Green Bay -- The assistant coaches met with reporters this afternoon and there were a lot of questions about Aaron Rodgers. But as of 3 p.m. Monday, Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin hadn't seen or spoken to his quarterback, who was recovering from a concussion.
Philbin said the care, management and treatment of Rodgers' concussion was entirely up to the medical staff and he didn't know if there would be any special precautions taken for Rodgers this week, since this was Rodgers' second concussion in 10 weeks.
What Philbin can control, however, is whether or not to direct Rodgers to get down on more of those runs and slide so he can't get tackled.
"I thought we did that already," said Philbin, half jokingly. Remember, the coaches got on Rodgers after the Dallas game where Rodgers took an unnecessary shot running to the sidelines. He was lucky he wasn't hurt then.
After coming back from the bye, Rodgers vowed to slide more even though his running game is a great weapon.
"I think at times I've had a chip on my shoulder about my toughness, but that's not always the best thing to do," he said on the Mike McCarthy Show. "I took a shot on the sidelines against Dallas. I know Mike was probably very upset about that. That was more unintentional. For the most part, I like to slide and get down. But sometimes, very rarely, I try and prove I'm actually a real football player and can take a hit. That won't be happening too frequently here the last seven games."
Against Detroit, of course, it happened. With the offense struggling in every way -- fumbles, sacks, poor running -- Rodgers was clearly trying to get the offense going with a big play. Green Bay was 0 for 6 on third downs in the first half, Greg Jennings cave up a ball for an interception and left guard Daryn Colledge left with an injury. The Packers couldn't get anything going. Rodgers ran 18 yards before getting clobbered -- the longest run by any Packer for the day.
"Obviously you want competitive players. The guys want to make a play, they want to provide a spark to the offense obviously we were looking for a spark at that particular point of the game.
"But once you get the first down you have to be cognizant of where you are, where the pursuit is. People usually dont have eyes in the back of their head but you have to use your discretion and (judge) the significance of what the play can do to your teammates."
McCarthy said it is possible he won't know much about Rodgers until Thursday. It's another big week. The Packers face New England Sunday night.
Philbin said he doesn't have a specific rule for Rodgers on the slide. It's not like he should always go for the first down and then slide, or slide if it's an early down, no matter where he is, or slide as soon as there are defenders within close proximity.
"I think he saw the guy from the side when he went down; Im just not sure he saw them from both sides," said Philbin. "If Im not mistaken that was a first down scramble, so if hes wide open, obviously you want to be smart. If theres a lot of green grass, take what you can get. But dont put yourself in a precarious position."
Rodgers is known for having strong opinions on plays or calls but Philbin doesn't expect much of an argument from Rodgers in this case - the slide is preferred.
If anything, Philbin said the coaching staff needs to drive the point home after backup Matt Flynn also ran head first in to defenders in the second half.
"Was his a third down play? Yes. That was a little different situation. Still, he needs to slide as well. Theres no question about it. That one -- you dont excuse it and it was third down and all that other stuff but to be honest with you, were not getting it across as well as we need to. Were going to have to keep emphasizing it. Its like anything, you hope you get what you emphasize, and that didnt show up yesterday. I mean, the second play of the game, we fumble the ball. After jog through (in practice), thats the first thing we do is ball security. So weve got to keep working on it."