The Green Bay Packers have been hit with a horrible string of injuries which threatens to derail what had been a very promising season. When a team that had Super Bowl dreams loses to the Dolphins at home, it is an indication of how bad things are.

The locker room in Green Bay is not a happy place, especially with all the injuries. Nobody talks about how uncertain things are in that locker room; at least not publicly.

Those injuries don't just have an impact on the field. There is a dynamic in the locker rooms of professional sports teams and that dynamic is normally hidden from the prying eyes of the press and the public.

Former Packers offensive tackle Greg Koch knows what that dynamic is like.

He's had one heck of a summer, being inducted into the Packers and University of Arkansas Halls of Fame.

He's very smart and aware of what's going on around him. He turned himself into an all-pro tackle by his dedication to the weight room and his understanding that brains played a big role in success.

Koch now lives in Houston where he is a highly-respected attorney, mediator, bon vivant, radio star, father and all-around good guy.

OnMilwaukee.com: When a team gets hit by injuries everyone talks about pulling together. But if you are a starter who is suddenly playing next to a reserve is there a little doubt that creeps in?

Greg Koch: More than a little doubt. So much is timing where you have a feel for what the other players are going to do. When they bring in new people, first of all there's a little doubt about whether he's as good as the guy he replaced. Second you wonder if you can work in tandem with him like you could before. And that doubt can have a real impact.

OMC: Is this true for every position?

GK: Offensive line and the secondary are the most important. Those are the most team oriented areas. On the defensive line and linebackers you can cover for mistakes. On the offensive line and in the secondary you can't cover for a mistake. It's out there for everybody to see. And at any other positions, there's some doubt that everybody has.

OMC: Often when you have a backup it's a rookie or a player with limited experience. Is that problematic?

GK: Yeah. It takes some time to get used to the professional game. There is an immense difference between college and the pros. The pros are so fast. I say that if you are a pro caliber player in college you might go up against someone who gives you a hard time once or maybe twice a season. In the pros you go up against two guys in practice who give you a hard time. It takes time to become a good pro. When you put a rookie backup in the game you've got to wonder.

OMC: Is there a special dynamic when one side of the ball, either the offense or the defense, struggles? Is there anger or disappointment from one side to the other?

GK: Everybody says the right thing, "we are all in this together" and that stuff. But as a season wears on there is a resentment that builds up. The one year I was in Miami the offense had this horrible resentment of the defense, which couldn't stop anyone. In Green Bay we had a great offense. Like that famous 48-47 win we had over Washington on Monday night. We should have lost that game, 50-48, but they missed a field goal at the end. You're not angry at the other guys because they're trying as hard as they can in the scheme they've been given. But there is definitely an underlying resentment.

OMC: Speaking of schemes, let's talk a little bit about the relationship between coaches and players. Does a player have greater trust in the head coach or the position or assistant coaches?

GK: That depends. Sometimes I had faith in my position coach and other times I felt like I was playing for a complete idiot. That's when your trust reverts back to your teammates. That's where most of the trust is every day. Trust with coaches comes and goes.

OMC: What about the relationship between players and the head coach. Is it an honest relationship?

GK: No, I don't think so. There is always a distance, a line, between the head coach and the players, a line that you are reluctant to cross. Players say what they think the coach wants to hear.

OMC: Do players have much input into decisions that are made about game plans, etc? Are players able to criticize things, the way Aaron Rodgers recently criticized Mike McCarthy's offensive game plan?

GK: I've never understood the "be seen and not heard" situation for a player. If you have any kind of experience and tenure in the game you know a lot. I mean we are students of the game as well. I mean, you may not do it publicly but you've got a right to question why a decision was made. But coaches don't generally want to get your opinion.

OMC: Give me an example.

GK: That's how I got in trouble. We were playing the Bears in Chicago. Our left tackle went down and we put our left guard in there. He had never played tackle and he was going against one of the best pass rushers in the league, Richard Dent. After the game reporters asked me about why the offensive line had a meltdown. I said it wasn't a meltdown. I said the coaches should have given our new left tackle some help against Dent. I said it was a coaching mistake not an offensive line breakdown. The very next year I was in Miami.