GREEN BAY -- Head Coach Mike McCarthy did not have a specific update on starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga's ankle injury, but he did say Bulaga would not be playing on Saturday night in Denver.
"We're still doing some testing. I do not have a timeline," McCarthy said on Thursday. "He's feeling better today than he was yesterday."
In Bulaga's absence, either Kyle Murphy or Jason Spriggs -- two 2016 draft picks -- will start at right tackle. McCarthy reiterated his confidence in both players and said "it's a very healthy competition."
Bulaga's injury could influence how much starting QB Aaron Rodgers plays in Denver, but McCarthy didn't say for sure. The coaching staff will be having a play-time meeting on Friday morning.
If history holds, the Denver game will be the last preseason appearance for the vast majority of the Packers' starters on both sides of the ball. But McCarthy stressed that feeling good about where the first units are is not his only objective for this game.
"It's more than that. We have a lot to accomplish," McCarthy said. "To feel good about the one unit, we want to feel good about the whole football team. What I'm looking for is for us to make progress as a team.
"These last two days we've had very good practices. I thought the quality of work was good. You can prepare well as you're building into the game, but you have to perform. My goal is to make sure our team takes a step forward as we did from Philadelphia to Washington and now going into Denver."
One area McCarthy will keep a close eye on is special teams. It's a key vehicle for young players to make the 53-man roster, and the return and coverage units have more moving parts in the preseason than any other groups.
"Probably the biggest focus for me is to see the integration of special teams in this game," McCarthy said. "That's the one unit you have so many different combinations of guys playing so many different places. I'm hopeful we'll take a step there. It's obviously very important. You look for players to be four-down players. It increases their value and increases their opportunity to be on the team. Special teams will be big Saturday night."
