In Year 10, Bryan Bulaga still holding his ground

[Cheesehead]

“He’s a warrior,” Rodgers said. “He's been on my right side for so many years now. … He understands his strengths really well. He understands the offense exceptionally. He's just a heady player who's so smart and tough and reliable when he's out there playing tackle for us.”


Bulaga doesn’t make a big deal about stonewalling two of the NFL’s elite rushers to begin his 10th season. Yet, if there is one thing he can attribute his strong start to, it’s probably having the benefit of a full offseason to prepare rather than racing to get back in time for last year’s opener.


Back then, Bulaga didn’t start taking 11-on-11 reps until near the end of training camp, with his 12 snaps in Green Bay’s preseason finale against Kansas City serving as the only real one-on-one work he received prior to the start of the season.


This summer was a complete 180. Bulaga was a healthy participant throughout training camp, including during the team’s joint practices against J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus and the Houston Texans in early August.


“I took this year more reps in that first 1½ weeks than I did all of training camp last year,” Bulaga said. “To have that inter-squad practice with the Texans, that’s all really good stuff to get those reps and see live movements, where what was (last year), kind of jumping in right at the end of Week 3 of preseason and then playing a couple snaps in Preseason 4.


“You try to get as ready as you can but there’s still something to say all the reps you get throughout the week in training camp definitely helped.”


Bulaga, head athletic trainer Bryan Engel and offensive line coach Adam Stenavich had a plan this summer to give Bulaga a few occasional rest days here and there in order to keep the veteran tackle healthy and fresh.


A former assistant in San Francisco, Stenavich compared the approach to how the 49ers handled All-Pro tackle Joe Staley, a veteran of 176 NFL games who has seen it all in this league.