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Mike McCarthy Press Conference Transcript - Dec. 28

(With Woodson doubtful, is that toe-related, or did something else come up?)

He just had a lot of treatment yesterday, and it gave him an opportunity to treat his toe and the other little things that he has. He's doubtful for the game.

(Who would start in his place?)

We'll find out at noon. They'll all play. We're not changing anything that we haven't done to this point. I would like to see all the young corners play. Bush will be back, Blackmon, Tramon and Frank. You'll see all those guys.

(Will it be nice to see some of the younger guys go out and play in a regular-season game?)

There's no mistake, we're playing to win this football game, and I think it's important regardless of the 45 players you put out there from your 53, we're going to do everything it takes to win this game. With that, our younger players that are players who haven't played a whole lot to this point will play more than normal. It is an excellent opportunity for our players, but it's an opportunity for us to improve our depth as we prepare for the playoffs.

(Could Woodson go if it was a playoff game?)

Yes.

(With Rodgers doubtful, what's your confidence level in Nall?)

Craig does an excellent job of managing the huddle and managing the practice. I would say managing the game but I have not gone through a football game with him in live action. I anticipate that he'll be very good with managing the situations and personnel groups and everything. He's very bright, he's picked up the new language very quickly. I thought he's done a very nice job this week in practice. You can see his comfort level more with the timing of the perimeter group as he worked through really the last couple weeks. This is an excellent opportunity for him to play, and I think he'll take full advantage of it, just like he did against Chicago I guess it was in '04.

(With so many guys you want to look at, is it a challenge to figure out how to put together the 45?)

It's a challenge because you want to play a number of people, and with that, there's certain players that might not want to play a whole lot. And with that, special teams is something that, there's stress points in some of your special teams units that you haven't done since really preseason. That's all part of the challenge, and we've practiced all those situations this week. But once again, it's an excellent opportunity for our players to play and win, and that's our focus.

(Did Jennings do anything other than the defensive scout team in the jog-through?)

He practiced, he participated in every drill today. He did not take his full reps, that's why he didn't, with full participation, fall in that category, but he went through the whole practice today.

(Are you going to test him out Sunday to see how he is?)

Today was his test, so he passed his test, as far as what the trainers saw on the field and in the jog-through. Really tomorrow morning will be the big indicator for Greg, how he responds to today's practice.

(But that doesn't mean he'll necessarily play, that he passed his test?)

The medical staff felt that he was beyond the test requirement. They watched him go through the jog-through and decided to let him participate in practice, and really how he responds from this practice, which we'll know tomorrow, will tell us where he is with his injury.

(Do you want to get a longer look at Brandon Jackson on Sunday?)

Yes. I think this will be an excellent opportunity for Brandon Jackson. I would like to get him a number of carries, and let him have the opportunity to have success. It's something that he did not have a whole lot of in the beginning of the year, and I really didn't think it was just him. He has improved since then, which you'd expect from a young player, but the run-blocking unit has come a long ways since the beginning of the season.

(Where do you stand on Pickett?)

I'll see how he feels in the morning. He was a little sore coming off of yesterday's practice. Wanted to practice today, so we'll see where he is in the morning.

(Have you made a determination on how far you'll go with some of these guys Sunday?)

We'll watch how the game goes. I have an idea.

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