ORLANDO, Fla. -- Packers coach Mike McCarthy spent nearly an hour with the assembled Wisconsin media -- and a few national writers who came and went -- during this morning's NFC coaches breakfast at the NFL meetings.
Here are some highlights from McCarthy:
On whether there's a hangover from the OT playoff loss to Arizona: "I didnt sense that. Were only a week into it. I think consensus was that it was quick. It seemed like it was a quick turnaround for the players. I think when you start on the early date, thats natural. I dont think thats unusual. I know the coaches had a very productive off-season thus far. We hit all our targets with the things we wanted to get done. I dont sense a hangover. Its always exciting to get everybody back in there. I thought Mark Lovat did an excellent job, we had a kind of a kickoff on Monday (March 15) with the meetings. We went through the functional training screening and he had a seminar for nutrition and he had some fun with the guys. There definitely was some energy in the building. I think we had 59 guys in the building last week, so we feel good about that."
On how QB Aaron Rodgers will respond to his fumble that led to the winning TD: "Just being down here this week, whether we like it or not, were going to be seeing a lot of that play, just the way it has been evaluated. NFL Films is doing a segment on it. Its only normal when you go through a season of scheme evaluation, well see that play because its a base play in our offense, over and over again. I dont think you hide from it. The most important thing is to learn from it. I dont think it hurt his confidence. It probably helped that he played in the Pro Bowl a couple weeks later. He went down there and had a very positive experience. "
On the sack problem of last season: "I think as I sit here today well be much better in that area. We better be. I cant go through 50 sacks again. That was unbelievable. Ive never been through anything like that."
On T.J. Lang's best position: "Theres a difference in opinion there. I think T.J.s long-term, this is just me personally, Joe Philbin, James Campen and Jerry Fontenot, we go round and round about it, I think T.J.s long-term is at guard. I think hes a natural left guard, when I look at his body. But he is young. He needs to develops strength to hit that. He is a very young second-year player. Theres a lot of room for development. But you cant argue with the fact that hes a more natural tackle because thats where he has played. He feels more natural at tackle because thats where he has played. I definitely feel he could play right tackle today if he had to. And I think hes done a solid job at subbing in there at LT when needed."
On whether Lang is also Chad Clifton's backup at LT: "I would probably say so. If youre asking me to make a decision today, that would probably be the case."
On TE Spencer Havner's injuries from his alleged drunken motorcycle accident: "Without our doctors being able to lay their hands on him, I would just guess, but based on my conversation with him, four to six weeks."
On CB Al Harris' recovery from knee surgery: "Hes still in Florida right now, hell be coming up, I dont have the exact date as far as with Pat, but I talked to Al seven, eight, nine days ago. Its a significant injury. Hes in a very positive mindset right now, which is good to see. He struggled there. I mean, that was a real serious injury. His first couple weeks there were tough. He had to go in and get the adjustment, Pat had to take him in twice and try to get the full range of motion in his knee. But hes doing drills, movement drills, and he feels hes really making progress, and well just continue to watch that and see how he responds."
On whether Harris' timetable is similar to Mark Tauscher, who didn't play until mid-season last year: "I think so, thats probably fair to compare, time-frame wise. I know Marks injury was a little later, but Als was significant. ... I wouldnt bet against Al (for the first month of the season). Just because, its like anything, you cant ever put a timetable on a knee injury because theyre all a little different. His was significant. Using Pat McKenzies words."
On Justin Harrell: "Justin, this is the best hes looked in the strength and conditioning part of it. I dont think you can really evaluate him until he gets out there and puts the pads on and torques. D-line is different, but I know Mike Trgovac really liked what he saw last year in the spring. I know Dave Redding and Mark Lovat feel good about where he is in the weight room compared to this time last year, so hes made progress, but until he gets in there and you see him torque and play with leverage thats when the lower back will be tested."
On whether the league's decision to move the umpire behind the quarterback might have prompted personal foul calls when Rodgers got hit in the head in OT of the playoff game: "I think it definitely would have helped. Our quarterback, I think, definitely could be protected more than he was last year. There were a number of times that he was hit and penalties were not called and fines probably followed. Not that Im aware of that, but if you looked at it, it was probably out there. Thats all you want. You want your quarterback protected like the other teams quarterback. Thats the basic request that I have every week when I talk to the officials."
On which no call bothered him more, the holding call where Rodgers got hit int he head or the last play?: "Well you want the ball back so Id take that one back, the facemask would be nice. Just like I said afterwards, I dont feel any different today either, I dont want to discredit Arizona, thats part of the game. You just want, I know Cullen Jenkins got called for one earlier in the game that wasnt any different from the last play. You just want consistency. I thought they let us play, which I dont really have a problem with, but you just want them to be consistent and at the end of the day you dont want to be sit here talking about it. To be honest with you, the way I look at officiating is you dont want to be talking about them when you sit down with the media, and thats not the case. Were still talking about it. Regardless of who thinks what or whether it was done right, theres a reason why were still talking about."
On Florida QB Tim Tebow: "It will be interesting to see who has the opportunity to develop him. ... Id love the opportunity to develop him."