Veteran nose tackle Letroy Guion (wearing No. 98) spent all but a week of training camp on the non-football injury list with a hamstring injury, yet he has been tabbed to start at nose tackle for the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Green Bay — Veteran nose tackle Letroy Guion spent all but a week of training camp on the non-football injury list with a hamstring injury, yet he has been tabbed to start at nose tackle for the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.

Following the season-ending torn biceps injury nose tackle B.J. Raji suffered against the Oakland Raiders on Aug. 22, the Packers had the option of moving defensive end Josh Boyd into the starting lineup at nose.

But defensive coordinator Dom Capers said that Guion, the veteran free agent whom the Minnesota Vikings didn't want anymore, will line up over the nose when the team goes to its base 3-4 look. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Guion, who played in a 4-3 in Minnesota, showed enough in off-season workouts to make the coaches believe in him.

"Losing B.J. doesn't change things," Capers said Monday. "Letroy Guion will step in there where B.J. is. The rest of the guys would be playing where they would be if B.J. was here."

Defensive line coach Mike Trgovac said he had enough confidence in Guion to stand in and bang heads with linemen trying to double-team him on running plays. The Packers are going with quicker, more athletic players on the defensive line, which is why they didn't sign Ryan Pickett or Johnny Jolly after Raji got hurt.

Guion has long arms and is more mobile than the other big men. If Guion struggles, rookie Mike Pennel would be next in line provided he's not on the game day inactive list.

"Letroy has a lot of experience," Trgovac said. "I thought he's done a good job. That's not a new position for him. There really isn't a lot of change from what they did at Minnesota to what we do.

"Terminology is different, but it's not like you're putting a first- or second-year guy in there. That helps. And he's had some good quality practice days behind him. It's been two weeks."

The 6-3, 310-pound Boyd played nose tackle after Raji left the Raiders game, but Capers doesn't want him to play there too much because it would move him out of the end position he played in training camp. Boyd, a fifth-round pick last year, is still in an early developmental stage.

Part of the reason the Packers aren't as concerned about the nose tackle position is that they usually play about 70% nickel personnel, which features five defensive backs and two defensive linemen positioned on either side of the center. With all the passing in the NFL, Capers has been forced to go to extra defensive backs to compensate.

Raji was going to be part of the "big" nickel, which primarily would be used on first down and would give the Packers a bigger presence in case it is a running play. On third downs, the Packers go to pass rushers like Datone Jones and Mike Daniels to fill the two inside positions.

Guion or Pennel could fill the "big" nickel position Raji was going to play.

In a rush: Linebacker Clay Matthews thinks the Packers' pass rush is going to be better this year, and his coach agrees.

Matthews, speaking after practice, said there's too much talent up front not to have more sacks.

Said Matthews: "I'm excited about it, obviously, just with the maturation of the players that we've had on this team, myself included."

Matthews said Mike Neal, Julius Peppers and Daniels will be part of a group that should be formidable.

"When you put those type of guys in that front line, I think it presents some problems for the opposing (team) as (far) as getting after the quarterback," he said.

Coach Mike McCarthy echoed that sentiment in his news conference Monday.

"We're a better pass rush team today than we've been in a long time," he said.

Third option: Quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt said he was happy McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson decided to go with three quarterbacks instead of two.

It will give him a chance to sharpen Matt Flynn's game and develop Scott Tolzien's. The latter had a very good training camp and Van Pelt said he'll continue to grow while playing for the scout team in practice.

"I thought he was great, really did a good job," Van Pelt said. "Really came out and performed. Ran our offense like we expected him to do it. Productivity, he put us in the end zone. I was very proud of him."

Van Pelt said Flynn had a tough day in the deluge in Tennessee, but from that point "established himself as the backup."

"By his practice and the way he took it into the games afterward," Van Pelt said. "That was impressive."

Injury report: Tight end Brandon Bostick (leg) and cornerback Demetri Goodson (concussion) did not practice for a second straight day.

Neither of the two was listed as out, which means there's a chance they could play, although Goodson probably will be a game day inactive no matter what. Bostick, however, has a slim chance of being ready.

Also on the report, Brad Jones (thigh) was limited and center JC Tretter (knee) was out.

The Seahawks did not have any starters who missed practice.