GREEN BAY -- We made our way across Stinky Cow Hwy. through Wisconsin to Lambeau Field.
Probably the biggest surprise is the fact receiver Donald Driver did not practice for the second consecutive day because of a quadriceps injury. Driver has missed only three games in the past four years and four games in the past eight seasons.
Coach Mike McCarthy sounded confident that Driver will play Sunday night against the Vikings.
"You always count on Donald, and we were actually talking before practice," McCarthy said. "He hasn't missed too many practice days in his career. He tells me he's going to be ready, and I trust Donald. We'll see where he is tomorrow. Knowing his history, he'll probably want to get some work tomorrow."
In other updated injury news from today's Packers practice, OT Chad Clifton (knee) and DE Cullen Jenkins (hand) went from limited participation on Wednesday to full participation on Thursday. S Nick Collins (knee) and LB A.J. Hawk (groin) went from not practing to limited participation. OL Marshall Newhouse (back) was added to the injury report.
Also, CB Charles Woodson (toe), who was limited on Wednesday, was excused from practice for personal reasons. McCarthy said he expects Woodson to be back and practicing Friday.
McCarthy said S Atari Bigby and CB Al Harris (knee) practiced again Thursday and looked good. They came off the physically-unable-to-perform list and practiced Wednesday and today. The Packers have three weeks to activate them. McCarthy has not ruled them out of Sunday's game. If they're to play this week, they would have to be activated by Saturday. MCCarthy said the team is going "day to day" on the status of Bigby and Harris.
"Atari had a nice interception in practice today," McCarthy said. "Al, I think, has looked more and more comfortable. He's still jumping routes, particularly in the team periods. It's good to have them out there. But I had a chance to watch them on film. We'll continue to evaluate those guys, day to day, week to week."
McCarthy said Poppinga's recent knee surgery revealed a more serious injury than first expected. "We're gathering more information on the long-term diagnosis for Brady."
I had to pick this game for our website today. I think I was the only one to go with the Packers. I said 24-21. I'm going with the home team and the fact that all indications are Clay Matthews returns this week from a hamstring injury.
The most lopsided stat in last year's two meetings was the 14-0 advantage the Vikings had in sacks. Not that Green Bay's offensive line has been dominant this year, but remember how devastated that line was at this point a year ago? Neither left tackle Chad Clifton nor right tackle Mark Tauscher played in either game against the Vikings.
Indications are Clifton will play this week. And if Tauscher doesn't play, at least the Packers have a good No. 1 pick in Byran Bulaga to replace him. A year ago, Jared Allen had a field day, racking up 7.5 sacks while going against a temporarily converted guard in Daryn College and a lost rookie in T.J. Lang.
