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Mike McCarthy Post-Game Press Conf. Transcript - Aug. 21

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(General thoughts on the game?) *I thought there was a lot of positive film that we'll have the opportunity to learn from. I thought the start of the offense was what we're looking for. Defensively, we were able to play a number of new guys, particularly in the first half, and we had some production there. Special teams, we wanted to play our whole roster throughout the depth charts of each particular area, and we accomplished that, so we'll have some positive things to learn from, and we'll have some things we need to correct. It's a good win. Anytime you win a football game, it's a positive for your football team, but we'll continue to work on the fundamental aspects of our blueprint for success: taking care of the football – we need to do a better job with that, even though we did a good job of taking it away – and making sure we win the field-position battle.*

(How did you feel about the team responding to the deficit and working its way back in the second half?)
I thought our guys just kept battling. Everybody had an opportunity to play; I thought Matt Flynn did a good job, I thought Graham [Harrell] did a good job those last two drives to get us in the end zone, and our defense was getting the ball back so we were very pleased with the team's effort tonight.

(How do you think Aaron Rodgers has played so far through these two preseason games?)
I think he has been excellent. He has been sharp, and he's doing all of the little things that are necessary to continue to spread the ball around and keep our offense in good looks, he's doing an excellent job.

(Did you know going into the game how much you wanted Rodgers to play?)
We have a plan, we have a plan for our first offense and how many reps we want to see for them and he's part of that plan. They were scheduled to play 20 snaps tonight, but I was pleased with the production they were able to accomplish in 18 snaps so they got a two-snap break.

(What happened that led to Derrick Martin's ejection from the game?)
Frankly, I haven't seen it. I haven't seen the film, so until I see the film I am not going to be critical of Derrick. I was upset about some things at halftime that had gone on, and I want to see the film. The communication was that he punched a player on the Seahawks, so that's why he was ejected from the game.

(What did you tell the team after the game?)
'Hurry up, drink some water and let's get on the plane.' We have a long ride home, and we have a number of things that we will correct as a football team on Monday. We have a short week next week – we play on Thursday – so I'm more concerned with how we bounce back from this game out here on the West Coast. We'll take Monday morning and we will spend that on the corrections from Seattle.

(What did you get out of seeing so many different players in the starting lineup on defense tonight?)
We talk about this all the time: preseason games are much different than regular-season games because there is so much more information you're trying to gather. This will give us more information on any individuals that had an opportunity to play earlier than they probably would have if the other players were here. Some of the things that we did, schematically, are we improving? Because Dom Capers and the defensive staff haven't changed the game plan or the ready-list since Family Night, so we'll look at all of those things.

(What did you see from your special teams units tonight?)
[I got] lot of information; a lot of positives, some negatives. We played everybody on kickoff coverage again this week like we did last week, so I'm looking for some individuals to probably separate themselves from others because we have two games of information in that particular area. I thought the punt [unit] was solid. We've got to handle the football, ball security is a premium not only for our offense and we didn't do that, so we'll get it corrected and move on to Indianapolis.

(How did you think Will Blackmon played in his return to live action?)
It's good to have him back out there, but I want to evaluate the film. It's just like anything, whether you're running the ball or you're returning the ball, there are always two aspects to it. With the run-blocking unit, there's a decision and a reason the runner did something, and it's no different in the return game.

(Do you worry about the risk to key players in your backfield when they're exposed to extended playing time because of other injuries further down the depth chart?)
You'd rather not [have them playing], but Brandon [Jackson] jumped right up and in there and I thought John [Kuhn]and Brandon did an excellent job in that fourth quarter when Porter went down with an ankle. It's preseason football, unfortunately that happens sometimes. 

(Aside from Porter, were there any other injuries?)
Brett Swain had the wind knocked out of him, but he returned, so those were the two injuries.

(What led to your decision to pull the starters on offense so quickly?)
The offense was scheduled to play 20 reps, but I was pleased with the production after 18 reps, so I think they've put together two good first quarters and they were very productive.

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