Perry joins Matthews among Packers LBs missing practice

But players now don’t have the luxury of a condensed playbook. For the receivers especially, any little edge helps when you’re competing to catch passes from the NFL MVP.

“Those are the kind of things you learn from”, McCarthy said.

Matthews isn’t expected to participate in the Family Night practice Saturday evening, but may play when the Packers take on New England in their first preseason game on Thursday.

Tolzien, after sitting third on the Packers depth chart last season, was signed to a one-year deal in the off-season, and when the Packers let Matt Flynn walk in free agency he became the primary backup. The players took the field position by position Saturday with the video board introducing each unit.

Palmer said a simple game plan changes everything: “They lay out ‘this, this, this, this and this.’ They say ‘these are the things we’re going to run”.

■LaDarius Gunter joined fellow rookies Randall and Jake Ryan on the first-team kickoff coverage, which indicates he may have impressed the coaching staff. Gunter, who went undrafted out of Miami, has two interceptions of Rodgers in 11-on-11 drills.

“So maybe that’s why it’s so quiet at the dorms the last couple nights”, Rodgers said.

Once on the field, they’re being tested by Rodgers.

He should have ended his night with a two-minute drill triumph, but a perfectly thrown pass on a go route for a 22-yard TD was dropped by rookie receiver Larry Pinkard. Veteran Jordy Nelson can haul in those passes with relative ease.

Blanchard, who played in college at Wisconsin-Whitewater, already had a Packers connection in backup quarterback Scott Tolzien, who played youth baseball with Blanchard’s older brother, Derek, who played in college at Mount Union.

Rodgers is rising, and his rise amounted to him being named the Packers starting tight end today, which constitutes as “News Of The Day” material out of Packers training camp. Perhaps in the future, but he’ll have to continue to make progress as a blocker and show that he deserves to see the field enough to merit those further opportunities in the passing game. In the first week of camp, Rodgers threw five interceptions – the same number he threw all of last season.

“I would think at least three or four of [the interceptions] were competitive balls”, McCarthy said. Part of that is knowing when to use your cadence to hopefully get that situation and be able to execute it. I hope he’s taking everything he can from Aaron.

When speaking with Cohen, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said something similar. Outside linebacker Mike Neal (abdomen) is getting close to returning. He also caught five passes for 48 yards and a touchdown during Green Bay’s playoff run. McCarthy doesn’t appear too anxious about the injuries….