GREEN BAY — When the Green Bay Packers return from the bye week, they could have all four of their running backs — halfbacks Eddie Lacy, James Starks and Johnathan Franklin, and fullback John Kuhn — healthy. But as of right now, none of them is.

Lacy missed Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals with a concussion suffered against Washington last week, Kuhn missed the game with a hamstring injury, Starks left with a knee injury and Franklin finished the game but left briefly with a foot injury that was apparently still an issue Monday.

Before his injury against the Bengals, Starks had carried 12 times for 55 yards, following up on a 132-yard effort against the Redskins that snapped a 44-game regular-season streak of games without an individual 100-yard rusher. Franklin then ran the Packers' streak of games with a 100-yard rusher to two by carrying 13 times for 103 yards, including a 51-yard run.

Franklin's performance went for naught, though, when he coughed up a fumble on fourth down that was returned for the game-winning touchdown in a 34-30 loss.

But when the Packers return for their next game, Oct. 5 against Detroit at Lambeau Field, they could have a bevy of options at running back.

"It's too early to tell," offensive coordinator Tom Clements said of how a rotation might work. "Obviously, I think James played well before he got hurt. Johnathan played well. Eddie, he's played well. He hasn't had as extended of playing time as the other guys because of injury or what happened in San Francisco initially. We hope all three of them are healthy and that will give us some good options, whichever way we decide to go."

Lacy said in the locker room Monday that he believes he will be cleared in time for the Lions game. He said he was headed home for the bye, which would be a good indication of his recovery since injured players are often required to stay in Green Bay.

"We're all good backs, man. Whenever our number is called — no matter why or what the reason is — we step in place and we do what we have to do," Lacy said. "Those guys did exactly that. We pretty much the same type player except Frank, he's fast, you know. We all hold ourselves accountable to play the same way no matter what."

Starks, whose star-crossed career has included injuries dating back to his senior year at the University of Buffalo that caused him to be a sixth-round pick in 2010, said his knee is "doing good" and was "a little sore" but "I'm going to be fine." He was set to have an MRI on the knee Monday.

"It just got tumbled on a little wrong, twisted up a little bit. It was hurting pretty bad at the time," Starks said. "I think we played pretty well as a running back group. I think he came in and did everything he needed to do. Things happen, he had a little mistake, but it's not like he let the team down or anything. I think he did a great job. We all got a lot to learn, everybody makes mistakes and I'm sure he's going to do fine."

Asked about the team's running back options, Starks replied, "I think we're pretty stacked. Our backs are great backs. Each one of us is capable of having those outings each week. Once we get rolling and everybody get back healthy, I think we'll have a great group of guys who are focused, we work together, we got good chemistry in the room, we laugh, we clown around, we enjoy ourselves.

"This is a great group of guys who truly care about each other and we're doing everything we can to have a great running game this year."

Jason Wilde  wrote: