GREEN BAY – If Aaron Rodgers and his receivers want to get together to play some catch, that’s just fine with Mike McCarthy. But the Green Bay Packers coach made it clear Friday morning that if his players don’t get together for their own practices while the NFL lockout drags on, that’s just fine with him.

Appearing on ESPNMilwaukee and ESPNMadison’s Green and Gold Today, McCarthy said it’s more important that his players gather for events such as wide receiver Greg Jennings’ annual charity golf tournament Friday at Merrill Hills Country Club, or wide receiver Donald Driver’s annual charity softball game last Sunday outside Appleton.

Listen to McCarthy’s interview here .

Rodgers and his fellow team leaders absorbed some criticism from ESPN’s Tedy Bruschi and Mike Golic earlier in the week for being one of the few teams that has yet to have player-organized practices during the lockout. Appearing on Fox Sports Wisconsin’s telecast of Thursday night’s Milwaukee Brewers game, Rodgers said “there is no doubt we're going to get together” for some sort of practices if the lockout continues.

“I’m more interested in them being together as a group for Greg Jennings’ event or Donald Driver’s event. I think that’s as important as them going onto the field and trying to manufacture a practice,” McCarthy said. “I think anytime you have a group of people, especially professionals, there’s other factors involved that obviously have to deal with risk.

“Part of our business in the training environment is risk assessment. It’s important for these players when they do come together for the first time that there’s a progression you go through as you get ready as a group. I know in my heart that every one of them has been taking care of business on an individual basis, and I know some of them have gotten together in small groups. They’ll be ready.

“I just think they have to be very smart when they do go out there. You really don’t want them in a competitive environment. I wouldn’t be interested in seeing the offense going against the defense. I don’t think that risk is worth it. But anytime the perimeter guys can have a chance to throw the ball around, work on some timing elements, I think that’s healthy. But really, them being together is the first step, and I think that’s positive even if it’s at a charity event.”

McCarthy said that players coming off of injured reserve, like running back Ryan Grant (ankle) and tight end Jermichael Finley (knee), or players who ended the season with injuries like cornerback Charles Woodson (collarbone) or Driver (ankle) likely would have been withheld from any organized team activity practices or minicamp workouts had there been a normal offseason anyway. Those players coming off of injuries likely would have worked in the rehabilitation group and not been part of regular on-field practices.

“That’s usually the practice of our medical staff – we’re extremely conservative with guys coming off of injuries,” McCarthy said, adding that he gets regular updates on their progress from Dr. Pat McKenzie, who is still able to be in contact with the players during the lockout. “Once again, there’s a progression that each player goes through and it’s tailored to his specific injury that he’s dealing with. And most of the time, the final hurdle is to get these individuals ready for training camp. I don’t think it’d be real smart for someone coming off a major injury going out there in an unsupervised practice-type environment.”

McCarthy said he and his coaches have been working as they normally would, although they did alter their planning and priorities. Currently, coaches are prepping for the Sept. 8 regular-season opener against the New Orleans Saints and also breaking down film of the Packers’ NFC North rivals Minnesota, Chicago and Detroit.

McCarthy also said he hasn’t given up hope that a new collective bargaining agreement could be reached between owners and the NFL Players Association in time for some workouts in advance of training camp, which is scheduled to open on July 30.

“From a scheduling standpoint, we really operated on two schedules – one if there was a lockout and one if there wasn’t, with the ability to transition from one to the other at any particular time,” McCarthy said. “The focus of the coaching staff has really been to prioritize what we should be working on throughout March, April, May and now June.

“Our staff is ready for training camp. Now we’re spending time on the New Orleans Saints and our division opponents and completing those projects and really just getting ready for when the labor talks do (end) and we can shift into the mode of getting our players back and getting started.

“Next week is another opportunity that it could change, where you could have some OTA-type practices or time-frames to be with your players. That’s the way we’re viewing it. We’re looking at every week as a possibility to get our players in here and get started.”

McCarthy, who will be in Madison Sunday and Monday for his second annual golf event to benefit the University of Wisconsin’s American Family Children’s Hospital, addressed a variety of other topics during the interview. Among them:

On who is most affected by the lockout: “I think clearly the rookies are going to have the biggest challenge. They’re going to be in an environment they haven’t been in before, they’re transitioning into pro football, so I think it’s pretty obvious. You’re used to getting your rookies on May 16 and they have a good six to eight weeks to get ready for training camp, and that’s been lost.”

On having Finley, Tom Crabtree, Andrew Quarless, exclusive-rights free agent Spencer Havner and draft picks D.J. Williams and Ryan Taylor all on the roster at tight end: “The tight end position, especially the way we play,t hey have the ability to play on the line, (as well as) in displaced formations, we usually insert them both in our run blocking and our pass-protection scheme, and the other part of it is, their body type is perfect for special teams. We look for all those tight ends to have a chance to contribute.”

On what his post-Super Bowl XLV Gatorade shower felt like: “It feels great. It feels exactly how you’d think it would, man. It’s even better when you don’t expect it. I don’t know why I was so surprised by it, I guess I should’ve been ready for it. It totally caught me off guard. There’s a great picture, I think Doug Collins our security director was even more caught off guard. So it was kind of funny to see those pictures. It was great. People ask me if it was sticky, I really didn’t notice. It was cold, and it was awesome."

On having his players get sized for their Super Bowl rings – which they’ll receive next Thursday in a private ceremony – the night before the game: “Like a lot of things, you’re never really the first one to do anything original. Whether it’s a play or a certain type of scheme or even scheduling, there’s people that have sized their rings before the game. I don’t know if they did it the night before. I did it more the night before from a standpoint that that’s where I felt it fit best in our schedule. Really, the night before the game was such a confidence booster for me as a head coach because of a number of things that went on. Prior to the team meeting that night, Greg Jennings jumps on the baby grand piano out in the lobby there and he starts playing the piano and a couple guys join in singing, and then C.J. Wilson, who’s a tremendous piano player, he starts playing and all of a sudden you’ve got 25, 30 guys over there singing and there’s just al ot of confidence in the air. … And then to come out of that meeting and those guys form a line as organized as I’ve ever seen them to get sized for the rings.

“Our snack is usually a pretty jovial event; guys stick around there for an hour and a half and did so that night. I thought the whole evening was full of confidence and excitement, and when you look back on it, most of the individuals in the room that night were getting ready to play in the biggest game of their lives, and everyone was extremely confident. And the sizing of the rings fit that moment.”

On Rodgers’ story about seeing photographers jockeying for position at the coin toss and getting into a fight, and what that said about his quarterback’s confidence level: “Even when Aaron was running off the field after the coin flip, he comes up to me and says, ‘Did you see that? Did you see the photographers?’ And I didn’t see it; I had no idea what he was talking about. And he was just laughing, ‘It was unbelievable! They were ready to fight out there!’ And I still didn’t know what he was talking about until he told the story later. He was in the right mindset, and I think anytime you can make the game like another game, you always want to make sure that your preparation prepares everybody so the game is the easy part. And I felt that was the case when we lined up Super Bowl Sunday."

On if his wife, Jessica, has encouraged him to get a hobby to get him out of the house during the lockout: “I’m still working. I’m still doing plenty. Our vacation has not started yet. We’re getting ready for a baby to be born here in another four to six weeks, so we’ve got plenty to do as a family.”

On how his life has changed since winning Super Bowl XLV: “It’s different. You’re noticed a lot more, even moreso nationally than just statewide here in Wisconsin. That’s something that was obvious when we traveled as a family down in Texas. I was on a merry-go-round at Sea World in San Antonio, and four firemen and their families about come over the railing – I was on there with (daughter) Gabrielle – and I was a little taken aback by that, because usually I can go pretty much unnoticed down there. It’s different.

“I’ll tell you one thing that was really special, something I and my staff will never forget. Wednesday night we had a coaches-only celebration, and we had it at Chives restaurant there in Green Bay. J.R., the owner, closed it down for us and we spent the whole evening down there and Jessica and I purchased a Super Bowl trophy replica and a picture from the post-game celebration for every coach and their spouse and everybody in the coaching department. That was a special night. You don’t really have the opportunity to get together like that as a staff. It’s something I’ll always remember.”

On whether repeating will be harder or easier for his team because of lockout: “I get that question asked a lot, and I don’t really know how you can quantify that. This lockout, it’s tough on everybody. (The offseason is) about improving as a football team. I’ve always felt with the game of football, you’re either improving or you’re going the other way. So no one’s had a chance to do anything because no one’s had a chance to come together as a team. Our last game was in February, and the next one’s supposed to be in September, so that’s a long time to think you’re going to have carryover or to say that you have an advantage. I understand everybody thinks this really is going to help us because what it’s doing to the first-year coaches and so forth, but time will answer that. It’s such an unusual situation. I’ve never been through anything like this. I’ve always believed in growth in the offseason, and now we’re going to have to get that done in the training camp environment."

On if he’s undertaken any major landscaping projects at his house, given how much he enjoys yard work: “I need to get the back lot cut. With all this rain, it’s getting high. I hope to get on the tractor this weekend, but our yard’s in pretty good shape. We’ve been able to get in the pool here the last couple weeks, a little later than in most years. Our house is all about kids. If I was a kid, that’s where I’d want to hang out. Very kid-friendly.”

On how much he misses his players, having not seen most of them since right after the Super Bowl: “Our whole staff feels the same way. We just talked about it Wednesday night. It’s been very odd. You go through your postseason evaluations and you go through your scheme evaluations. You’re excited to get the new ideas and new thoughts to your quarterback (and offensive players), and it’s no different on defense and special teams. And get them taught and get out on the field and teach it in stages. But more importantly, just the interaction, especially coming off a Super Bowl victory – there’s a lot to talk about. Really, we didn’t have that opportunity to enjoy the victory. Hopefully we’ll have that at ring night. It’s been very odd not seeing the players for this long. Because every year, you’re usually back in the building (together) around March 16.”

540ESPNMilwaukee wrote: