Packers notes: Former Hawkeye Bulaga tackles new role

GREEN BAY -- The Green Bay Packers' coaching staff is sure giving Bryan Bulaga every opportunity to win the left guard competition.

Daryn Colledge started the Packers' preseason-opening 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns, but he and Bulaga alternated series with the starting offense.

Bulaga wound up getting more snaps at the position with the starters than Colledge (13 compared to seven) because the Packers' first offensive series consisted of just one play (a Ryan Grant fumble). Each was on the field for a touchdown drive.

Bulaga shifted over to left tackle with the No. 2 offense, with Colledge staying in at left guard.

''Obviously I would like to be in there for all the reps, but that's not the situation," said Colledge, who added he was pleased with his performance. "Bryan's doing a good job. He's a talented player and they're going to give him an opportunity to compete and show what he has. So I have to continue just to improve myself. I've got a lot of games under my belt, so for me it's a battle with myself to find a way to get better every single week."

The Packers' plan -- at least publicly -- coming into camp was for Bulaga, the team's first-round pick out of Iowa, to work exclusively at left tackle behind starter Chad Clifton.

That changed Monday, when Bulaga began to work at left guard and coach Mike McCarthy announced he'd be given the chance to compete with Colledge for the starting spot.

''It's going to take a little while to get comfortable at guard," Bulaga said. "I just moved there Monday. It's going to take more snaps, more reps to really get feeling good out there. That was game action out there at guard, so I've got to get adjusted to those type of things, but I thought overall I did some good things, but made some mistakes."

By Tom Ziemer, The Wisconsin State Journal