If Greg Jennings is unable to play on Sunday, Ruvell Martin will be elevated to No. 2 receiver, but the extra workload is nothing the first-year player is going to get worked up about.
After all, he actually got his first NFL start last week, when the Packers opened in a three-receiver set. And he played the second half last week as the No. 2 receiver, when Jennings left at halftime with an ankle injury.
"I got experience the second half of the Miami game, so it's definitely something I got to do then," said Martin, who had his first two NFL receptions against the Dolphins. "I think once you start getting in the flow of the game and things start going the same way they've been going in practice up to that point, you start to get used to it."
McCarthy said he was hopeful Jennings would be able to practice Friday, but he did not after running on the ankle Thursday and experiencing soreness. McCarthy said they will have Jennings go through a pre-game workout on Sunday, and his availability will be a game-time decision.
Meanwhile Martin will take the same level-headed approach that landed him on the roster as a longshot and has moved him up as injuries and other circumstances have warranted. He's not going to let himself get too excited, but at the same time he's going to communicate with and listen to the veteran players on the offense to pick up as much as he can.
"It's one of those things where you learn maybe on the run," he said. "As things happen, you go over it on the sidelines, figure out what's going on, and you make the appropriate adjustments. But for the most part, it's playing football. We're expected to make common sense plays, like knowing where to go as far as scrambles and stuff like that.
"The comfort level is there, and definitely last week helped going through it."
Added value
Ahman Green's 70-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run last Sunday provided the Packers far more than just six points at a critical moment in a game.
It has given the entire offense the ideal picture of what a perfectly blocked zone-scheme play looks like. Offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski said earlier this week it was the most perfectly blocked play he has ever seen, and anytime he's going to teach the zone scheme with film, that's the first play he'll show.
"As far as the confidence we are able to pull from that game as a football team, the confidence we are able to pull for our run-blocking unit from that play, there are a number of things from that game that we'll be able to draw from," McCarthy said.
Injury update
Defensive tackle Corey Williams (questionable, knee) and Green (probable, knee) both returned to practice Thursday and Friday and are expected to play.
Tight end Tory Humphrey was added to the injury report Friday after tweaking his ankle on Thursday. He did practice on Friday but is listed as questionable.
Local pilot
At the end of the national anthem on Sunday, two U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets will fly by Lambeau Field. The lead pilot, Cmdr. Stuart Baker, is a Green Bay native. The aircraft originate from Naval Air Station Lemoore in California.
