December 23, 2011 | Tyler Dunne | the Journal Sentinel
Green Bay — He doesn’t want any sympathy but this has been a rough month for Desmond Bishop. On a Pro Bowl trajectory, the inside linebacker suffered a calf strain and missed three straight games.
No game was harder to watch, he says, than last weekend’s 19-14 loss at Kansas City.
“Oh man, it was heart-wrenching just being on the sideline,” Bishop said Friday. “I felt powerless. You can’t do anything about it. You just kind of watch everything unfold the way it did. It’s worse that way. I’d feel better being in there and losing it than having to watch from the sideline. You want to be out there with your guys win lose or draw.”
This week against the Chicago Bears, Bishop returns. Good timing for a defense that continues its up and down season. The roller-coaster ride hasn’t steadied. They’ve given up yards in chunks and relied on turnovers. One constant was Bishop. Through much of the season, he was Green Bay’s top source of a pass rush. Dom Capers was just finding the best possible ways to use Bishop as a blitzer in the weeks before the injury.
Bishop had 12 tackles and a sack in a Monday Night wipeout of the Vikings and then a pair tackles for loss against Tampa Bay. One week later, he injured his calf on Thanksgiving.
Despite missing three-plus games, Bishop still leads the Packers in tackles (112) and is second in sacks (five). In the three games before his injury, per Pro Football Focus, Bishop had five quarterback pressures. Since Bishop’s injury, the Packers have two sacks.
The sudden detour was frustrating. In his first full year as the starter, Hawaii was in Bishop’s sights.
“Words can’t really describe it,” Bishop said. “I don’t even want to think about it. I just get angry. But it’s part of the game. It’s a 100-percent injury rate. Mine just happened at the worst time.”
This past month, Bishop has been rehabbing and watching film. Both Bishop and A.J. Hawk strained their calf in the same Lions game though Hawk returned last week. During that Thanksgiving game, Bishop said he couldn’t put any pressure whatsoever on his injured calf while Hawk tried to tape his up and return. His calf strain was more severe.
In their absence, backups D.J. Smith and Robert Francois made plays. Both probably deserve snaps in some form. But now Bishop and Hawk are back.
Bishop believes there us plenty of time for Green Bay’s defense to heat up for the postseason.
“We haven’t had the full season like we wanted to,” he said. “All we can do is keep fighting to put together those four quarters. We have to keep ascending and trying to get better. If everybody has the same mind-set, it’s only a matter of time.”
And he has thought about Sunday’s return to action for a while. “Envisioned it,” Bishop said. He does not plan on sharing details.
“I can’t tell you,” he said. “That’s bad luck if I tell you. You just have to watch.”
