Packers eighty-six Myles White for James Jones

The Packers inked wide receiver James Jones to a deal immediately after he landed in Wisconsin on Sunday, but waited an extra day to announce the move officially. 

To do that, first they had to make some room. Myles White was that room.

White came to the Packers as an undrafted free agent two seasons ago, catching nine passes for 66 yards in seven appearances. Jones brings valuable experience back to the team where he got it. He gained 4,350 yards over six years with quarterback Aaron Rodgers before spending a year with the Raiders and a summer with the Giants.

"He's a good football player," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said of Jones, via the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "Don't lose sight of that. Look at his tape in preseason and last year, he looks like James Jones. He's been a big part of our success in the past."

McCarthy added that Jones will likely be involved in the team's season opener at Chicago.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him in practice Wednesday," he said. "James is a very hard worker. I'm sure he'll be doing the same thing all week to be ready."

Jones' experience should aid the Packers' receiving corps, likely starting straight away as the No. 3 option behind Randall Cobb and Davante Adams. Rookie Ty Montgomery has also made strides and Jeff Janis is a potential, if inconsistent, talent.

"Great to have James back," McCarthy said. "Obviously everybody is excited. He has a certain energy about him. He's obviously a good fit for us, excellent player for us. I'm glad he's back."

John Fox likes the Packers, too

Speaking at an annual Packers fan luncheon last Wednesday, head coach Mike McCarthy played his highly-paid role as chief cheerleader for one of the cornerstone programs in the NFL.

"We will proudly stand as the 95th team in the history of the Green Bay Packers when we kick Chicago's ass!" he yelped.

The fans yelped in response as is their right and everyone went home happy. And, it being Wisconsin, heavily sedated by beer and cheese. As, also, is their right.

Meanwhile, down the shores of Lake Michigan at Halas Hall, Bears head coach John Fox sat in his office and wondered how he was going to stop Aaron Rodgers on Sunday at Soldier Field.

It's a prescription the Bears couldn't locate last season following two embarassing defeats to their ancient rivals, and so succumbed to the terminal NFL disease: losing.

The Packers discarded Chicago 55-14 in a Sunday night bloodbath at Lambeau Field following a more respectful decision in Illinois earlier that year. Fox recently viewed those game films. He liked what he saw, from the Packers, that is.

"I looked at the tape. They should be confident," he said on Monday.

Green Bay has had the Bears' number at Soldier Field, not falling there since 2010, and the Packers have taken 10 of their last 11 appearances overall, including the 2010 NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field before claiming Super Bowl XLV.

Giants release James Jones; are the Packers next?

James Jones won't be one of the players who will survive the 53 man roster deadline, he learned on Saturday.

NFL Media reported the wide receiver was released by the New York Giants on the morning of the mandate.

Jones left the Green Bay Packers in search of free agent glory, eventually getting it with the Raiders in a three year deal. 

They released him in May and signed with the Giants two months later for a year, but they weren't terribly interested in him, either.

Which raises the question, Will he go back home? The Packers have been weakened at the wide receiver position, losing team-leader Jordy Nelson for the year to a torn ACL, and Randall Cobb is still iffy for Week 1 at Soldier Field with a sprained A/C joint.

Jones caught 15 passes for 187 yards in the Giants' exhibition season and has 4,971 career receiving yards and 43 touchdowns since being drafted by the Packers in 2007.

Jeff Janis hasn't won over Aaron Rodgers

The reason why Packers rookie wide receiver Ty Montgomery has overtaken second-year pass catcher Jeff Janis is because of lingering trust issues and inconsistency, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers doesn't yet trust Janis in the team's offensive scheme for him to have a significant role in their offense this season.

"Jeff will have some great days and some days where mentally he's making too many mistakes," Rodgers said. "The talent and athleticism is there. We just need to see from all those guys battling for those two spots just some more consistency."

Janis also drew some tempered criticism from his position coach during this summer's training camp for a lack of consistent play, comments similar to the concerns Rodgers has expressed.

The distance between Montgomery and Janis was such that the former took the team's first-team snaps from the wide-out position the day after they lost Jordy Nelson to a torn ACL. Montgomery until then had been known primarily as a slot receiver, and right now is the first option for coaches to take the No. 3 position behind Randall Cobb and Davante Adams.

Tight ends Andrew Quarless and Richard Rodgers are expected to get more involved in the Packers' passing game this season, as will tailback Eddie Lacy, and talent and experience on their offensive line should help establish a consistent offensive effort.

"We have a talented two-headed run game, a great offensive line," Aaron Rodgers said. "We're going to have good balance this year. There's going to be some one-on-ones outside and we look for matchups, so that third guy could get the matchup and is going to need to produce."

Aaron Rodgers hopes Packers don't play in Canton

With the disdain Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has publicly expressed for the NFL preseason, the last thing he's looking forward to is playing a fifth "meaningless" game in Canton, Ohio next August. 

Though with the almost universal disposition that former Green Bay slinger Brett Favre will be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and their recent tradition of hosting teams connected to inductees in that game, Mr. Rodgers may find himself just in that predicament.

"We hope we don't get it," Rodgers said, via FOX Sports. "But we know it's going to be tough because No. 4 is going to be going in."

Rodgers called exhibition games meaningless the day his team lost wide receiver Jordy Nelson to what must be presumed an equally meaningless torn ACL, telling FOX's Alex Marvez that the four contests aren't the best way of preparing teams for the NFL season.

"There are a lot of things that need to get looked at," he said. "The number of games is obviously one of them. I don't think we need four. Two teams have to play five. That's tough on everybody. Obviously, it's important for young players to show what they can do."

Rodgers said the lack of genuine effort on the part of coaches and game plans hinders any real preparation the preseason could actually provide teams.

"A lot of times there's agreements between coaches to maybe not pressure the [quarterback] during a game or do a certain type of coverage, or there are agreements within organizations in game plans that you're not going to show different plays. How much of a real game are you really simulating? I'd say a lot less than people think."

All of which are valid points, and coming from a player of Rodgers' stature, they may get heard by more ears than they otherwise would have. But the final decision, as it is in any business, is determined by the almighty dollar. Provided team owners are making the kind of money they are from ticket sales into these games, the more they will support their being played.

The answer is for stadium attendance and television viewership to fall at enough of a rate for owners to take note in the lack of interest, and only then will they take action. But after a long, cold winter and the liturgy of boredom that is steroid-less baseball, the sudden appearance of tackle football, even in its most dreary and imprecise form, is too much a spectacle to turn from.

Randall Cobb says he won't miss a game

Already without Jordy Nelson for the entire season, all of Packer Land held its breath when his second, Randall Cobb, went down on the field last Saturday holding his shoulder.

That injury, which turned out to be an A/C joint sprain, wasn't as serious as originally thought, and though the team listed him as questionable for the season opener in Chicago, Cobb unofficially listed himself eligible.

"I don't plan on missing a game," Cobb said, via the Green Bay Press Gazette. "I'm doing everything in my power to get back before then, but we still don't know severity. We've still got to get a lot of the swelling out. It definitely is a lot better than what we all thought it was in the beginning."

Cobb took a tumble in the Packers' third exhibition game against the Eagles at Lambeau Field last weekend, and after Nelson was officially placed on the injured reserve list with a torn ACL suffered the week before, the team is hoping he makes good on his prdiction. 

While they have young options to take some of the load, they also have inexperience, and Cobb is a valuable leader who they feel can take Nelson's place for the duration. Cobb had a career-best last season with 91 receptions for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns.

"Obviously, it could've been a lot worse," Cobb said of his shoulder injury. "For not being what we thought it could've been is definitely a blessing."

The greatest blessing of all for the Packers, though, is seeing him take the field in Chicago.

Packers expect Randall Cobb to start Week 1

The Packers could hardly have taken any more bad news on the wide receiver front after losing Jordy Nelson for the season and watching Randall Cobb clutch his shoulder after a play during their most recent preseason game.

But it looks like Cobb will be able to make the team's regular season opener at Soldier Field after all, a source tells FOX Sports.

All "indicators" point to the newly promoted No. 1 receiving option taking the field against the Chicago Bears after suffering what team doctors called an A/C joint sprain in a game against Philadelphia last weekend at Lambeau Field.

"He's going to be fine," the source said. "He feels good about it."

The Packers are yet to define a timeline for his returning to team activities, and neither have they illustrated the severity of the injury, but this news seems to put him back into the fold sooner rather than later.

Cobb posted career-bests in receiving yards (1,287), receptions (91), and touchdowns (12) as Nelson's backup last season, and he'll be expected to repeat if not improve those numbers as Aaron Rodgers' first target in 2015.

Cobb and the Packers agreed to a four-year, $40 million deal in the offseason to keep him in Green Bay.

Report: Randall Cobb suffers "minor" sprain

The Packers will already be without their leading wide receiver, Jordy Nelson, for the entire regular season, fallen to what they called a significant right knee injury. 

It looked like deja vu on Saturday night when Randall Cobb, Nelson's No. 2, lay on the turf with what he admitted he thought was a broken collarbone.

The team ruled out anything of that severity before the night was over, but scheduled more tests on Sunday to determine the injury, the results of which revealed a "minor" AC joint sprain, according to NFL Media.

Though his availability for the Packers' Week 1 matchup, against the Bears at Soldier Field, is still questionable. There is no word for what kind of time he will miss to rehab from his injury, though it sounds like a day-to-day concern for the man who suddenly finds himself the primary option for Aaron Rodgers.

Davante Adams, Ty Montgomery, and Jeff Janis are the remaining options at the wide receiver position, and tight ends Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless remain as viable pass catchers in an offense that last season produced the second-most touchdowns and yards per attempt in the NFL.

Packers tag Montgomery, Janis as WR replacements

The offensive duel between the Eagles and Packers, provided starting players are indeed started, looks to be one of the better matchups this preseason.

Both teams are trying out some new personnel at important positions. The Eagles, with quarterback Sam Bradford and tailback tandem DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews. The Packers, suddenly, with a new starting receiver after they lost Jordy Nelson for the year to a knee injury.

Though quarterback Aaron Rodgers is still unsure who that man will be. Current candidates include rookie Ty Montgomery and second-year man Jeff Janis. The former took first-team snaps in practice recently and the latter has drawn criticism for inconsistency from his own coaches.

For now, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams are both promoted to first and second, respectively. Tight ends Andrew Quarless and Richard Rodgers are also in the running for increased use in the passing game, as is tailback Eddie Lacy. But they're not Jordy.

"Jordy's an incredible receiver," he said.  "He got a lot of targets, the most targets [for the team] last year. That's because he was open the most."

Nelson was targeted 149 times all told, for a team-best 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns. 

The practice Rodgers seems to need with potential replacements doesn't seem to be in the works for Saturday's game at Lambeau Field. Starters rarely endure much, if any, of the third exhibition game, and Rodgers himself called the preseason "meaningless" after the team's second game, in Pittsburgh.

Ahead of Saturday's game, the Packers signal caller likes where he sees the progress of the team regardless of who is out there.

"We're right where we need to be," he said. "We've had some productive drives when we've been out there. I'm happy where we're at. We have some guys banged up right now, so not sure what the playing time will be, but whatever Mike decides, I'm confident we'll be ready when the season starts.

Eagles face stiffer test at Packers

When the Eagles take to Lambeau Field to face the Packers in their third exhibition game on Saturday, one couldn't blame them for having a bad case of deja vu. 

Mark Sanchez threw two interceptions and LeSean McCoy was held to under 100 yards rushing as Green Bay discarded Philadelphia, 53-20, that day in November.

With replacements under and behind center having been added this offseason in the form of Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray, and Ryan Mathews, a greater focus has been placed on those matchups.

But the biggest test in Eagles head coach Chip Kelly's eyes will be between his rejuvenated secondary against Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers played their harp last year for 341 yards and three scores, but cornerbacks (and victims) Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams were swapped this offseason for Byron Maxwell and Walter Thurmond, both of whom had an interception in Philadelphia's victory over Baltimore last week.

"I hope Aaron plays a lot because I'm really excited to see our guys go up against them," Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis said. "We took a pretty good beating last year down there, and we're excited about the challenge. We love competing against the best, like Aaron is, and they've got some quality receivers that hopefully they can play that first half and we can really get a good test of where we are."

Packers receiver Jordy Nelson brought down a touchdown in their matchup last season on four catches for 109 yards, but will be out this entire season after tearing his ACL in Green Bay's game at Pittsburgh last weekend.

But his deputy remains. Slot receiver Randall Cobb caught 10 passes for 129 yards last November. Who the Eagles line up against Cobb is one of the questions they still face after trading nickel corner Brandon Boykin and losing Earl Wolff to a knee injury.

"We're really looking to see who we want our starting nickel to be," Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said. "It's going to be a good test for them. [Cobb is] one of the best slot receivers in the league right now. Obviously, with the quarterback he has, he's going to get a lot of targets."

Ty Montgomery taking Jordy Nelson's spot for now

After Jordy Nelson went down in Sunday's exhibition game with what the Packers are calling a "significant right knee injury," and what everyone else presumes is a torn ACL, head coach Mike McCarthy went about filling that hole.

As many have predicted, rookie Ty Montgomery is the primary candidate for the job.

The Packers's first snap at practice on Tuesday involved he and Davante Adams at the wide out positions, with Randall Cobb lined up in the slot, according to ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky.

Montgomery currently holds the lead over talented wide-out Jeff Janis, a 6-foot-3 target in his second season that many see as a longer-term project.

Janis could theoretically overtake Montgomery in the Packers' final two preseason games, but has been called inconsistent by coaches during this summer's training camp after making a few more catches with his body than with his hands. Dropped passes are another area of concern, according to wide receivers coach Alex Van Pelt.

Montgomery's work ethic, on the other hand, caught Jordy Nelson's attention this summer.

"Taking away the athletic part of it, just his approach to understanding our playbook, asking questions, trying to be detailed as much as possible in a short amount of time," he said then.

An amount of time that just got shorter with Nelson's sudden departure, two weeks, to be exact, in the preseason before the Packers visit Soldier Field on Sept. 13.  

It's official: Packers lose Jordy Nelson for season

The Packers didn't just lose the game to the Steelers on Sunday afternoon. They also lost one of their most important players for the entire 2015 regular season. 

Wide receiver Jordy Nelson was injured in Green Bay's second preseason game against Pittsburgh and will sit the rest of the year with a reported ACL tear, according to Rotoworld. 

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported the original diagnosis by team doctors before what the team calls "a significant right knee injury" was confirmed by the results of an MRI taken afterwards.

Nelson left the game in Pittsburgh not long into the Packers' first offensive series after landing awkwardly on his right leg as he turned upfield with a pass from Aaron Rodgers. He limped off the field under his own power and hovered around the sideline before trainers walked with him to the team's locker room to have a closer look. 

They saw what they thought they saw.

While the injury cuts a fair amount out of the Packers' offensive potential this season, the team isn't too much worse for depth at the receiving position. Randall Cobb, the fifth-year man who in 2014 brought down 12 touchdowns on 1,287 yards, remains. So does Davante Adams, Jeff Janis, Myles White, and rookie Ty Montgomery. Running back Eddie Lacy may find himself catching more passes out of the backfield, as well. Lacy caught 42 passes for 427 yards and four scores last season.

"It's difficult to lose a guy like that in a meaningless game," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after the game.

"We've got a lot of guys right now fighting for spots, and we're still trying to figure out who's going to be the impact players for us on our team," he added. "That could change after this week or that could not. We'll see what happens."

Green Bay also retains tight ends Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless, whose receiving totals may rise this year with Nelson's absence. Two of Rodgers' 20 receptions were touchdowns on 225 yards and Quarless added three scores over 323 yards. 

Nelson led the Packers with 13 touchdowns on 98 receptions for 1,519 yards last season.

Lions safety: God willed Jordy Nelson's injury

After Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson went down in Sunday's exhibition game in Pittsburgh, the almost universal disposition was that he'll miss the coming season with a torn ACL. 

It predictably raised all the old questions about what kind of reform, if any, should come to the NFL preseason.

All questions that Lions safety Glover Quin doesn't think need to be asked. It was God's will, he said that Nelson be injured, so any changes the NFL would make would be meaningless anyway.

"I hated Jordy got hurt, but in my beliefs, and the way I believe, it was -- God meant for Jordy to get hurt," Quin said. "So if he wouldn't have got hurt today, he wouldn't have played in that game, if he wouldn't have practiced anymore, and the next time he walked on the field would have been opening day, I feel like he would have got hurt opening day. So in that sense, now they've got three weeks to makeadjustments and prepare before opening day, as opposed to it happening opening day and now you're in the season and now Jordy gets hurt. It happening in the preseason, you hate that it happened, but that gived them time to make adjustments and try to find something."

Quin's piety is admirable, but his theology is weak. Most philosophical theology and other religious doctrines through the centuries have always placed the freedom of the human will and of nature as primary. Good and evil, and hope and tragedy, only have any validity in relation to our ability to choose between them and learn from them, and if every movement is already a pre-determined fact planned before it is taken, then they would have no meaning. 

Such a belief poses God as a dictatorial puppet-master and mankind a worthless species with no inherent reason to do anything. Which would render God making mankind a worthless and pointless project, which would render God worthless and pointless. 

Not quite what he intended, most likely, but it certainly is what his comments imply.

Glover Quin needs to read some St. Thomas Aquinas.

Chiefs' Smith suspended 3 games

The Chiefs will be without one of their best defensive backs for the early part of this coming season.

Sean Smith was suspended three games by the NFL for violation of the substance abuse policy after he pleaded guilty to a DUI charge in Kansas City. He will have two years of probation as a result.

The league calls for a two game suspension for offenses against its substance abuse policy, but allows for increased punishment for what they call aggravating circumstances. Smith was pulled over by police after his car collided with and broke a light pole.

Smith's absence could derail the Chiefs' pass defense early on. They host Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos to Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 17 and two weeks later Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, teams that were fourth and sixth, respectively, in total offense last season.

@MrJamesParks

NFL rewrites reception rules

Dez Bryant missed it by that much.

That would-be 4th-and-2 reception from Tony Romo near the goal line that frosty afternoon in Lambeau Field, originally called a good catch inches from pay dirt.

Then, it wasn't.

Down by five points with four minutes remaining, the Cowboys were set up to take the lead against an Aaron Rodgers-led Packers squad that hadn't lost in that building in two calendar years.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy called the striped gang over to contend Bryant actually didn't have possession throughout. That decision paid off.

But the NFL, preferring receptions to incompletions, took to their rule book to clarify any confusion that may still result from that play and any other that may come along in the future. 

A player is considered to be going to the ground if he does not remain upright long enough to demonstrate that he is clearly a runner. If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball until after his initial contact with the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete. 

Not that any amount of words will ever clear anything up in the scuffle following a catch or a replay that doesn't quite show everything clearly, and certainly not anything that will convince Cowboys fans that Dez Bryant didn't have that ball.

@MrJamesParks

Packers: LB A.J. Hawk released

GREEN BAY - The Packers have released veteran linebacker A. J. Hawk after nine seasons with the team.

Hawk is the Packers' all-time franchise leader in tackles (1,118), adding nine interceptions in his career.

"I spent nine great years in Green Bay," Hawk said in a statement. "I had awesome teammates and coaches and a great medical staff and equipment staff. Many of them have become my closest friends. We won a ton of games, as well as a Super Bowl, and I love everything about playing one of the greatest franchises in all of sports."

He was selected by the Packers No. 5 overall in the 2006 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, and appeared in 142 of a possible 144 contests, starting 136 in green and gold.

"A. J. is a consummate Packer and we are grateful for all that he has given and how he represented the organization over the past nine season," said general manager Ted Thompson. "He was a durable and consistent contributor to our success, but more importantly, he is a great person and teammate. The Packers are grateful for all that he has done on the field and in the community. We wish A. J., his wife Laura, and the rest of their family all the best."

Hawk led the team in tackles five times in his career, and helped them to seven seasons of playoff football, starting 11 of 13 games in the postseason. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2010, the year he and the Packers won Super Bowl XLV.

"The fans in Green Bay are incredible," Hawk added. "Between playing at Lambeau Field as well as seeing them on the road, they always supported us. I am looking forward to my next opportunity in the NFL, but I'll always cherish my years as a Green Bay Packer."

Hawk is recovering from an ankle surgery and will enter free agency.

Packers: A.J. Hawk has surgery

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Packers veteran linebacker A.J. Hawk had surgery on his ankle to remove bone spurs following the season, according to sources.

The surgery, performed by Dr. James Andrews, came immediately after the team's loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.

Hawk played in all 18 games this season for the Packers, though his snap count did decrease as the year progressed.

Though he said publicly several times that he was not hurt, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, one of his closest friends on the team, also speculated that Hawk was playing injured.

"He's been dealing with a body that hasn't been responding as well as he wanted to at times," Rodgers said in December to his radio audience.

Of the 71 snaps the Packers' defense saw in Seattle in January, Hawk defended only 17.

Hawk, a former fifth-overall pick from Ohio State, has one year remaining on his contract, and will be due $3.5 million this coming season. Head coach Mike McCarthy, speaking at the combine this week, said the inside linebacker position will be a priority in the coming draft.

"I think the inside linebacker position could probably be compared to where we were last year at the safety position," he said. "Obviously, we had a number of moving parts there. So we'll see what this process that we go through as far as player acquisition, how that affects it. I like the step Sam Barrington made. I thought he made a huge step and that's what you look for."

Barrington, in his second year, secured 54 tackles. Hawk, a nine-year veteran, had 90.

Packers: Brandon Bostick released

GREEN BAY - Packers tight end Brandon Bostick was released by the team on Tuesday, according to multiple sources.

Bostick, 25, spent the last two seasons with the team, though will most likely be remembered for catching then losing an onside kick reception in the NFC Championship Game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Leading 19-14 with over two minutes left in that game, and following a Seahawks touchdown, Bostick was in position to receive the kick, but let the ball slip through his grasp, allowing for a Seattle recovery and their go-ahead touchdown.

Green Bay, who had led 16-0 through almost three quarters, would come back to tie the game in regulation before Russell Wilson aired out the game-winning 35 yard touchdown to Jermain Kearse to complete a 28-3 comeback rally and a trip to the Super Bowl.

Signed as an undrafted free agent from Newberry College in 2012, Bostick appeared in 24 games with the Packers, catching nine passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

Packers: McCarthy no longer calling offense

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Packers head coach Mike McCarthy will no longer call offensive plays for the team after a number of coaching staff changes take place within the franchise, according to the Green Bay Post-Gazette.

McCarthy relieved himself of that duty this week, to the surprise of general manager Ted Thompson and team president Mark Murphy.

The authority will fall to Tom Clements, the Packers' offensive coordinator since 2013 and quarterbacks coach from 2006 to 2012.

"I felt that the play calling was something that I could still be able to do," McCarthy told a press conference on Thursday, "but the commitment you have to make Monday through Saturday, I didn't think it fit, I didn't think it would work as good as I know it will work now with Tom who's basically taking the responsibilities on offense that I've had in the past."

Under Tom Clements' supervision, quarterback Aaron Rodgers won two NFL MVPs and a Super Bowl MVP, entering the league one year ahead of Clements' hiring.

"Tom has called as a player, he's called them in the NFL," McCarthy said. "[Tom] has an excellent relationship with Aaron Rodgers. The fit with Aaron is the highest priority. I thought that's why it was so important."

McCarthy's move comes amidst other changes in the Packers' coaching regime. Edgar Bennett, for the past four seasons the team's wide receivers coach, was promoted to offensive coordinator. Under Bennett's direction, Packers receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb both became the first pass-catchers in NFL hsitory to both receive at least 90 passes, 1,200 yards, and 12 touchdowns in the same campaign.

The Packers' special teams woes this season found a new hire in Ron Zook and assistant Jason Simmons, though McCarthy said he will also be more involved in this area, expressing a desire to become more intimately involved with all aspects of the team.

"This is something I've given a lot of thought, and it's something that's a big decision that's taken years to make," he said.

Battle of picks as Packers lead Seattle at half

SEATTLE, Wash. - The theme of Sunday's NFC Championship Game is turnovers.

In what is becoming the Interception Bowl in Seattle, the Seahawks have more turnovers than first downs as they trail the Green Bay Packers 16-0 at the halftime break.

Russell Wilson has completed one pass to the Seahawks and three to the Packers as Seattle was outpassed 115-8 through thirty minutes. Wilson is 1-for-8, the one a 14 yard toss to Ricardo Lockette to convert a 3rd-and-7 that looked to be a promising charge for the home side.

His next pass was, as luck would have, intercepted. Sam Shields, against Jermaine Kearse in the front left corner of the end zone, turned and found the ball as both came down together.

That was Seattle's fourth turnover and Wilson's third interception on the afternoon, and ended a drive begun with an Aaron Rodgers interception, one of his two, to Byron Maxwell.

Both sides exchanged interceptions on their first possessions of the game as Richard Sherman picked Aaron Rodgers in the end zone to end the Packers' first drive. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix would take a deflected pass from Russell Wilson intended, again, for Jermaine Kearse.

Dix intercepted Wilson for a second time for the Seahawks' third turnover on the day at 9:18 in the second quarter. The former Alabama DB secured the catch with one hand after deflecting the pass off his right arm. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews was called for roughing Wilson on a block from his blind side, pushing Green Bay to their own 44-yard line.

Jordy Nelson would catch to the Seahawks 35 on a slant toss from Rodgers for a 23 yard gainer before the Seahawks' Byron Maxwell returned the favor on the next play.

Green Bay was held from the end zone on their first three chances, adding three field goals from Mason Crosby, before Randall Cobb hauled in an 18 yard scoring toss from Rodgers to produce a 13-point lead.

Doug Baldwin would fumble a kickoff return in the first quarter after a collision with Green Bay's Brad Jones.