GREEN BAY — Ted Thompson calls 'em "Big Guys," and he's always been of the belief that you can never have too many.

"I think if you're fortunate enough to have some good players in the defensive line position — or in the offensive line position, anything with the 'big guys' — I think it's difficult to find guys that can play and play effectively," the Green Bay Packers general manager said. "We've talked about this before: We like the (defensive line) group maybe better than some people if you picked it apart and individualized them. We like the group, we like the ability to be versatile, play different positions, and rotate guys in and out of the game. So we felt like that's been helpful to our team."

And if you thought Thompson was loony for keeping 11 defensive linemen, including six defensive tackles, on the 53-man roster coming out of training camp last year — a whopping 21 percent of the team — then you need only look at the Packers' depth chart entering Monday's first camp practice to understand why Thompson believes what he does.

"It's not fantasy football," Thompson said, invoking another of his favorite phrases. ("It's a big-boy league" also ranks right up there.) "People get injured. Things happen. You can never get that comfortable, no matter what the position, because you just never know."

The D-line is Exhibit A.

By season's end, just about every one of the 11 was needed, and then came this past offseason. Corey Williams was traded to Cleveland; Johnny Jolly (shoulder) and Justin Harrell (back) missed all of organized team activity practices and minicamp with injuries (followed by Jolly's July 8 drug possession arrest); and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was sidelined by arthroscopic knee surgery. Colin Cole, who suffered a season-ending broken arm midway through last year, also was held out of many drills.

So when camp kicks off Monday, there are more unknowns than you'd expect from what was once a talent-rich area.

Nevertheless, the Packers still like their mix, especially two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Aaron Kampman and run-stuffing, block-absorbing defensive tackle Ryan Pickett.

The problem starts after those two. Cullen Jenkins, who battled nagging injuries all last year but seemed to have found a home at end, might have to move inside to tackle alongside Pickett if attrition inside requires it. However, the coaches would prefer to leave him outside, even though he spent most of OTAs and minicamp inside.

"Ideally we would (want him outside). But then, you know, Jenkins can really help us, being that guy who can do both," defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn said. "Moving him inside, moving him outside — that helps us against certain people. That helps us with matchups. So there may be game plans where we want him outside, there may be game plans where we want him inside."

Of course, if Jolly, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Carolina on Nov. 18, is healthy and not in jail or suspended — he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for allegedly possessing 200 grams of codeine and could face league sanctions as well — he has the inside track on starting inside after splitting the starts with Williams last year.

Nunn stopped short of saying the job is Jolly's to lose, though.

"I wouldn't say that. People always forget Colin Cole," Nunn said. "That guy has been a very important part of what we're doing. We've got to have (all) those guys. Again, it's going to be by committee. But Johnny is very important on that committee."

The easier player to forget is Harrell, whose bad health luck continued when he hurt his back lifting weights and needed surgery. He's now had two unproductive offseasons in a row.

"It's a concern," Nunn said. "Unfortunately, that's a part of this business — fighting through the injuries and the bad breaks. He's been unlucky."

While KGB is expected to be fine for camp, defensive ends coach Carl "Big Daddy" Hairston said the Packers still have plenty of outside speed with a maturing Jason Hunter and rookie fourth-round pick Jeremy Thompson in reserve.

"No doubt. You've got to have that," Hairston said of edge speed. "With Jeremy and Jason, Jason is a lot stronger than people think. Jeremy, he's shown it all so far. He's just a kid who's raw and needs to learn. Like I tell him, he needs to catch on fast."

Meanwhile, open auditions will be held for Williams' replacement as the inside pass-rusher spot next to Jenkins in the nickel defense.

One surprising candidate: Backup defensive end Michael Montgomery, who'd never played inside before OTAs.

"He's an option there because of losing Corey to Cleveland, he was the most logical replacement because of his body type," Hairston said. "I told him it's a new adventure for him. He just needs a little more time in there. In training camp, he'll get better."