GREEN BAY— Greg Jennings thinks Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall is a genius.

Marshall had made headlines one day earlier when he went off on the rival Green Bay Packers during his weekly media availability. But it was something Marshall said later that Jennings found brilliant: Marshall's attempt to bait the Packers into matching their cornerbacks up with him man-to-man.

Marshall said Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers "did an amazing job of game-planning me" in the teams' Sept. 13 meeting, in which Marshall caught only two passes for 24 yards in a 23-10 Packers victory. Then, Marshall dared the Packers to try to cover him one-on-one in Sunday's rematch at Soldier Field.

"I didn't beat double or triple coverage or whatever they were throwing at us," Marshall said. "I take it as a slap in my face when guys talk about my lack of ability to do something against them when they have help all over the place. I'm looking forward to one-on-one coverage. Hopefully, those guys in games like this may go to their coach and say, 'Let me have him. I want Brandon Marshall. I want to stop Brandon Marshall. Let me have him one-on-one, press coverage.' And we'll see what happens."

On Thursday, Jennings had answered questions for about three minutes before bringing up -- unprompted - what Marshall had said.

"I think he's smart for saying whatever he said. So I'm going to be smart, too," Jennings said, a wide smile stretching across his face. "Man, I wish the Bears would play us one-on-one and man-to-man.

"I think he's smart. That reverse psychology, I think it's pretty impressive. So yeah, man, the Bears are always playing cover 2. I think they're scared not to play cover 2."

Then Jennings laughed.

"Hey," he said, "I'll give it a shot."

The cover 2 defense has been like kryptonite to the Packers' previously unstoppable offense this season. Using two deep safeties to take away big plays, the scheme has prevented Green Bay from replicating last year's success, when the Packers scored 560 points (second-most in NFL history) and quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the NFL MVP by throwing for 45 touchdowns with only six interceptions.

Later, Jennings called Marshall's statements a "tactic."

"'Play me one-on-one.' What receiver doesn't want you to play man-to-man coverage the entire game?" he said.

Here's the bad news for Marshall: There's no way Capers is going to do that on every down Sunday. Even with cornerback Tramon Williams' ability to cover, he's assured of having help over the top from a safety much of the time, as he frequently did against Detroit's Calvin Johnson in the team's two games against the Lions this year.

For while Capers' scheme is certainly complex, one of the main tenets of the veteran coordinator's approach is simple: Stop the opponent's best players.

Whether it's Johnson, or Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, or, yes, Marshall, Capers formulates his defensive game plan each week by asking himself which offensive players could hurt his defense the most. While the results have varied over the last few years, the approach has remained the same.

"When we look at an offense, we look at who their top two or three producers are," Capers said recently. "And (we ask), what do you have to try to do to limit their production? (We're) going to say, 'Well, this is where we have to start.'

"What do you have to take away to win the game?"

For the Bears, it's obviously Marshall.

Marshall has caught 101 passes for 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns, while Chicago's next three wide receivers have a combined 65 receptions for 748 yards and five TDs.

Marshall has had seven 100-yard games this season and has caught at least 10 passes in his last three games. The only other team to shut him down was San Francisco, which held Marshall to two receptions for 21 yards Nov. 19, when quarterback Jay Cutler missed the game with a concussion and backup Jason Campbell started in his place.

According to safety Morgan Burnett, Capers' weekly Wednesday presentation to the defense begins with a portion of the slide show listing the opposing team's top players. Even though it's self-evident, the emphasis helps remind the Packers of how important it will be to contain those targets. This Wednesday, the discussion predictably began with Marshall, Burnett said.

"You know what they like to do. You watch the film; you know who the go-to guy is," Burnett said Thursday. "At the same time, that doesn't mean you just ignore everyone else.

"Of course, Brandon Marshall is the go-to guy. But you still have (other) playmakers in Devin Hester. You have the rookie, Alshon Jeffery, who's a big receiver, and then you have (running back) Matt Forte, who's a threat in the running game and the passing game."

Briggs joins Marshall in unloading on Packers

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The NFL's oldest rivals are spicing up their Sunday showdown with some serious trash talk.

Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs unloaded on the Packers on Thursday, saying he's no fan of Green Bay and calling Jermichael Finley "an idiot." Wide receiver Brandon Marshall went off Wednesday, saying he's never disliked a team as much as the Packers.

"Very similar," Briggs said Thursday when asked if he felt the same way. "Think he said it best, though. Doesn't like them, and he's going to play this game like it's his last. I feel the same way."

Briggs really took issue with Finley for telling FOXSportsWisconsin.com the Bears might be better off with linebacker Brian Urlacher sidelined by a hamstring injury. The Packers' tight end was quoted as saying Chicago is not "losing too much if he's out."

Asked about that, Briggs responded, "He's an idiot. You know?"

"Just suit up, play ball," he said. "His comments aren't going to change the outcome of the game, they're not going to help him or anybody play better. Doesn't really matter."

Finley posted Thursday on Twitter that he "meant no disrespect" to Urlacher, who has already missed one game and could be out the remainder of the season. He called the Bears' veteran a Hall of Fame player and person, and wrote "his replacement in the lineup (Nick Roach) is a good player as well."

Either way, the comments have added a twist to a game that really didn't need it.

After all, the Packers (9-5) can clinch the NFC North with a win on Sunday. The Bears (8-5) are trying to hang on after dropping four of five in another late-season collapse. Chicago fell apart a year ago once Jay Cutler broke his right thumb and finished 8-8 after a 7-3 start. That cost general manager Jerry Angelo his job, with Phil Emery replacing him.

This year, with expectations soaring after they acquired Marshall, Chicago won seven of its first eight games. But the schedule took a tougher turn. Injuries started to pile up, too.

Besides Urlacher, cornerback Tim Jennings sat out last weekend's game against Minnesota with a shoulder injury. Cutler, who missed a game last month because of a concussion, couldn't finish against the Vikings because of a sore neck and also had a knee issue listed on the injury report. He was a limited participant Thursday, although coach Lovie Smith said he practiced "without any trouble at all."

Cutler expects to play this weekend, but the Bears will be without kicker Robbie Gould (calf) after placing him on injured reserve.

Those injuries are only a small part of the list, but they won't get much sympathy from the Packers. They've endured more than their share, yet they're sailing along with seven wins in eight games.

Green Bay has also won seven of eight against Chicago and five straight in the series, including the NFC title game two years ago. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 8-2 against the Bears, and Briggs is simply tired of losing to them.

"We've been in the games, we just didn't finish," Briggs said. "We've had opportunities, we've squandered opportunities. Turnovers, not getting enough turnovers. There's a lot of reason why, over the years, we haven't won the game. This is a new game. It's a new opportunity and we have a lot on the line."

While Marshall is new to the rivalry, Briggs has been with Chicago since he was drafted in 2003.

"You just get sick of it," he said. "And that to go along with history and hearing the city, hearing the people from the city, how important this game is, how important it is to everybody. We'll go out and we're going to play this game like it's our last."

Notes: WR Earl Bennett (concussion), RB Michael Bush (ribs) DE Shea McClellin (knee) and DT Henry Melton (chest) did not practice, along with Jennings and Urlacher. Smith said Melton was excused for personal reasons. Briggs (knee, hip), TE Kellen Davis (knee), LB Geno Hayes (knee), OT Jonathan Scott (shoulder) and DT Matt Toeaina (knee) were limited. G Chris Spencer (knee) was a full participant after sitting out the past two games, as were Stephen Paea (foot) and Charles Tillman (shoulder).