GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If Aaron Rodgers isn't worried about Don Barclay protecting his blind side, then maybe you shouldn't be, either.
Yes, the Green Bay Packers quarterback will have Barclay as his starting left tackle for Sunday's preseason game at the Pittsburgh Steelers. And no, Barclay has never taken an NFL snap at that spot.
What's more, Barclay has looked rusty since his return from reconstructive knee surgery after he blew out his right ACL in training camp last summer. In a 34-snap stint in last week's preseason opener at New England, Barclay allowed one sack and a couple of quarterback pressures.
And that came at his regular right tackle position with the No. 2 offensive line against a collection of New England Patriots backups.
So it's understandable to think that without David Bakhtiari (knee), the starter at left tackle for the past 35 straight games (regular season and playoffs), maybe the Packers would be better off not playing Rodgers in a meaningless game against the Steelers.
It doesn't sound as if Rodgers agrees.
"Don's a great player," Rodgers said this week. "He's come a long way getting back from his ACL. It's a tough injury. I went through it a long time ago, about 11 or 12 years ago. But I think you come back stronger, and I think Donnie's looked really strong. He's a natural left tackle.
"We expect him to play well, and Donnie can do a lot of things for us. He can play really all five of the positions on the offensive line, and that makes him a very invaluable person to our team."
Asked this week what he hopes to see from Barclay at left tackle, offensive line coach James Campen said it's not about what he hopes but rather what he expects.
"You just saw one game last week," Campen said. "Let's remember he's one year removed from a bad injury. Don Barclay is a guy that I have all the confidence in the world in. OK? He'll play much better than he did last week."
While conceding there were a few plays he'd like to have back against the Patriots, Barclay on Friday said he believes he has made progress since his return from the injury and seemed to appreciate the support from his quarterback and his position coach.
"For those guys to say something like that, it definitely means a lot," Barclay said. "I'm going to go out there and fight for Aaron just as much as I'm going to fight for every one of these linemen or every one of the defensive guys."
Still, it wasn't like Barclay had a great week of practice. He went just 3-2 in his reps during the one-on-one pass-blocking drill this week. His camp-long record in that drill is 12-7, easily the worst among the veteran offensive linemen.
If the Barclay you saw against the Patriots didn't look the same as the one who started 14 games plus playoffs at right tackle in 2013, then Barclay thinks he's close.
Plus, he actually has played left tackle before, just not in an NFL game. It was his natural position in high school and college.
"I feel like everywhere on the line, you're going to have one-on-one battles either way, whether you're at right tackle, left tackle," Barclay said. "You could be the blindside guy at right tackle some plays if he's looking left. It definitely has that name on it. I've played the position before in the past, so it's nothing new to me. I've just got to go out there and execute, bottom line."