packers’ game at the New York Jets on Oct. 31, and since then he’s played every game but essentially not practiced. His sack production has dipped dramatically in that time – he had nine sacks through the Jets game, which was Week 8, and only three in the six games since. It’s unclear how much the injury itself has affected Matthews’ play, but the time away from the practice field likely has had a cumulative effect on his reactions and explosiveness. He had a sack in each of the first two games after he stopped practicing and only one in the four games after that. “Getting back out here hopefully will help my game out, that’s obviously yet to be determined,†Matthews said. “But any time you practice, go through the reps, see them in live action, that’s only going to help you out as opposed to watching them on film. Obviously I do my due diligence (studying videotape), and I’m going to keep doing that off the field. I feel (good) about where I’m at all season, especially these last couple weeks about going out there and knowing what to do. But obviously (practicing) is going to help.†Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette
