GREEN BAY — Given the excruciating pain Zach Tom was in following Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals — he said his oblique injury was hurting him so much that he couldn’t remember what happened during the second half of the game — it seemed like an obvious question to ask the Green Bay Packers right tackle on Wednesday:

If you were in so much pain after one game, how on earth are you going to play 12 more games over the next 12 weeks?

“Uh … Got to figure out a way,” Tom said after a long pause. “I think we’ve got a good plan this week, though, and for the following weeks — practice-wise and all that — just so I can get through it.”

Then, Tom laughed uncomfortably.

“But … That’s a lot of weeks,” he confessed. “But we’re going to get through it, take it week-by-week. Hopefully it gets better, slowly.”

Tom said he and the medical and athletic training staffs have been working on a plan for how to get him ready for Sunday’s game at Arizona. Tom intimated that a painkilling injection might be part of the equation but wouldn’t say so explicitly.

“There’s definitely stuff that we’re going to do. I’m not going to say what,” Tom said. “There’s some stuff we’re going to do to make it feel better. I feel good about it. I feel good about it.”

Tom, who originally injured his oblique in the Sept. 7 regular-season opener but played all 61 of the Packers’ offensive snaps against the Bengals, was one of four players who did not practice Wednesday. Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt (knee), defensive end Lukas Van Ness (foot) and kicker Brandon McManus (quadriceps) also sat out.

Tom, who missed the Packers’ Week 2 win over Washington, lasted only one play in their Week 3 loss at Cleveland and sat out the Week 4 tie with the Cowboys, said the game and practice time he missed left him out of game shape and too often ineffective with his blocking techniques.

He didn’t mince words when describing how he played against the Bengals, either. 

“I would say on Sunday one of the bigger battles I was fighting was just being in shape. Because looking at the film, I was out there huffing and puffing,” Tom admitted.

“I think I played like [expletive]. Gave up a couple pressures on three-man rushes; you cannot let that happen. And that was just technical. I wouldn’t say the injury was too much involved in that. That was just being lazy with my technique.

“At the end of the day, if I’m going to be out there, I’ve got to perform at a high level. So, I can’t let those plays happen. And I know that, and I’ve got to get better from it. At least we won.”

Tom spent last season altering his style of play after a torn pectoral muscle suffered during the offseason robbed him of some of his strength, so it won’t be the first time he’ll have to make do.

“Obviously last year, I had to figure out a way,” Tom said. “I’d say the oblique, the core muscles, are a little more important. But we’re going to figure it out.”

Tom’s efforts to play through the injury are not going unappreciated, with his quarterback, Jordan Love, particularly grateful.

“It’s huge,” Love said. “Obviously, you always want to have your best players out there, and sometimes guys are going through some things, battling through some injures. He’s a warrior, he’s a trooper. But it’s great to have him out there. It definitely makes a difference when you’ve got your best guys out there.”

Watson continues progress | Wide receiver Christian Watson, whose practice window opened last week as he works toward being activated from the physically unable to perform list with the ACL tear he sustained in his right knee in January, did more 11-on-11 team period work in practice on Wednesday, a step forward in his comeback.

“I’m excited for sure. I can’t wait,” Watson replied when asked about returning to game action. “At the same time, obviously the first conversation we had thinking about when to come back was just to do it the right way.”

While Watson didn’t flat-out say he won’t play Sunday against the Cardinals, he certainly implied that the team will use most or all of the 21-day practice window to make sure his surgically repaired knee is good to go.

“I think it would help to be able to stack multiple weeks of practice,” Watson said. “I’ve got an idea of how I’m feeling in my head, but at the same time I’m just relaying everything to the training staff, the doctors and really leaving it up to them.” 

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