"So far, Green Bay Packers rookie Derek Sherrod could neither beat out T.J. Lang for the starting berth at left guard nor beat out Marshall Newhouse for the backup tackle job.

Sherrod was the first choice of coach Mike McCarthy and his staff to replace departed Daryn Colledge. The coaches wanted to get their five best linemen on the field. And having drafted Sherrod in the first round, their expectation was that he'd be one of the five.

But Lang, a fourth-round choice in 2009, won the job over Sherrod by unanimous decision after the second exhibition game.

That sent Sherrod back to tackle, his position at Mississippi State. But now, he finds himself without a uniform on game day because Newhouse, a fifth-round selection in 2010, has been deemed the more capable player and the Packers normally just suit up seven offensive linemen.

Was Sherrod shook up or at least disappointed by having to watch the New Orleans game in sweat clothes?

"Not really," he said Friday. "I'm just taking it as an opportunity to get better. Just got to keep pushing myself and try to get out there."

Four years ago, defensive tackle Justin Harrell suffered the embarrassment of being inactive for the first four games of his career although he was fit. At the time, Harrell said the situation was "very disappointing," comparing it to his redshirt freshman season at Tennessee.

In the last 20 years, Green Bay has drafted 21 players in the first round. Five of the 21 were inactive in their first game, but three - Aaron Taylor, Jamal Reynolds and B.J. Raji - were inactive due to injury. Sherrod joins Harrell as the only healthy inactive players on the list.

It is company that Sherrod doesn't want to keep."