According to Mike McCarthy, QB Aaron Rodgers won't practice this week (he might on Friday) due to his concussion and they won't determine his status until Saturday. You've probably seen JSOnline or Packers News point it out already, but all signs point to QB Matt Flynn receiving his first NFL start against the Patriots. That won't help on Sunday, but it's not a fatal blow either. I'll have another post up later today to discuss what strategy might work for the Packers.
Since the Vikings had no home field advantage last week while playing the Giants in Detroit, the best hope for them to upset the Bears is by playing in Minneapolis. It seemed like a no-brainer to play the game at TCF Bank Stadium (home of the Gophers) because it's a brand new stadium that should meet NFL requirements, and the Vikings won't have to refund all those tickets. Instead, it's turning out to be a lot more complicated concerning how to pick 12,000 ticket holders to exclude, and the playing field should be like an ice rink because they don't have any heating coils.
Shutdown Corner posted an interview with LB Clay Matthews. It's good, but I had hoped they would have asked something about his nagging shin injury. He's still listed on the injury report and was limited in practice on Wednesday.
McCarthy had even more bad injury news: LB Frank Zombo is out too. When asked about a replacement, McCarthy said "we'll roll other guys in there." The only depth behind him are four street free agents they signed during the season, with LB Erik Walden at the top of the list because he's gotten some playing time as a pass rusher. But against the Patriots, the Packers might stay in their nickel package with only three linebackers anyway.