GREEN BAY -- The Packers have a pretty good idea about 80 percent of their offensive line.
Their left tackle is Chad Clifton. Their right tackle Mark Tauscher. Their center, assuming he stays healthy, is Scott Wells. And Jason Spitz -- well, wherever he ends up, it looks like he'll be starting.
But that fifth and final spot remains undecided -- and might not be determined for some time.
When the Packers line up for their second preseason game -- a matchup against San Francisco Saturday night at Candlestick Park -- Spitz will start at left guard while rookie fourth-round pick Josh Sitton will make his second straight start at right guard.
In the exhibition opener against Cincinnati, Spitz started at center for Wells, who was out with a back injury, while Sitton started in Spitz's customary right guard spot and Daryn Colledge got the nod over Allen Barbre at left guard.
Got all that?
"Ideally, you'd like to have (the lineup) set yesterday, but that's not the case," coach Mike McCarthy admitted. "(But) those questions will be answered based on how they play."
And thus far, no one has truly seized the final spot. Colledge and Barbre entered camp going head-to-head for the left guard job, and they rotated on Monday night before Colledge relieved Clifton at left tackle. Spitz, meanwhile, has now played all three interior spots on the line -- and still isn't 100 percent assured of a starting gig, even though McCarthy called him "our most consistent player last year" and he's shown he can adjust to being moved around.
"I just go where I'm told," Spitz said. "I'm an easy guy -- just tell me where to play and I'll play there.
"I can't really control who the starting five are. The only thing I can control is how I play. If I come out and play my game, do what I'm asked to do, then hopefully I'm in the lineup."
Said McCarthy: "It's competition. That's really all it is."
The coaches are inclined to let it play out for at least another week. While offensive coordinator Joe Philbin acknowledged that the 6-foot-3, 317-pound Sitton struggled at times against the Bengals -- he started the game with a false start and had several other errors -- the coaches didn't bench him. In 2006, Colledge was replaced after a poor showing in the preseason opener because the staff wanted to commit to starters early.
"I don't know (for sure) that Josh Sitton's the No. 1 right guard. I'm not going to say that. He's competing like everybody else for a job," Philbin said. "But if you look back two years ago, I don't want to say we were in a desperate situation, but it was a little different than we're in today. There was a sense of urgency that we had to get guys lined up, (whereas) now, we've got guys who've played some games at guard.
"We just have to see how the whole thing shakes out. To be honest with you, we've got a little more time to see how this thing unfolds. I'm in no rush. We're going to let some guys play and see how it shakes out."
Sitton, a four-year starter at Central Florida, said his approach remains the same. "My main goal right now is just make the team," he said, "because you're always saying in the back of your head, `There could be someone better than me, there could be someone better than me.'"
Colledge is trying not to become frustrated with his
uncertain situation, despite his 30 regular-season starts (including playoffs) in his first two NFL seasons.
"It is what it is. I go to work every day, they tell me what position to play and I bust my (expletive) at that position and try to get better," said Colledge, who worked some with the No. 1 line at right and left guard during practice Thursday morning.
"The versatility, in the long term, it'll help me in my career. Hey, I know what kind of player I am. I know the potential I have and I know how I feel right now. I feel good. I feel like this is a better year than my first two have been.
"(The coaches) want to try different combinations. I'm sure they'd love to have five guys that step up and are going to be the five dudes. And I'd love to be one of those dudes. For some reason right now, I'm not being that guy. I have to figure out what that reason is and what it takes to be the starting left guard here, and I'm going to bust my (expletive) here until I figure that out."
"I've got to play next week. I've definitely got to play next week," Jennings said Thursday. "That's the most the (first team) will play, so I've got to be out there next week to get a little rhythm and let 'em see that 85 run around out there."
Jennings said the soreness "is really tendinitis or something, I don't really know -- it's just sore" and that he isn't sure where it came from. But after a nagging ankle injury derailed his promising rookie season and he missed the first two games of last season with hamstring problems, he understands why the medical staff is being cautious with him.
"I can run full speed, I can cut, I can do everything. If this were the regular season, I could go," Jennings said. "It bothers me to the point of `Ouch,' but not `Oh, I can't go.' It's nothing major. I could've played Monday, I could play Saturday. But why? The big picture is the regular season. There's no reason to risk (that)."
Meanwhile, McCarthy all but officially ruled out tight end Tory Humphrey (ankle), halfback Ryan Grant (hamstring), wide receiver Brett Swain (quadriceps), safety Charlie Peprah (knee), halfback DeShawn Wynn (ankle) and tackle Orrin Thompson (ankle). Linebacker A.J. Hawk (chest) and defensive linemen Ryan Pickett (hamstring), Justin Harrell (back) and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (knee) will not play, while linebacker Desmond Bishop (Achilles') and wide receiver Ruvell Martin (jaw) could play.
Scheduling conflict: McCarthy admitted that the preseason schedule -- with the team's four exhibition games crammed into an 18-day window -- isn't ideal in terms of maximizing practice productivity.
After opening on a Monday night and now playing on a Saturday night, the Aug. 22 game at Denver is a Friday night affair, and the exhibition finale against Tennessee at Lambeau Field is a Thursday nighter -- meaning each week of practice is shortened.
"At the expense of trying to run your team into the ground, this is just the way we've gone about it," McCarthy said. "To play on a Monday night then a Saturday to a Friday to a Thursday, you never get that seven-day run that you would prefer in training camp. So we're just making the best of it, being smart. We're doing extended jog-throughs, extended walk-throughs in the gym, a little more classroom time than you probably would in training camp."
Jason Wilde, a Milwaukee native who graduated from Greendale Martin Luther High School and the University of Wisconsin, is a two-time Associated Press Sports Editors award winner and a Wisconsin Newspaper Association award winner.
His daily coverage can be found on the State Journal's Web site and through his Packers blog on madison.com.
