In Mike McCarthy’s six seasons 65.3% of the team’s plays have been designed passes and 72.4%
of the team’s offensive yardage has come through the air.

And, in 2011 65.6% of the plays were passes, yielding 77% of the yardage.

Green Bay - The NFL draft had just ended in late April, and Packer coach Mike McCarthy was talking about his high-powered offense.

"Well, we're going to run the ball more (in 2012) because we're going to get our stats up," McCarthy said with a straight face.

Then he added: "That's a joke."

Of course it is. Since arriving in Green Bay in 2006, McCarthy's teams have traveled almost exclusively by air, and the ground game has gone the way of the covered wagon.

In those six seasons, the Packers have run 5,685 plays from scrimmage during the regular season. Of those, 3,713 have been designed passes (65.3%).

Green Bay has gained 36,557 yards in that time - including 26,460 via the pass (72.4%).

McCarthy leaned on the passing game more than ever in 2011. The Packers gained 77.0% of their yards through the air and called passing plays 65.6% of the time.

As the NFL has transitioned into a league dominated by the forward pass, McCarthy has been at the head of the curve. By and large, McCarthy is going to win on the arm of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and a gifted group of receivers.

And really, who can argue? Since McCarthy took over, the Packers are 63-33, have won a Super Bowl, and reached the playoffs four times.

But for the first time since 2009 - the last year Green Bay had a 1,000-yard rusher - the Packers might give their running game more than a passing glance.

That's because third-year back James Starks appears capable of a breakout season. The key with Starks, as always, will be health.

Starks has the physical gifts to be the best back McCarthy has coached in Green Bay.

He's 6 foot 2, 218 pounds and carries just 7% body fat.

Starks ran the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds coming out of Buffalo in 2010. And while Starks hasn't been timed since, he insists, "I'm much faster today. I can just tell. I can feel it."

As Starks showed during Green Bay's run to the Super Bowl title in 2010 - when he ran for 315 yards in four games - he's capable of being the bell cow. But can he do it for more than just short stints?

"He looks great. Looks great," McCarthy said of Starks recently. "He had a breakout playoff run (in 2010). Some guys just hit that injury phase in their careers and just have to work themselves out of it.

"Starks has some of that. He's had some tough challenges just getting hurt."

That's for sure.

At the University of Buffalo, Starks dealt with hamstring issues and a mild concussion in 2006; a broken hand, hip and turf toe injuries in 2008; and a torn labrum in his left shoulder that sidelined him for his entire senior season in 2009.

Starks missed 13 regular season games during his rookie year with the Packers in 2010, due primarily to hamstring injuries. Then in 2011, Starks missed three regular season games with an ankle injury.

When Starks has been healthy, he's produced. There was the big 2010 postseason, and Starks led the Packers with 578 rushing yards last season.

But staying on the field has been a six-year struggle now.

"It is what it is. It's football," Starks said of his injury issues. "It's a physical game. People get hurt all the time. If you get down, you're going to stay down. I'm going to get right back up. I'm going to pray. And I'm always going to be a driver and striver.

"Last year is in the past. I don't think I had a horrible year or anything, but sometimes things don't go your way. I've bought into the system here, and things are going fine. We're winning games with how much I've been doing. You never know what's going to happen. God willing, things will go my way."

Starks spent much of the off-season working on his hamstrings, which have given him fits for years. He's also thicker through the chest, and has lowered his body fat by 1-2%.

Does that make him ready for a breakout season?

"You hope that every guy gets better every year," Packer offensive coordinator Tom Clements said. "He has a lot of ability. He's powerful, runs hard, catches the ball out of the backfield pretty well. We're hopeful."

In many ways, this will be a make-or-break year for Starks.

He's already 26, extremely old for a third-year player. And considering the other backs on the roster are even greener than Starks, it's likely to be his show.

Alex Green, a third-round draft pick in 2011, suffered a torn ACL in Week 7 last season and his status for the start of the season remains unclear.

Brandon Saine, who went undrafted in 2011, had just 18 carries.

Ryan Grant, the No. 5 rusher in franchise history, remains an unrestricted free agent. But the Packers have shown little to no interest.

So it's likely sink or swim with Starks.

"I feel like I do every year, and that's to have a breakout year," Starks said. "That's everybody's dream, but you never know what God has in store for you.

"I approach every year the same. I just work hard, pray on it, and hope that everything will eventually go right, go smooth. I've been here for a while now, so I'm getting comfortable. Eventually it will come."

There won't be a better chance than 2012.

Rob Reischel  wrote: