RT Bryan Bulaga (75) was placed on injured reserve. The news is not good for the Packers are already thin at the position.  (US Presswire)

RT Bryan Bulaga’s season is over. He became the seventh Packers player to be placed on injured reserve, the team announced Monday.

Coach Mike McCarthy confirmed the news, saying Bulaga had suffered a “significant hip injury.”

Coming off a bye week they hoped would provide the recuperative respite they so badly needed after an injury-filled first half of the season, the Packers (6-3) now must tackle a challenging second half without one of their top linemen. Bulaga, a three-year starter since being drafted in the first round in 2010, hurt his hip in the Packers’ 31-17 win over the Cardinals in Week 9, just before the bye.

To replace Bulaga on the roster, Green Bay signed OLB Vic So'oto, an undrafted free agent who played seven games with the team in 2011 and appeared in four contests with the Raiders this season.

Bulaga injured his hip on an awkward, noncontact play in the second quarter of the Packers' 31-17 win over the Cardinals in the last game before the bye.

McCarthy said Bulaga and the team had consulted with multiple doctors, including a specialist since hip injuries are not common, and the consensus was to shut the lineman down.

“It's something that there's a lot of conversation about the timeline of a possible return,” McCarthy said. “The more people we talked to, we felt it was best, obviously, to put him on IR. His long-term health is always at the forefront of these decisions."

McCarthy said the initial diagnosis seemed to indicate Bulaga could avoid undergoing surgery, but he will be reevaluated in a month and a decision will be made at that time. Bulaga, McCarthy said, was unsurprisingly at odds with the doctors’ decision to end his season.
"If you ask Bryan -- you walk in there Monday morning, he's out there working out, no crutches, not saying nice things about the doctors, which is nice to hear," McCarthy said. "(He's saying) he wants to play and he's going to be fine.

"But you can't deny what's on the scan. This is in his best interest to go this path. We feel confident about his future."

Against the Cardinals, Bulaga was replaced at tackle by LG T.J. Lang, who was in turn supplanted by G/C Evan Dietrich-Smith. Both Lang and Dietrich-Smith fared well in stand-in duty.

Lang has played right tackle at various times throughout his career in Green Bay. McCarthy said the offense wouldn’t miss a beat with the versatile Lang at right tackle.

“With a full week of work, (Lang will) be ready to go,” McCarthy said. “T.J. won’t keep us out of anything. We have a lot of confidence in T.J.”

Lang, who filled in all over the line his first two seasons before settling in nicely at left guard last year, was similarly self-assured.

“It was difficult my first couple years in the league when I was forced to do it,” Lang said of switching positions. “Now, I think I have enough experience that when things do happen like that, you have to be ready for it, adjust quick and move on.

“You can't make the transition any bigger than it is,” he continued. “You just have to adjust, move on and do the best you can and keep continuity, keep chemistry and continue to get better as a line. That's the biggest focus. I'm trying not to make too big a deal about it. I've had a lot of snaps, a lot of opportunities out there at tackle before. It's something that I'm familiar with."

Lang said the fundamental changes and mental adjustments going from inside on the left side to outside on the right wouldn’t be difficult. He was glad to have the full week to prepare for the transition.

“The biggest thing is switching your feet up, getting your technique right, and that just comes with time,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having the whole week practicing out there and getting better at that technical stuff.”

There’s no denying, however, that the line depth is significantly weakened with Dietrich-Smith, the top backup, now thrust into the starting lineup. The only healthy backups are two undrafted rookies -- T Don Barclay and G Greg Van Roten.

“We can’t let this affect us,” Dietrich-Smith said. “It’s a terrible thing that happened to (Bulaga). He has our sentiment and everything like that. But he knows … we’re not worrying about him. We’re worrying about winning football games.”

OT Derek Sherrod, the team's first round draft pick in 2011, who began the season on the physically unable to perform list, returned to practice Monday. He has a three-week window, which began last week, to show the Packers what he can do before they have to decide whether to activate him or put him on IR.

“We’re at seven,” McCarthy said of the number of offensive linemen on the active roster. “We’ll see how Derek responds.”

When asked about the team’s contingency plan, should another lineman -- especially a tackle -- go down, McCarthy was unrevealing but secure.

"We have a rotation. It really depends on which tackle," McCarthy said. "I'm not going to get into who's going where and how, but we do have a rotation in mind."

McCarthy called Barclay and Van Roten “smart, tough” hard-working players. He said they’ve looked good in practice and they understand the challenge and responsibility of being the next man up.

Van Roten (6-3, 303), twice a first-team All-Ivy League honoree at Pennsylvania, said Monday he’s locked and loaded, ready to step up wherever he’s needed.

"You're an offensive lineman," Van Roten said, "so you have to know everything. You're not going to make a living knowing just one position. You just have to take it on yourself. If you want to stay here and make yourself valuable, you can't just learn one position. You can't be a specialist. You have to be versatile. That's what they look for.

"You're always kind of on-call and ready to go," Van Roten said. "So when Bryan went down, it's like, the good life is over. You're going to get ready to play."

RG Josh Sitton, Bulaga’s partner on the right side for three seasons, said the line would need time to gel and get used to new players. But, he added, the Packers were equipped to handle the adversity, as long as they can stay out of the way of further harm.

“Out of any team, we know how to handle this,” Sitton said of injuries forcing players into different spots. “T.J. has rolled over there before, did it last week, and it was fine. Our biggest thing is depth now. We just need to stay healthy from here on out.”

Follow Packers reporter James Carlton on Twitter: @CBSPackers and @jimmycarlton88.