Acknowledging a problem is one thing. Doing something about it is another.

In Ted Thompson's six seasons, only one National Football League team, the Indianapolis Colts, has been worse on special teams than the Green Bay Packers. Earlier this week, the general manager conceded the area has been a sore spot.

Coach Mike McCarthy has paid mostly lip service to improving his special teams. Last year, his units ranked 29th in the Dallas Morning News' annual survey of performance after ranking 31st in 2009, 26th in '08, tied for seventh in '07 and 32nd in '06. The Packers also were dead last in '05 under Mike Sherman.

"I was disappointed in the ranking," McCarthy said after last season. "I understand why."

The rash of injuries affected Shawn Slocum's second season as the coordinator. To what degree is hard to say.

In April, the Packers did something by selecting wide receiver Randall Cobb in the second round and tight end Ryan Taylor in the seventh.

Cobb could be considered the first player chosen by Green Bay in the first two rounds since Terrell Buckley in 1992 with his ability to return kicks playing a key part in the selection.

Taylor was regarded by several coaches as one of the five best special-teams players in the draft, a so-called "special-teams ace" that Thompson and other recent general managers in Green Bay had been scoffing at for 20 years.

"I think we're going to be better," Thompson said, echoing his words before previous seasons. "I know the rankings are the rankings, but I thought down the stretch and in the playoffs our teams played pretty good."

The Packers were more respectable during their six-game winning streak. Punter Tim Masthay was devastatingly effective twice against Chicago's Devin Hester, and Tramon Williams' 41-yard punt return turned the tide toward Green Bay in the regular-season finale against the Bears.

But let's not get carried away. Atlanta's Eric Weems zipped 102 yards for a touchdown in the divisional playoffs. Fortunately for Green Bay, it wasn't like the three long returns in the regular season that led to three close losses.

The Packers did show better discipline and organization in Year 2 under Slocum. They trimmed their penalty total from a horrendous 32 in 17 games to 22 in 20 games and seemed to find a capable punter in Masthay.

"We didn't do anything spectacular, but we play hard and do what we need to do to help field position," said Jarrett Bush, who with departed Korey Hall probably ranked as the top two individuals on special teams.

"Hopefully, we can drop that number (29th) down at least halfway. Regardless of the stats, we got to the big game and ended up winning. As long as we keep winning football games, I don't see it as a problem."

The way Slocum sees it, most of the clubs that have fielded the best special teams in recent years - Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, New England, Oakland - share the common denominator of a top punter and top returner.

After flopping around for two seasons following the bad decision to release Jon Ryan, the Packers found Masthay on the street in January 2010. He started slowly, gained confidence at midseason and took off.

"I'll tell you what," said McCarthy. "I think we've got a real one there."

Now Slocum's primary focus is finding a return man. The Packers rolled the dice and escaped without Williams being injured as the sole punt returner, but the kickoff-return average was an embarrassing 19.5 in 20 games.

Having watched Sam Shields, Jordy Nelson, Pat Lee and James Starks run them back in pedestrian fashion, Thompson went looking for a kickoff man and drafted Cobb. He ranked among the top seven or eight dual return men in the draft.

In three seasons at Kentucky, Cobb averaged 9.8 in 63 punts and 24.6 in 44 kickoffs. Slocum went so far as to compare him to hard-charging Josh Cribbs of Cleveland, another former collegiate quarterback.

"He's a good catcher of the ball," said Slocum. "He has ability as a punt returner to get vertical quickly. I rarely saw him get hit very hard. He's got good strength and excellent character, too."

The new face on kickoffs also could be running back Alex Green, a 225-pounder with good but not great speed. Cobb runs 40 yards in 4.47; Green runs a 4.52.

Green has just one kickoff return (2009) at any level and had a major fumbling problem at Hawaii.

"No doubt about it," Green replied Wednesday when asked if he wanted the job. "I like to get up field as fast as possible without making too many moves."

Allen Rossum's 92-yard return against the Colts in November 2000 was the Packers' last touchdown on a kickoff return.

"I think it's time to score," Slocum said. "We played well enough to win the Super Bowl, but from a statistical standpoint I always want to improve. I think we need to be more impactful in the return game and more consistent in our kickoff coverage."

Mason Crosby is back for a fifth season, having signed a five-year deal with $3 million guaranteed. Counting playoffs, he has hit 78% of his field goals and all but one of his 219 extra points.

By comparison, Chris Jacke made 76.4% of his field goals from 1989-'96 and Ryan Longwell, the best kicker in club history, made 80.9% from 1997-'05.

"Mason's been very solid," said Slocum. "The one quality I think is really good is he rarely misses two in a row."

Strangely, Crosby has had just four chances in four years for a game-winning kick in the final minute of regular or overtime with a chance to take the lead. He hit one from 42 in his NFL debut before missing from 52, 38 and 53.

"He needs to take the next step in his future making walk-off field goals," said Slocum. "I would like our kicker to be 90% . . . we have a difficult place to kick in Lambeau."

Brett Goode hasn't made an unusable snap in his three seasons. Masthay, also an effective holder, estimated all but a few of Goode's 89 snaps on punts were perfect. The same held true on Goode's 94 snaps for placements.

"What makes him great is when I'm punting, practice or games, I have literally never thought about the snap," said Masthay. "He's on the mark.

"As the holder, I didn't have to spin many at all and I didn't have to reach big for any of them. You don't want (Crosby) to be hitting the laces or a moving ball. When (Goode) gets in a groove, it's coming laces (facing) out 19 times out of 20. Or even better."