The Packers don't practice today, although they will have meetings, film review, etc. The return to Ray Nitschke Field at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday in the first of a two-a-day...

Donald Driver received a two-year contract extension with the Packers. "With the new deal, he’ll also make $7 million this year: $1.0 million in a roster bonus he’s already been paid, plus a new $5 million roster bonus he received when he signed the deal, plus a $1 million base salary," reports Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "He also had an offseason workout bonus of $207,000, but it was unclear how much of that he earned." That $5 million roster bonus this season should help the Packers work against future salary caps, if there are future salary caps.

Matt Flynn is highly regarded by other teams around the league says Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "A personnel man for another NFL club brought up Flynn's name in conversation about a year before that," writes McGinn. "His message was almost exactly the same: If he ever became a general manager he'd be trading for Flynn." The backup quarterback has not been impressive this training camp, at least in my eyes. I do wonder why he doesn't get a chance to play with the first-string offense more often. Even Mike McCarthy said his performance is affected by his supporting cast.

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers gave a common sense reason why Clay Matthews is being tried at left outside linebacker. “I think you’ve got to try to create targeting problems for them, OK, in terms of where he’s going to be and that type of thing," Capers told Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin. "If you’ve got Clay and Cullen lined up (on the right) together, all right, there’s no question where that protection’s going to go. And so I think there are advantages to have different schemes where we’ll move them around. Clay and Cullen are two of our top rushers, so you’ve got to try to keep them rushing as much as you can from various spots.”

Meanwhile, Brad Jones continues to work on the right side of the defense at outside linebacker. "On Tuesday, Jones found himself squarely in the mix on the right side, taking a number of snaps with the Green Bay Packers' No.?1 defense and looking as comfortable as he has on the left side, where he started seven games as a rookie last year," writes Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel. The more versatile, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

Sticking with the outside linebacker theme, not everyone is sold with Brandon Chillar at that position. Michael Rodney of Packer Update is among them. "Chillar is a really nice guy to have on a football team, but he’s not a starting outside linebacker in a 3-4," writes Rodney. "Or at least he’s not going to be a very good one. At 237 pounds, he’s very small for the position." I tend to think that when the regular season rolls around, Chillar is going to be used primarily on passing downs.

Justin Harrell has generally been praised for being healthy, but for Bob McGinn, that's hardly enough. "Once again, DE Justin Harrell flunked the test," writes McGinn. "By now, his routine has become commonplace. Take a rep, slow jog or walk behind the line, remove helmet, take a knee. In the early stages of practice, position coach Mike Trgovac had to stop a drill in which Harrell's effort seemed to be the issue." Harrell has done a good job of making himself available nearly every practice. But McGinn is right. If he's healthy, now he has to make an impact.

An improvement by rookie defensive end C.J. Wilson was noted by Pete Dougherty of the Press-Gazette. "Any gradual improvement he’d made in camp became a noticeable jump Tuesday night, when Wilson came up big in one-on-ones," writes Dougherty. Wilson has been rather invisible through the first two weeks of camp, so any jump should come as good news.

Jason Spitz appears out of the running for a starting job, at least so far through camp." Spitz was the odd man out in the left guard competition when first-round draft pick Bryan Bulaga, who had worked exclusively at left tackle, was inserted into the battle with incumbent starter Daryn Colledge on Monday," writes Wilde. You have to wonder how much Spitz's back has affected his ability to compete at a high level.

Matt Bowen of the National Football Post has what to look for when it comes to breaking down rookie safeties like Morgan Burnett. "Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3 and some Cover 4 are the norm for the preseason," writes Bowen. "Use a little disguise before the snap, but get to your landmark and play football. We want to see if the rookies can handle the basic calls, know their run fits and when they are in coverage keep everything in front of them. The worst thing you can do as a rookie safety is to play too shallow and get beat over the top. Know the defense and know what the coach expects."

Speaking of Burnett, the rookie gets some expert coaching every single day at camp. "While the individual positional drills don’t get the oohs and ahhs from the crowd, they are some of the most valuable time during practice," writes Wilde. "And there may not have been a more valuable – or vital – session than the one that was going on Tuesday night, when Packers rookie safety Morgan Burnett was getting pointers from safeties coach Darren Perry and coaching intern Carnell Lake – two guys who know a thing or two about the position."

First-year wide receiver Charles Dillon has turned a few heads, at least according to Mike Spofford of the Packers official website. "Last Monday, on the third day of camp, he caught back-to-back passes fromMatt Flynn in the 2-minute drill, the second one an impressive diving grab over the middle for a 20-yard gain," writes Spofford on Packers.com. "The next day, he got behind the defense on a missed assignment and hauled in a long pass from Aaron Rodgers. Then last Saturday in the scrimmage, Flynn found him again in the 2-minute drill for a 30-yard gain down the sideline."

The roster move of putting Josh Bell on injured reserve and adding linebacker Maurice Simpkins is analyzed by Monty McMahon of Total Packers. "It will be interesting to see how the move affects the Packers long term," writes McMahon. "Coach Mike McCarthy openly regretted putting Pat Lee on injured reserve during training camp last season after the Packers lost Harris and Will Blackmon during the season. A player who ends up on injured reserve isn’t eligible to play until the following season." If Bell is cut, however, I think he can be signed by another team after six weeks.

Amongst the talk about the decline in attendance at Family Night, Mike Vandermause of the Press-Gazette got an admission of guilt from Packers president Mark Murphy. “We should have just given them the Hall of Fame,” Murphy told Vandermause. The Packers were victims of bad P.R. last year when after the Family Night rainout, the offered ticket holders free Hall of Fame entrance with the purchase of a Lambeau Field tour.

Tight end Tom Crabtree is featured in an article by Tom Silverstein. "In 2010, [Spencer] Havner's footsteps are being retraced by another tight end, free agent Tom Crabtree, who has come out of nowhere to make a serious run for a roster spot," writes Silverstein. "Just as Havner became too valuable on special teams to let go last year, Crabtree is making his name as a tough guy on the kickoff return and punt coverage units." Believe it, folks. Crabtree's chances of making the team are real.

Another injury to the outside linebackers continues to leave them thin at the position. "[Cyril] Obiozor strained his left calf and will be reevaluated with the other injured players by Dr. Pat McKenzie on Wednesday," writes Greg Bedard of the Journal Sentinel.