Mike Montgomery and Jason Hunter are set to return to action this week after sitting out the last few games due to injuries. Now that they are back, Packer coaches appear set to relegate rookie Jeremy Thompson back to the bench.

That would be a big mistake.

Not only did Thompson more than hold his own against the likes of Walter Jones and Tony Ugoh the past two games, he was getting better with each snap. The jump he took from the Seattle game to the Indy game alone was notable. It would be a mistake to keep him on the bench, as he was playing better than Montgomery or Hunter. Here’s hoping McCarthy and Sanders keep Thompson in the rotation a good deal, if not the starter outright on Sunday. He at least should be playing in front of Hunter, who’s contribution outside of doing his best KGB-fly-safely-by-the-offensive-tackle imitation has been minimal, to say the least.

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• Back To Football For A Moment…

Watching the Titans-Colts game last night, three things become readily apparent:

1. This is a Titans team that can be beat
2. This is a Titans team that can be beat by the Packers
3. This is a Titans team that can be beat by the Packers passing game

With the expected return of James Jones, McCarthy will have his full arsenal of receiving weapons at this disposal for the first time since the opening Monday night game against the Vikings. Look for more than one or two offensive snaps in the Big Five formation, which, judging by last night, should find several favorable matchups for the Packers. (Why the Colts insisted on keeping Gonzalez on the sideline for a good portion of the night last night, I’ll never know…)

On the other side of the ball, the task is indeed a tough one. Stopping Chris Johnson and Lendale White will not be easy, but one thing working in the Packers favor is the absolute non-threat represented by the Titans receivers. What a bunch of stiffs. This may actually be the perfect game for Al Harris to get his sea-legs back, because goodness knows he won’t be up against much of a challenge. And Woodson can take anyone on this team in his sleep.

Which, of course, means Sanders will bring Atari Bigby down into the box to help against the run, which, of course, means Mike Heimerdinger will throw often on first down to get the safety out of the box, rinse and repeat…

Sometimes this is a simple game.

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• From One Impossible Challenge To Another

On the birth of Gabrielle Kathleen.

Now Coach will have company for those 2AM film sessions…

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• Therapy Indeed

One of my few quibbles after the game yesterday was McCarthy’s timidity at the end of the first half, especially as it continues a pattern from last year in regards to his tactics when on offense and heading into halftime.

McCarthy, in his presser today, indicated that he bungled the timeout at the end of the half, saying that with 17 seconds left, there was plenty of time to take a shot at the end zone. He then stated he should have waited until the game clock was down 3 seconds to take the timeout to kick the field goal.

At least he recognizes it. But it’s a constant thing that’s bugged me the last three years, and it was especially strange in light of how aggressive he was in every other aspect of the game yesterday. (Surprise onside, going for it on 4th and 1 on his own 44, etc) Here’s hoping some bye-week ’self scouting’ helps correct this recurring mistake.

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• Therapy Indeed

McCarthy just had his Monday presser and indicated that Ryan Pickett would be ‘questionable’ for Sunday’s game against Indy. I know people will think I’m insane, but McCarthy should sit Pickett against the Colts, thereby giving him two weeks to rest with the bye week following the Colts game. Yes, he’s our best run stuffer, but if he aggravates the triceps injury further on Sunday, you can kiss the season goodbye. Plus, the Packers catch a bit of a break as Joseph Addai and his backup had to leave the Colts’ game against the Ravens due to injury and most likely won’t play against the Packers.

If the medical staff says there’s zero chance of him making things worse, then he should be allowed to play. Otherwise, McCarthy would really be playing with fire if he let him take the field.

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• Ryan Pickett Gets His Due

Mike McCarthty, when asked about possible changes on the offensive line:

I want to get healthy there. That’s the thing. When you talk about health, and you’ve heard me say it here time and time again, there are no excuses when it comes Sunday, but the thing about being healthy is it kind of runs through your whole program. The way you practice, you’ve got line, linebackers playing tight end, things are just not as clean as you would like. It’s no different for the offensive line. Chad is having some medical issues and we’re trying to get him over that, so with that that you are working a different five. I just really want to stay clean to the approach we are having them because the guys that are being challenged are Jason Spitz, Daryn Colledge because they are playing positions during the week that they are not potentially playing in Sunday. So we’ve just got to keep repping those guys and try to get the continuity there that we really haven’t had since training camp.

You hear it all the time - the most important thing on the offensive line is continuity. The Packers line has been the polar opposite. Different bodies from game to game, indeed, from practice to practice. McCarthy would definitely like to sit Clifton this week and possibly next week and then head into the bye so that Clifton can get three full weeks of rest for his hamstring and the offense can have the same five guys play in the games that practice together all week.

The problem, of course, is Daryn Colledge. Corey and I have both been exceedingly critical of Colledge and his play, but he has definitely shown major improvement so far this year in almost all phases of the game. His biggest challenge, however, remains the same. Colledge is prone to having one absolute killer mental lapse per game. I mean, it’s a Lead Pipe Lock. The kid has one play in every single game where he just completely misses an assignment or gets caught flat footed or allows instant pressure. And they always turn into drive killing, if not game changing, plays. This past Sunday was no exception.

When Clifton went out and I saw Colledge in at left tackle, I assumed the game was over. All I could remember were flashes of his performance against Miami two years ago when Clifton was out. ‘Nightmarish’ is a charitable way to describe his performance in that game. (In his defense, he was lined up against Jason Taylor most of the day) Last Sunday, he was handed the assignment of blocking, mostly without help, the Falcons’ John Abraham, who is having a  Defensive-Player-of-the-Year-type season. And shockingly, Colledge was up to the task. Snap after snap, Colledge used good leverage and occasional power to keep Abraham off of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

But then.

Colledge had one of his horrible, once-per-game mental breakdowns, completely whiffing on Abraham and allowing him to crash inside and flush Rodgers out before the quarterback could even complete his drop. Rodgers, almost in the grasp, threw the ball away, but was no where near outside the tackle box. Intentional grounding was called and a 2nd and 7 became a 3rd and 19. Rodgers was intercepted on the next play.

The interception, of course, is not Colledge’s fault. But it illustrates how his breakdown at the worst possible time put the offense in a horrible position and greatly affected the outcome of the game. He had these mental lapses almost every game last year, including so many in the Dallas game that he was benched. (Funnily enough, his breakdowns also contributed to two of Favre’s most brilliant plays last year - the 54 yard touchdown to Jennings against the Chiefs and Favre’s last great improvisational play as a Packer, the shovel pass to Donald Lee while falling down in the snow against Seattle) Colledge simply MUST maintain his focus throughout all four quarters of each game if he is to fill in for Clifton for any amount of time.

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• “Offensive” Line

• Cut Frost and bring in a real punter
• Bench Nick Barnett and put in Desmond Bishop
• Elevate Patrick Lee over Will Blackmon in the Dime package
• Fire Bob Sanders and either hire Jim Bates or use Winston Moss as defensive coordinator
• Run live tackling drills in practice for the defensive backs
• Open at Seattle in the two-minute offense

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• The Right Move

Encouraging to hear that McCarthy has the team in pads and concentrating on fundamentals this week. (Makes you wonder if he started Wednesday’s practice with the Lombardi classic: Gentlemen, this (holding it up) is a football…to which Max McGee responds “You’re going too fast for us”) The work is sorely needed, especially for the offensive line. Now the next step is to see some tackling drills…

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• Rodgers Needs To Practice