GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Ryan Grant spent all of last season trying to get back on the field. Now that he's there, he doesn't want to leave -- even with a bruised kidney.
The Green Bay Packers running back is unlikely to play Sunday against the Denver Broncos after sustaining the injury late in the Packers' 27-17 victory against the Chicago Bears.
"I feel fine," said Grant, who left Soldier Field in an ambulance as a precaution following his 17-carry, 92-yard performance Sunday. "I guess that doesn't mean anything."
After missing the team's run to the Super Bowl with a season-ending ankle injury in the 2010 opener at Philadelphia, Grant was the Packers' starting running back in name only during the first two games this year. In those two games combined, second-year back James Starks -- the savior of the running game late last season -- played 82 snaps to Grant's 32; while Starks gained 142 yards on 21 carries, Grant carried 15 times for 65 yards.
Against the Bears, Grant got an opportunity and ran with it. He had six runs of double-digit yards and two more 9-yarders, shining on plays designed for his one-cut-and-go running style. Starks carried 11 times for 5 net yards and lost a fumble.
"It's definitely frustrating," Grant said. "I think it's even harder because of me sitting out so many games last year. I don't want to miss a game at all. But I kind of have no say in this. It is what it is."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
