(What's Aaron Rodgers been living with day-to-day with that shoulder?)
He had a significant shoulder injury in Week 4 and really has rehabbed his way through it. As far as decisions on Aaron or any of our other players, every player on our football team will go through a postseason evaluation. So it would be very premature to talk about any type of surgery on any of the players. A number of guys have nagging injuries, and it's very commonplace in the NFL as players go through a full season.
(So he's not living with a lot of pain or limitations?)
Anytime you have a joint injury, there's potentially some changes. That's something that will be evaluated after the season.
(He's throwing the ball fine, though?)
I think his velocity has been very good. You watch him throw every day in practice. He's thrown the ball very well. I couldn't tell you exactly to target which week, but he's been playing with full arm strength for quite some time now, in my opinion.
(You're going to finish the season about the same as last year in points for, but points against are way up. What happened to the defense this season?)
I think these are questions we can get more involved in next week. Our questions are more about Detroit. We do need to keep our opponent's scoring down. It has been higher than it was last year. That's obvious, and that's part of some of the things that we'll look closely at in our postseason evaluation.
(You mentioned Wynn might get more opportunities on Sunday. How meaningful a game might this be for him?)
DeShawn Wynn, he hasn't had a lot of opportunities this year, but when he has, I really like the way he's stepped up, particularly on special teams. He's doing some things he hasn't done a lot of in the past. He works extremely hard. Also with the opponent squad, a lot of that stuff sometimes goes unnoticed. But I think DeShawn Wynn is clearly an ascending player in our program. He had the one opportunity in Chicago, and I think he showed what he's capable of doing. He had some big games, big plays last year before he got hurt in his first I think six games of the year last year. He's just a young player that's developing. I've stood here before and said I'd play him in any situation. We put him in the fourth-and-one. That should tell you what we think about him.
(Do you feel he needed that stint on the practice squad, kind of as an eye-opener for him?)
I think anytime anybody experiences a setback, it's an opportunity to adjust your focus and either move forward or move backwards, and I'm sure that's where he felt that he was. You're talking about a young player that was the starting tailback in what, five or six or four games last year, and was put on IR and then was fighting for a job throughout training camp. Just been very impressed with what he's done in the weight room, all the way through. You look at him, he's done a very good job with his body. He's in much better shape than he was at this time last year. He's definitely improving. He has a great understanding of all the things we do schematically. I think he's a good young player.
(Did Jackson have a setback with his wrist? You list him as doubtful.)
Yeah, it's more the carrying the football and pass protection, some of the things we didn't feel he could potentially get through a game with. I wanted to make sure DeShawn was ready.
(How has Sitton played when he's had his chances, and what do you think you have in him?)
I think Josh Sitton has a chance to be a very good player for us. Josh came in as a rookie, a lot of people didn't know much about him, playing tackle in college. I really like the way he fits into what we do, particularly at right guard. He's a bigger body, a bigger frame guy. He'll definitely continue to grow and be a prominent player in the run-blocking unit, and he has a very good understanding for a young player of all the movement and the things that you just need reps on. I think he has a chance to be a very good player. He was a starter in preseason that was injured, played well in spots. Tennessee game he found out an hour before the game that he was playing. I thought he played OK there. He had some minus technique things if I recall back to the grading of that game. But I think it's all in front of him.
(With the shuffles you've made on the offensive line, without the ankle injury, would Giacomini have factored in?)
He's close. He's someone that we've been very impressed with. James Campen and Jerry Fontenot do a very good job with the younger players. They actually go back at the end of the week, and I don't know if any other line coach that I've worked with that I was aware of that has done this, is they go back and look at their scout team reps and they grade those and their pass-rush opportunities. The development of young players, our whole team is basically young, but we still try to spend extra time with the younger players that are not playing. He's someone that has just continually improved. Ask Aaron Kampman. Aaron Kampman will be the first one to tell you how much he's improved throughout the year.
(What's your philosophy on working with kickers? Mason had an unusual night for him on Monday. Did you feel you had to talk to him about confidence?)
We spoke Tuesday, or excuse me, Wednesday about Monday night. I think they're well-coached. He has a very good understanding of the mechanics between the snapper, the holder and the kicking part of it. It's a fundamental no different than quarterback throwing the football, as far as proper footwork and things like that. That's what a big part of coaching is, you have to reinforce it every chance you can.
{sportsad300}(With Harrell, is it realistic to get him ready for the offseason program?)
Good question. I think we probably need to get more information on that. I know he's frustrated and we've been trying to rehab him the best we can. We just can't get him over the hump right now. I'm sure there's going to be some further studies on his situation.
(Is there a concern it could be long-term with this issue?)
Concern? The way I look at those things, number one, I just want to get Justin healthy. He's not feeling right. So whatever that takes and whatever is involved in that process, we just need to get him healthy. That's my focus.
(Do you think you'll have Hall on Sunday?)
Korey practiced and actually, as Jeff and I were leaving the practice field, he was going through testing. Actually we're going to test Korey Hall, Spencer Havner and Jason Spitz. They've gone through practice, but I wanted some additional testing just to have more information on those three guys.
(If for some reason Spitz has a setback, would you just plug in Barbre at left guard?)
Well, we've been working Allen pretty much on the left side and Tony on the right side because it helps you during the course of the week in the reps. That's the convenient. Tony's played every position except center, so we feel very confident moving Tony anywhere in there. Those are things that we'll prepare for. I feel like I run to this meeting all the time, but those are the things that we talk about in this game management meeting, once we get all the medical information.
(But you've got Spitz as probable, so you feel pretty good about him?)
Well, based on what Jason has communicated to me and the medical staff, I anticipate him playing. But he's going to definitely need these two days prior to the game to get ready.
