Rodgers looks good in practice
GREEN BAY – Aaron Rodgers’ first midweek practice since spraining his left knee in the Green Bay Packers’ opener wasn’t merely for show.
The Packers quarterback was limited Thursday, but coach Mike McCarthy said Rodgers did everything the team scheduled for him. That included not only throwing to receivers and tight ends in position drills, but also some team reps.
“Aaron Rodgers looked good at practice,” McCarthy said Friday. “Got everything accomplished we set out to. So today, we’ll just kind of go through the corrections.”
The plan, McCarthy said, is for Rodgers to participate in Saturday’s walkthrough before the Packers host the Buffalo Bills. Rodgers has participated in the Saturday walkthrough the past two weeks.
McCarthy shed little light on the remainder of the Packers’ injuries. Among the injured players is receiver Randall Cobb, who was limited Thursday because of a hamstring injury. Cobb was listed as questionable on the injury report Friday.
“We’ll see what today brings,” McCarthy said of Cobb. “It’s unfortunate, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Cornerback Kevin King practiced Thursday for the first time since injuring his groin in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings. Outside linebacker Nick Perry did not practice and remains in the concussion protocol.
Both were listed as having limited participation Friday (had the Packers practiced), and are questionable for Sunday.
“I think they’re both making progress,” McCarthy said, “and hopefully we’ll see how Nick does today. But, I know he’s feeling good. I know Kevin’s chomping at the bit. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Right guard Justin McCray is unlikely to play Sunday after missing practice Wednesday and Thursday. McCray left Sunday’s game in Washington with a left shoulder injury.
If McCray is unable to play, the Packers will likely turn to veteran Byron Bell as his replacement at right guard.
“Byron’s played a lot of football,” McCarthy said. “So he’s looked good this week. So, we have great confidence in him.
“We’ll see where McCray is tomorrow, but I’m ready to go with Byron.”
Right tackle Bryan Bulaga is expected to play despite suffering a back injury at Washington.
‘Make a guy miss’
Whether it leads to more carries this week remains to be seen, but Packers running back Aaron Jones made a good first impression on offensive coordinator Joe Philbin.
With Jones returning from his twogame suspension, Sunday’s game in Washington was the first time Philbin was able to see the offense with its complete backfield. Jones, arguably the most talented, pure runner on the Packers’ roster, had 42 yards on six carries.
“Yeah, that was really my first legitimate exposure (to him) in a regular game,” Philbin said. “Really liked some of the things he did. He’s definitely got some explosiveness, some twitch, some playmaking ability. A couple of runs where he made some things happen just on his own. That’s something that you need as an offense.
“You certainly devise, design plays and hope that they work and get your playmakers in some spaces with some opportunities, and certainly you have some of those, but man it really helps if the players can make a guy miss. Make a couple guys miss like he did.”
‘Go man go’
Despite struggles early in his career, rookie long snapper Hunter Bradley retains the support of special teams coordinator Ron Zook.
A seventh-round draft pick, Bradley has been inconsistent through his first three games. His struggles came to a head at the end of Sunday’s first half in Washington. The Packers had to abort a 61-yard field goal attempt when Bradley’s snap was too low for rookie holder JK Scott to handle.
Bradley also nearly bounced a snap to Scott on a punt in the fourth quarter.
“He’s a rookie. He’s fine,” Zook said. “Those things are going to happen with rookies, but you just have to keep getting better. You have to put it out of your mind and go man go.”