Continuing a tradition under general manager Ted Thompson, the Packers are once again one of the youngest teams in the NFL. "The defending conference champs reside at opposite ends of the age spectrum, proving there's more than one way to build a championship-caliber team," writes Mike Sando of ESPN.com, who refers to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL's oldest team. "I'd rather be young and bad than old and bad, however, given the potential for improvement." The Packers are the second-youngest team, trailing only behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

How the Packers will split up carries between running backs Ryan Grant and James Starks is a matter of debate. "While coach Mike McCarthy declined to discuss how carries might be distributed, new running backs coach Jerry Fontenot said Monday that he plans on giving both Grant and Starks equal snaps, although how the game unfolds will affect that," writes Jason Wilde of ESPN.com. If Starks happens to play on third downs as much as he did during the regular season, he looks to be seeing the field more than Grant.

More on the Packers' two-headed monster at running back also appears at the Green Bay Press-Gazette and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Randall Cobb's impact on the return game is examined by Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel. "The Packers haven't seen a lot of the 5-foot-10, 192-pound Cobb because he suffered two bruised knees on a kickoff return early in the second preseason game and was out until this week," writes Silverstein. "But what they did see led them to believe he can take the return game to places it hasn't been under McCarthy." Cobb is listed first on the team's depth chart at both kick and punt returner.

Rather uniquely, at least compared to previous years, John Kuhn is the only fullback on the team this year. The Journal Sentinel looks at what might be different with only one fullback on the roster. "One of the answers is the Packers probably are going to be running a lot more one-back formations than they have before," according to the article. "Instead of having a lead blocker, presumably they'll go with two tight ends when they intend to run the ball. They also can use their tight ends in fullback-like positions."

One other option at fullback could be B.J. Raji, writes Jason Wilde.

Tori Gurley is making his presence felt on the practice squad this week. "The Saints have one of the best tall receivers in the game in Marques Colston (6-foot-4, 225), and in the 6-4 Gurley the Packers have a similarly tall receiver that their defensive backs have had to cover all training camp and on the scout team this week," writes Rob Demovsky of the Press-Gazette.

Tight Jermichael Finley looks to play in the season opener against the Saints for the first time in a regular season game since Week 5 of last year, although that will present some challenges. "While the playmaking tight end's return from a season-ending right knee injury could be a huge boost for the Packers going into Thursday night's opener against New Orleans, it also carries some challenges for (Aaron) Rodgers, Mike McCarthy and the rest of the coaches," writes Chris Jenkins of the Associated Press. Namely, how to distribute the football among all the receivers.

Wide receiver Donald Driver is only 42 yards away from becoming the Packers' all-time leader in receiving.

Cornerback Tramon Williams is the focus of blog posts at both JSOnline and PackersNews.com.

Head coach Mike McCarthy's ties to New Orleans are mentioned at Packer Report and ESPNMilwaukee.com.

Vic So'oto has moved from the "Green Mile" to the Packers main locker room.

General manager Ted Thompson had a difficult job this past week.

The Packers released a timeline of events for Kickoff week and game day itself.

The second Packers fence was painted.

A world record will be attempted in the Lambeau Field parking lot on Thursday.

The Packers are poised to repeat, according to Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal.

The Press-Gazette has a 2011 season preview with articles on the offense, defense, predictions, each position, a player ranking and some interesting statistics.

Video: The stage for the NFL Kickoff concert is under construction...

Brian Carriveau is the editor of the Maple Street Press Packers Annual. To contact Brian, email [email protected].