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Green
Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers sits on the bench
during the fourth quarter in the Packers' 27-16 loss to the
Dallas Cowboys in an NFL football game at Lambeau Field on
Sept. 21 in Green Bay.
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GREEN BAY- Aaron Rodgers' mind-set is
to play. Always has been, probably always will be.
On Friday, Rodgers positioned himself
to start for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday when they play the
Atlanta Falcons at Lambeau Field.
Nursing a sprained shoulder, Rodgers
went first with the No. 1 offense and took about a dozen snaps in
the walk-through portion of practice. Then he walked indoors to
throw before trainers and strength coaches as rookie Matt Flynn took
the lion's share of snaps in 11-on-11 practice.
The Packers listed Rodgers as
questionable on their injury report. That means Rodgers has a 50-50
chance of playing, which considering the fact he didn't do anything
in team drills all week sounds about right.
"I'm preparing to go either
way," coach Mike McCarthy said. "Frankly, you hand in the
inactives at 10:30 (a.m. Sunday), and I'm sure we'll make our
decision close to then."
McCarthy said the strength in
Rodgers' right shoulder, damaged as he stretched the arm forward on
a third-quarter scramble six days ago against Tampa Bay, was
"definitely improving."
"I think how he feels tomorrow
and see how he does Sunday before the game will be strong
indicators," he said. "It's been positive. He's making
progress."
It's quite possible that Rodgers, who
is battling to make his fifth straight start as the successor to
all-time iron man Brett Favre, will lobby hard to play.
He has a long history of having
managed pain, beginning with his four seasons (2000-'03) playing
with a torn anterior cruciate knee ligament. He also has said he
missed just one day of practice in '03 with a fractured index finger
on his passing hand.
"The strength is pretty much
back," Rodgers said. "The pain is potentially tolerable.
We'll see how it tests on Sunday. I'm not going to guess."
Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which
supplies odds to more than 90 percent of sports books in Nevada,
finally made the decision Friday night to list the game. John
Harper, an oddsmaker for the firm, said Green Bay was made a 4½-point
favorite.
Harper said he considered Rodgers as
doubtful because of all the missed practice time.
Jason Been, one of the firm's top two
oddsmakers for National Football League games, said in this
situation a healthy Rodgers would be worth four more points than
Flynn.
"Tom Brady is a 10-point
difference. Maybe," Been said. "Pretend Brett Favre was in
that case, I could see seven or eight points in a spot like this.
Rodgers is in the four to five-point range right now over Flynn.
That's pretty much an entry with (Brian) Brohm, too.
"It's one of those weird games.
In the NFL, almost always, no later than Wednesday, there's a number
on the game. With Rodgers, the Packers played it close to the vest
so we really couldn't act on it because there's that much of a
difference.
"We couldn't give our clients a
number and make them liable. They could get hit on just one-sided
action on that game. We're paid by them to give even lines so they
get two-way action."
Wearing a knee brace during his final
two seasons in high school, Rodgers said he learned how to handle
pain and perform with restricted movement. Rodgers indicated that
the Packers' medical staff probably wouldn't give him the go-ahead
if he was limited physically.
On Wednesday, Rodgers broached the
idea of taking a pain-killing injection, something he said
quarterback Trent Dilfer did to play through 10 shoulder
dislocations during a 14-year career.
"It's definitely a different
situation not practicing all week," Rodgers said. "I feel
confident in the game plan, my film study and my preparation. I feel
like I can execute the scheme. It's all about how I feel on
Sunday."
Under coach Mike Smith and his
defensive coordinator, Brian VanGorder, the Falcons play some Cover
2, which the Packers saw extensively in Week 2 against Detroit and
then against Tampa Bay. They also play with cornerbacks in
bump-and-run coverage in the "quarters" coverage scheme
often used by Green Bay.
The Falcons clearly aren't as
difficult to prepare for as the Buccaneers were.
"There's real differences there
in the complexities they're going to show you before the snap,"
guard Daryn Colledge said. "It's just probably a little easier
mentally. But they make up for it in their ability to play
football."
Atlanta has been relying on a
four-man rush for its seven sacks, including six by defensive end
John Abraham.
"I don't think they're a real
blitz-heavy team but you never know," Flynn said. "They
could blitz a lot more this week than they have."
Flynn took seven fourth-quarter snaps
in Tampa, threw two poor passes and failed to generate a first down.
"I wasn't tentative," he
said. "It was just the first time in there. That was a tough
situation to be in."
If he does start for the first time,
Flynn said, "I'm going to have to be sharp and play the best
game I've ever played.
"If Aaron goes, that's great for
this team. But if he doesn't and I get an opportunity to go, I'm
going to do my best to not let there be a dropoff."
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