Packer Report: With Jones Healthy, Five-Wide Sets Again an Option

A year ago, the Green Bay Packers used a five-wide-receiver package more than any team in the NFL. Now, in Week Nine of 2008, the Packers' receiving corps should be healthy enough to implement the "Fab-Five" set once again.

Packers WR James Jones has battled a knee injury all season, and only recently has WR Ruvell Martin's broken finger fully healed. With both back in the lineup, Packer Coach Mike McCarthy again has the option to throw all five talented receivers on the field at once to create mismatches in the secondary.

“It’s a great package,” Packers receiver Donald Driver said. “If we ran it, there’s no five (defensive backs) in the National Football League that can stop us.”

McCarthy unveiled the formation last season when the Packers were struggling to run the football and saw effective results in the five to six plays a game they ran it. The Packers are steadily improving in running the ball this season, but McCarthy still wants to use it as a thrifty change-up that defensive coordinators will have to scheme for.

"We practiced it this offseason, so it will be a seamless transition to put it back in," McCarthy said. "Anytime you make opposing coaches have to honor certain things, like this formation for instance, it bodes well for our offense."

Driver said defenses often get confused when they recognize five wide receivers on the field for Green Bay.

“Every time we went with the fab five (last year) people called time out,” Driver said. “Hopefully, we can do the same thing this year.”

Jones appears to have healed in his time off and had no problems in Monday's practice.

“I ran full speed,” Jones said. “Tested it out and exploded, it felt good. Hopefully I’ll wake up with no soreness or anything like that.”

The package would match either rookie Jordy Nelson (16 catches) or Ruvel Martin against a teams' fourth corner or dime linebacker, and either matchup seems to considerably favor the Packers. Jones should remain as the No. 3 receiver.

It seemed Jones had developed a chemistry with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in offseason OTAs and preseason games, so having Jones back will immediately add another dimension to an improving Green Bay offense.

"[Aaron] and I worked a lot this offseason to develop that connection," Jones said. "So I'm excited to get back out there with this offense."

Jolly to Appear in Court

Packers defensive tackle Johnny Jolly was indicted on drug charges back on Oct. 8 and appeared in a Texas courtroom for pretrial procedures on Tuesday.

Jolly was charged with felony possession of codeine on Oct. 8, stemming from his arrest on July 8. He posted $10,000 bail and was released.

Jolly was excused from practice Monday by McCarthy to deal with the issue and has until Dec. 2 to decide whether or not he wants to go to trail. He has yet to enter a plea.

Jolly doesn't figure to miss any time, and McCarthy expects Jolly to be back at Packer practice Wednesday.

Hamstrung: McCarthy Changes Up Stretching Routine

The Packers have been plagued by hamstring injuries thus far this season, so during the bye week, McCarthy has decided to change Green Bay's regular stretching schedule.

“We’ve extended our stretch from six to 10 minutes,” McCarthy said. “We’re going to do a more extensive warmup with the players. It’s continuing education, really, just to make sure that we’re getting our core temperature up, keeping it up, staying stretched. ...I just look at it as a minor adjustment that we need to make.”

The list of Packer hamstring injuries is a long one: safeties Atari Bigby, Aaron Rouse, and Charlie Peprah, running backs Ryan Grant and Kregg Lumpkin, left tackle Chad Clifton, defensive lineman Ryan Pickett and Jason Hunter, linebacker Danny Lansanah, and tight end Tory Humphrey.

Obviously, these aren't just fluke injuries—10 in seven games—and McCarthy hopes the increased stretching will cut down on adding to that list.

"I took a good 15 minutes, went through the whole medical history of where we've been in the past, where we are today," said McCarthy. "We looked at all (injuries), (but) any time you have a statistic that stands out like that (hamstring) one does, it has to be addressed."

Bigby offered a more humorous reason.

"We've had a lot this year, and it seems like even around the league, a lot of guys are going down with hamstrings," Bigby said. "It must be something in the water or something."

Former First-Round Pick Eyes Comeback This Week

Packers defensive tackle Justin Harrell has endured an injury plagued start to his career, but he hopes to get his 2008 campaign started this week against Tennessee. Harrell has been on the physically-unable-to-perform list since the beginning of the season.

“This was my target game after I had the second surgery,” Harrell said. “Just looking at the timetable, this was my goal to be back for this game. I’m still shooting for it, and hopefully, I’ll be able to accomplish it.”

Harrell, if activated, will be called on to help stop the NFL's most dynamic duo of running backs in the Titans' LenDale White and rookie Chris Johnson. However, it would also mean coming back in front of his home state fans in Tennessee.

"Sure, that'd mean something to me," Harrell said. "But I'm not going to consider this any more special of a game, I just want to help this team win. Hopefully my friends and family can watch me perform."

The second-year tackle returned to practice before the Colts game, and NFL rules allow players to practice for three weeks before having to be activated off the PUP list.

Rodgers Still Resting Shoulder

Rodgers shoulder is healing, but that doesn't mean McCarthy is rushing him back into full practice. On Monday, Rodgers only did light throwing to continue to let his ailing shoulder recover.

"I definitely feel better," said Rodgers, who hurt the shoulder October 28th in a loss at Tampa Bay. "I took pretty much the whole week off from strenuous stuff on my shoulder. It feels better, definitely, just lobbing throws today it felt better than it has. I'm not quite headed down the homestretch yet. But it's close."

McCarthy is also holding back on putting Rodgers into the "healed" category.

“If I could get him to throw two days (this week), I think that would be probably best,” McCarthy said. “We just have to be smart, but definitely the time off really helped Aaron.”