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          NFL Nation

          Letroy Guion, B.J. Raji together at last on Packers' defensive line

          • Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff WriterOct 1, 2015, 12:51 PM ET
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              Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the NSSA. You can follow him on Twitter at @RobDemovsky.
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          GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers have waited more than a year and a half to play B.J. Raji and Letroy Guion together on their defensive line.

          It will finally happen Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

          Signed in March 2014, Guion was supposed to join Raji in rebuilding the Packers’ defensive front. Guion opened training camp that year on the non-football injury list because of a hamstring and by the time he returned, Raji already had ruptured his biceps tendon, an injury that ended his season.

          Now that Guion’s three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy following his offseason arrest, defensive coordinator Dom Capers can throw his two run-stopping specialists at the 49ers.

          And don’t expect the Packers to ease him back in.

          “He’s a veteran; I think it’s important to cut him loose,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Thursday.

          Through three games, the Packers rank 27th out of 32 teams in rushing defense, giving up an average of 127.7 yards per game. However, they are coming off back-to-back performances in which they held Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch to 41 yards and Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles to 49 (although he scored three rushing touchdowns).

          What kind of difference can Guion make?

          “We’ll see when I strap on the pads,” he said. “It’s hard to say right now. We’ll see when I get out there and start playing.”

          Guion is expected to play mostly at defensive end in the base 3-4. Last year, he replaced Raji at nose tackle.

          “I think Letroy brings experience,” Raji said. “I think he brings physicality, but he also brings the energy, another energetic body that's going to run around and help you. I think just his presence and his understanding of the defense and what they're going to do is going to help us."

          General manager Ted Thompson still has to officially add Guion to the roster. He was allowed to practice this week without counting on the 53. The Packers currently have only 52 on their roster after they placed tight end Andrew Quarless on the temporary injured reserve list on Wednesday because of the knee injury he sustained on Monday against the Chiefs.