GREEN BAY – Eddie Lacy and Davante Adams both tested their ankles at practice on Friday and came away feeling reasonably optimistic about their chances of playing on Monday night.
Lacy said he got through more of practice than expected, while Adams said he was able to "pretty much" run full speed. Both characterized their situations as "day to day" but feeling good about their progress so far.
"We're not ruling anything out," Lacy said. "If I wake up tomorrow and I don't feel like I went backwards, then rehab is definitely going to make it feel better for game time."
Lacy left last Sunday's game after carrying the ball three times on the first series. He came back from an ankle injury mid-game during his rookie 2013 season, but with this one, he couldn't put any pressure on it and had to shut it down.
The good news is the injury two years ago required him to wear a walking boot for much of the week leading up to the next game, but that hasn't been the case this time.
No matter how Lacy feels come Monday, James Starks proved to be more than a capable workhorse in his place. He carried 20 times for 95 yards against the Seahawks, overcoming an early fumble after a short pass reception to handle his heaviest one-game workload since Week 2 of 2013.
"Starks is a good athlete, and he got in there and started off a little shaky, but he didn't let it bother him," Lacy said. "He just continued to play, and he ended up with a great game."
Starks' biggest play was a 35-yard run in the third quarter that swung the momentum back to Green Bay after back-to-back Seattle touchdowns. The Packers drove for a field goal on that possession to get within one point.
The sixth-year back takes it upon himself to be ready at all times, but he didn't consider his performance particularly praiseworthy.
"I'm always hard on myself," Starks said. "It's never as good as it looked. I could have done things better. If I stay tough on myself, I always think I'm going to get better."
Unlike Lacy, Adams was able to return to Sunday night's game after getting carted to the locker room. He credited his adrenaline, and the fact he couldn't stand watching the game on TV in the training room.
A second-year pro, Adams probably showed his teammates something by gutting it out and getting back in the game in the second half. He was visibly uncomfortable when he made a 6-yard catch over the middle in the third quarter, but he stayed in the game and was part of the four-receiver set on the go-ahead TD drive in the fourth quarter.
"It's nothing they probably didn't already know about me," said Adams, who practiced and played through a heel injury last year as well. "I feel like they kind of expect it, because I'm a tough guy, just fighting through injuries.
"I wouldn't even say it's an injury. It's just something that hurts right now."
During Adams' brief absence and in the four-wideout set, the Packers began developing another weapon in rookie Ty Montgomery. The third-round draft pick from Stanford, who only had a snap or two from scrimmage in the opener in Chicago, caught four passes for 37 yards, all on the two fourth-quarter scoring drives.
"I'm mostly happy I was able to build some trust with my teammates," Montgomery said. "That's the biggest thing to me, is having them be able to count on me.
"It starts in practice, but then you have to finish it in the games. You have to make it happen when it counts."
Montgomery's most impressive catch was his first, when he bounced off a couple of Seattle tacklers, stayed on his feet and gained 17 yards in all. He said he takes pride in getting yards after contact, because he considers running routes and catching the ball only a portion of a receiver's job.
"It's just making a habit of getting north and south, keeping your feet running," he said. "I also played a lot of running back in high school and then some my later years in college, so maybe that's where it comes from."
