Midweek Report; The Packers Get Ready For Tennessee

Here’s numerous pieces of information so far from Green Bay;
It looked as if everyone was back at practice today.  Al Harris was working with the first team defensive unit.  Atari Bigby was running drills and agility while working with the first team at times as well.  AJ Hawk was moving better than I’ve seen him in the recent past.  Justin Harrell, while he did receive some attention from the trainers to try and stretch out his right hamstring, he was working with the defensive line rotation.  He will be activated, barring a season ending setback, before Sunday’s game.
The best sight came when Aaron Rodgers, during offensive drills, was throwing the ball deep with a tight spiral.  After the shoulder injury, Rodgers was limited to no passes at all or passes 10 yards or under at the very most.  Today, he was airing it out to every receiver he could find.  Talking with him for a moment before practice began, Rodgers said that he feels great and that the bye week was a “blessing”.

Kerry Collins, during his conference call this morning, attributed the Titans success to their solid defense, being able to run the ball and the fact that they’re not committing turnovers.  Collins has taken his experience and turned that into, “Making better decisions and reading defenses a little better.”  Collins is very impressed with Aaron Rodgers, “He handled the off-season stuff just great.  He’s a very good decision maker and he’s accurate”.

Mike McCarthy stated, during his presser this afternoon:
Al Harris should be completely cleared to play, by the doctors, for the game this weekend.
Aaron Rodgers is on a “pitch count”, that particular number he didn’t specify but did say that the doctors continue to recommend rest, at least 48 hours ahead of the actual game.
Coach McCarthy was also impressed with Justin Harrell.  “When he’s activated, he’ll be  a part of the 4 tackle rotation.  He’s in the best shape that I’ve seen him in since he’s been a Green Bay Packer.”
McCarthy calls the Packers / Titans match-up in the preseason a “different landscape”.  While the strategy in the pre-season was vastly different (the Packers playing their starters only 1 series and the Titans played their starters for the 1st quarter) the initial thought  the coach received from their top personnel was “quite impressive”.  “They’re physical, fundamentally sound.  They’ve got speed, get to their gaps and are sure tacklers”.
When asked about Titans head coach, Jeff Fischer and his longevity with one team for that long of time (14 seasons), could McCarthy ever envision himself lasting here in Green Bay that long, the coach said with a big smile, “I’d be all for it”.

I spoke with James Jones about his knee and he claims that the week off did him a world of wonder.  His bye week activities, according to Jones were, “Treatment, treatment, treatment, treatment, treatment”.

When you look at the Titans record (7-0) they are, right now, the best team in football.  Johnny Jolly proclaimed with a smile, “I was watching them on Monday and hoping they’d (Tenessee) win.  I wanna be the one to knockem’ off.  It’s our biggest test against the leagues best, we wanna show what we can do”.

Aaron Kampman was somewhat surprised at practice today.  He said that this was the first time “for as long as I can remember” that he could catch his breath during practice.  The fact that the Packers have their full compliment of d-linemen means that everyone is getting reps and everyone is getting rest.  “Us three guys (Jolly, Cole and Kampman) have been taking almost of the snaps at practice.  It’s good to catch your breath now.  Hopefully, that little bit of rest will keep us a bit more fresh for the games as well”.

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