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Green Bay - Defensive end Mike Neal has undergone knee surgery and will be out "a significant amount of weeks," coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday.

Neal has been battling a knee injury since training camp and the medical staff was hoping through rehab and time the injury would heal. But a decision was made after last week that Neal needed surgery and would be sidelined.

McCarthy said he did not anticipate Neal being put on injured reserve, but he would not say how long he would be out. He did not identify what the procedure was.

"We're just used to it," end Ryan Pickett said when asked about Neal's injury. "We're used to that adversity. We have to have guys picking up the slack. They'll have to pick up the slack until he comes back."

The Packers played the opener without Neal and didn't show any weakness against the run, but they also didn't rush the passer the way they hoped against New Orleans' Drew Brees. Neal has the potential to be the best inside pass rusher, but he's not getting any better being on the sideline.

Linebacker Clay Matthews compared Neal's potential impact to that of end Cullen Jenkins, who was able to take some pressure off Matthews because opposing offensive lines had to account for his pass rush ability.

"He has pass rush ability," Matthews said. "I know he's frustrated as well as this team."

Neal has not been able to stay on the field since being drafted in the second round last year. Side and shoulder injuries limited him to a quarter of the season last year and the knee injury could keep him out of half of it this year.

Meanwhile, cornerback Tramon Williams has a chance to play Sunday. McCarthy said he would be comfortable having Williams miss practice all week and still play Sunday.