If Dmitri Nance cannot play Sunday against San Francisco at Lambeau Field, there is a good chance rookie sixth-round draft pick James Starks will be activated for the first time. Starks missed his senior season at Buffalo with a shoulder injury and hasn't played a down of live football in two years.
What, if anything, Starks can give the Packers is a mystery. It's highly unlikely he'd get many carries against the 49ers and he certainly won't be in the game to pick up blitzing linebackers on pass plays.
"I like his competitiveness," Philbin said. "He's a big-bodied guy who's got some quickness. Looks like he's got some natural hands. Not sure, with the live bullets, the pass protection . . . that's something you're not totally sure about."