~Five things you need to know about the Packers:

1. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is on the brink of elite status: Rodgers is the only quarterback in NFL history to open his career with consecutive 4,000-yard seasons. He’s proved to be an exceptionally accurate passer, a near-perfect decision-maker and also surprises defenses with his downfield mobility.

The most humbling thing we can say about Rodgers is that he sometimes holds the ball too long waiting for plays to develop, leading to sacks rather than incompletions into the first row of the stands. The final step in Rodgers’ ascendance is to lead his team deep into the playoffs and eventually to the Super Bowl. 

Rest of story here

~KANSAS CITY – Coach Mike McCarthy clearly signaled the priority of the Green Bay Packers’ preseason finale Thursday night when he chose not to even dress quarterback Aaron Rodgers, running back Ryan Grant and cornerback Charles Woodson.

Number two quarterback Matt Flynn racked up 300+ yards Thursday night, but the Packers backups lost to the Chiefs. The key, however, is no starting players suffered injuries. More evidence yet of the worthlessness of pre-season football.

All three were healthy to play, but McCarthy was taking no chances with his quarterback and two key starters, and he didn’t take much more risk with the rest of his starters on both sides of the ball, because he pulled them after only one series. Mission accomplished.

~Kevin Kolb has to be licking his chops.

As the new starting quarterback in Philadelphia, Kolb could face a Green Bay secondary as green as the Eagles’ jerseys when the teams meet Sept. 12.

Barring any dramatic changes, the Packers will open with rookie Morgan Burnett at strong safety and undrafted rookie Sam Shields as their third cornerback.

On top of that, cornerback Tramon Williams has struggled while replacing Al Harris in the starting lineup.

About the only sure things the Packers have in the secondary right now are Pro Bowlers Charles Woodson and Nick Collins.

“Well, defensively we haven’t played the game with everybody on the field yet,” Packer coach Mike McCarthy said. “And that’s something that we’re probably going to have to establish in our practice structure leading up to the Philadelphia game.

“The injuries have kind of kept us from getting the continuity that you would like. It’s a challenge that you face at some point almost every season, so I think that’s where we stand defensively right now.”

Green Bay’s secondary was a major reason its 2009 season ended so abruptly.  

WR's Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and TE Brent Celek expect to have a big opening game versus the same Packers defense that sent Favre, Roethlisberger, and Warner straight to Canton last season.

  Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner threw for 379 yards and five touchdowns in a 51-45 overtime win during a NFC wild-card game.

The Packers’ secondary was also exposed during a pair of losses to Minnesota and another to Pittsburgh last year.

In those four games, the trio of Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger and Warner combined for 15 touchdown passes, zero interceptions, 1,397 passing yards and an average passer rating of 140.3.

Now, eight months later, the only likely changes in Green Bay’s secondary will be Burnett replacing Atari Bigby and Shields taking over as the nickel cornerback.

“I wouldn’t call it scary,” defensive end Ryan Pickett said. “We’ll just have to go play good football.”

The Packers haven’t done a great deal of that in the preseason. And while many were giddy over Green Bay’s 59-24 rout of Indianapolis last week, the secondary struggled early and put the Packers in a 17-7 hole.

On the Colts’ opening drive, quarterback Peyton Manning marched his team 67 yards in just two plays. After a 49-yard run by Joseph Addai where Burnett missed in the hole, Manning rushed the Colts to the line of scrimmage.

Collins was still hollering instructions to Burnett when Manning snapped the ball. Left cornerback Brandon Underwood barely moved, Pierre Garçon ran right past him and Collins was late to arrive on what was the easiest 18-yard touchdown you’ll ever see.

“We had miscommunication out there,” Packer defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. “The guy ran right by us and that’s one of those things where when you’re playing against a no-huddle offense, it’s going to be fast paced after a big play. Everybody’s got to communicate. We had two or three guys that weren’t on the same page there.”

The Packers weren’t on the same page early on.

Just 21 seconds into the second quarter, Manning hit Reggie Wayne for a 10-yard touchdown on a slant route against Williams. At that time, the Colts already had 206 total yards, including 144 through the air.

That followed a disturbing trend in which Cleveland’s Jake Delhomme (106.0 passer rating) and Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck (120.7) had success against Green Bay’s No. 1 defense – especially in the passing game.

To Green Bay’s credit, it did improve substantially as the Colts’ game went on.

In fact, Burnett intercepted a Manning pass late in the first half, and Shields picked off reserve quarterback Curtis Painter late in the game. Collins also got his hands on a pair of Manning passes, and Burnett broke up another pass.

“I think it was a pretty good night,” Burnett said afterward. “Anytime you come away with a win, that’s a good night. Personally for me, there are still things I need to work on.

“I’ve still come a long way, but the main thing is to go out and show improvement each week.”

The Packers don’t have much time. And the Eagles – which feature speedster DeSean Jackson and steady Jeremy Maclin at receiver, along with standout Brent Celek at tight end – could take full advantage.

Undoubtedly, Williams has to pick up his game. In the first half alone against Indianapolis, he allowed four receptions for 98 yards.

The third corner, though, is probably an even greater concern. Both Pat Lee and Underwood flopped this summer, opening the door for Shields – a fantastically raw but extremely fast player with 4.28 second speed in the 40-yard dash.   Rest of story here

~ I have spent the past  few days visiting family and friends here in the Kansas City area and reporters are into the annual pre season ritual of cutting their teams to the 53 man regular season roster limit.  The local media is having no trouble cutting the Chiefs but cutting the Packers is a different story.

At the risk of incurring all kinds of questioning, here is what I think will happen with the Packers this weekend when Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy cut to the 53 man regular season roster limit. 

First off, the areas of depth on this team make this a most unusual situation.  I do not have any privy info on trade possibilities, or possible waiver pickups so excluding those avenues (Ted will of course exhaust both of those avenues this weekend), I will cut the cards or roster this way:

Cuts, roster, story here

Will Justin Harrell beat the odds and actually make the opening-day 53-man roster?

Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy, left, and head coach Mike McCarthy chat during the final 2010 Training Camp practice at Ray Nitschke Field in Ashwaubenon, Wis., Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010.

~ No one wants to talk much about it, but there it is looming — ever-present and worrisome.

The Green Bay Packers’ locker room will have 22 fewer bodies by 5 p.m. Saturday as team rosters are trimmed from 75 to 53.

NFL aspirations will evaporate.

“It’s in my head,” running back Kregg Lumpkin said. “It’s the last week and coaches are making their final decisions. All I can do is just go out there and do what I can do and have faith that Green Bay keeps me or another team picks me up.”

Rest of story here

~Tramon Williams isn’t just the good-natured, eager-to-please, free-agent nickel back from Louisiana Tech any longer.

"This last game, we talked about it, was his worst grade-out game since I've been here," said Whitt, who joined the staff in 2008. "That's not Tramon-like, and we won't see that again."

  Now that Al Harris officially has been ruled out of the Green Bay Packers’ first six regular-season games, Williams officially is the starting right cornerback for a team confident that a Super Bowl berth awaits in February.

Never before has the modest Williams entered a season like this. He has made 12 starts in the base defense in the past three seasons, but none came earlier than Week 4.

“This is his first year going into it as a starter,” fellow cornerback Charles Woodson said. “He’s a good player. He’s going to be tested. (Expletive), gotta perform.”

The Packers will be starting one rookie, Morgan Burnett, at strong safety. Another rookie, free agent Sam Shields, is in position to be the nickel back.

With youth all around, the last thing the Packers can afford is for Williams’ level of play to be a problem. There are no guarantees Harris will be activated from the physically unable to perform list, and the organization can’t be sure how he will perform if he does reach the field.

The Packers need Williams to play like an established veteran starting Sept. 12 in Philadelphia.

“I know it,” he said. “I’m going to be that, too.”

If you were to poll 20 pro personnel people, at least half probably would say Williams is just a nickel back.    Rest of story from McGinn here

~For a team whose quarterback is 17-15 as a starter, whose second-half schedule this season includes games against Dallas, Minnesota, Atlanta and New England, the Green Bay Packers have their share of informed outsiders drinking from the green and gold canteen.

On Wednesday during a conference call with reporters, ESPN “Monday Night Football” game analyst Ron Jaworski joined the swelling ranks of football authorities who think the Packers are the team to beat in the NFC North – not the Vikings, the team that won the division last year and beat Green Bay twice.

“There is a real positive vibe coming out of Green Bay,” said Jaworski, who called Green Bay’s 59-24 preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts for a national television audience. “Sometimes that chemistry in the locker room, belief in each other, can take you a long way. Then you pile on that the talent they’ve assembled, particularly on the offensive side – my goodness, being out at practice watching Jermichael Finley. Hell, I wish I could still throw the football to a guy like that. He is going to be an amazing matchup problem for any defense.”

Jaworski singled out two defensive players based on their performance against the Colts – second-year nose tackle B.J. Raji and rookie safety Morgan Burnett.

“Once they get healthy and get (Clay) Matthews back, they’ll be a rock-solid defensive team,” Jaworski said. “In my opinion right now, they are better than the Minnesota Vikings.”

Jon Gruden, Jaworski’s fellow analyst on Monday night telecasts, did not declare the Packers his choice to win the division, but he did declare they are a formidable team.

John Gruden: "You cannot give up 51 points and feel good about your defense."

“I’m a big believer in the Green Bay Packers,” Gruden said. “I don’t know that they are going to win the division. I think it will come down to the last two or three weeks in the season. It’s going to be very tight.

“I really like the skill the Green Bay Packers have,” Gruden said. “I think the offensive line has got to prove it from Week 1 to Week 16. They look good now. They can’t afford to have any injuries. But they sure had an outstanding preseason.”   Rest of story here

~The Green Bay Packers traded one former tight end turned tackle at the final cut last year and probably will have chances to deal another Saturday.

A source said several teams are interested in tackle Breno Giacomini, one of four veteran offensive linemen the Packers might be considering releasing on the roster reduction.

All teams must reach the 53-man limit by 3 p.m. Saturday. The Packers have 75 players on the roster. 

The Packers probably couldn't expect anything more than a seventh-round draft pick or backup player in return for Giacomini.

 Giacomini, a fifth-round draft choice in 2008, played tight end early in his career at Louisville just as Tony Moll, a fifth-round pick in 2006, did at Nevada. The Packers shipped Moll to Baltimore Sept. 5 for safety Derrick Martin.

“We don’t even joke around about that stuff,” center Jason Spitz said. “Obviously, we all want to be here. We’re all working toward that. But it won’t work out that way.”

Giacomini has prototypical size and temperament for right tackle, won’t turn 25 until Sept. 27 and has two minimum-salary years remaining on his contract. Those factors make him attractive to some of the teams looking for a tackle.

The Packers probably couldn’t expect anything more than a seventh-round draft pick or backup player in return for Giacomini. But at least the Packers would get something for him if they decide rookie Marshall Newhouse would be a better bet as the last tackle.  Rest of story here

~Green Bay Packers rookie tight end Andrew Quarless does not suffer from a lack of confidence.

Asked if he thought he could be as good as teammate Jermichael Finley, Quarless didn’t hesitate: “I think so. Finley’s a great player. Me and him talk about it all the time, just being the best together and taking this league by storm.”

"His body language is getting better," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "I think he almost looked like a young deer kind of learning to step with his feet and pumping with his legs. Probably part of it is being comfortable with the play call in the huddle and being more comfortable with the adjustment vs. the different coverage.

Stack the two next to one another and there are a lot of similarities.

Finley is 6-5, 247 pounds. He runs the 40-yard dash in about 4.6 seconds and has a vertical leap of about 27 inches. Quarless is 6-4, 252 pounds. He runs the 40-yard dash in about 4.6 seconds and has a vertical jump of 32 inches.

These two guys are carbon copies of one another, physically. The difference between them is experience and hands.

Finley is in Year 3 of Operation Be a Pro under tight ends coach Ben McAdoo, whose no-nonsense approach and demand for excellence has helped mold him into a team player and budding superstar. Quarless is a freshman finally getting his bearings after wandering aimlessly the first four weeks of training camp.

“We throw a lot at these guys,” McAdoo said. “He does a lot more running, he’s a lot more involved in special teams than he has in the past, so he’s trying to figure that out. He’s developing, and in development there are peaks and valleys.

“In the last week or so, I think he’s been flashing some of that natural ability. But we’re looking for consistency, and that’s the challenge.”

Rest of story here

~The big fella in the middle often went unappreciated and unnoticed by Packer Nation, in the trenches at nose tackle. He also went unappreciated by the national media, as often is the case with the Green Bay Packers.

He doesn’t throw temper tantrums or stomp on opponents faces like Albert Haynesworth does.

He doesn’t try to sneak guns onto a flight like Shaun Rogers.

He hasn’t gotten tested positive with banned substances as Pat and Kevin Williams of the Vikings.

All the 340-pound Ryan Pickett  does is plug the run, and be a great teammate. He is a fan favorite as he should be. He just doesn’t yell and shout and look for camera’s and pound his chest and say it’s about me, I’m the man. He just does his job, and does it quietly well.

Now Pickett has been moved to end to allow last year’s top pick, B.J. Raji, to move to NT in order to try and boost the Packers anemic pass rush along the interior. This despite the fact that Pickett was as good of a run-stuffing NT as there was in the NFL last year and the fact that Ryan is a perfect prototypical nose tackle.

He’d played at DT or NT since 1998. “I liked the nose,” said Pickett. “I got comfortable there. Who am I to question the coaches, you know?” said Pickett. “It was best for the team for me to play end. Obviously, B.J. is a good nose and I can play the end. To help, the team I will play end.”

“It took me awhile to accept it. I was disappointed for a little while,” said Pickett. “But after that, I started playing it and started liking it.” The drastic differences for Pickett are spacing and assignments, and both changes have forced the 31-year-old to study the game from his entirely new viewpoint.

"My thing is, I think I have an advantage over most tackles because they're normally taller guys, not as strong, more athletic. Used to blocking smaller D-ends. And I think I'm the biggest D-end in the NFL right now."

 ”It’s a lot different. There’s a lot of space out there,” said Pickett. “The nose actually is immediate. You don’t have time to really think. On end you have time, you can mess up and recover. On nose you really can’t.

“At nose, you always have one thing to do. That’s it. The A gap. At end, you never know, it depends on what the call is, what gap you have, how to play the technique. So it’s a lot of that you have to get used.”