Packers: A.J. Hawk has surgery

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Packers veteran linebacker A.J. Hawk had surgery on his ankle to remove bone spurs following the season, according to sources.

The surgery, performed by Dr. James Andrews, came immediately after the team's loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.

Hawk played in all 18 games this season for the Packers, though his snap count did decrease as the year progressed.

Though he said publicly several times that he was not hurt, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, one of his closest friends on the team, also speculated that Hawk was playing injured.

"He's been dealing with a body that hasn't been responding as well as he wanted to at times," Rodgers said in December to his radio audience.

Of the 71 snaps the Packers' defense saw in Seattle in January, Hawk defended only 17.

Hawk, a former fifth-overall pick from Ohio State, has one year remaining on his contract, and will be due $3.5 million this coming season. Head coach Mike McCarthy, speaking at the combine this week, said the inside linebacker position will be a priority in the coming draft.

"I think the inside linebacker position could probably be compared to where we were last year at the safety position," he said. "Obviously, we had a number of moving parts there. So we'll see what this process that we go through as far as player acquisition, how that affects it. I like the step Sam Barrington made. I thought he made a huge step and that's what you look for."

Barrington, in his second year, secured 54 tackles. Hawk, a nine-year veteran, had 90.