GREEN BAY — While it may very well end up happening by week's end, the Green Bay Packers did not immediately elevate practice-squad quarterback Scott Tolzien to the 53-man roster on Tuesday.

Despite multiple reports Tuesday afternoon that the team intended to promote the former University of Wisconsin quarterback from the practice squad, the move did not occur, as the Packers placed two players — tight end Jermichael Finley (spinal cord bruise) and inside linebacker Sam Barrington (hamstring) on season-ending injured reserve but filled only one of the roster spots.

Offensive tackle Derek Sherrod was activated from the physically unable to perform list, but as of Tuesday night, the Packers still had only one healthy quarterback on the roster: No. 2 man Seneca Wallace, who replaced an injured Aaron Rodgers (broken collarbone) during the Packers' 27-20 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Asked what his plan was behind Wallace this week, coach Mike McCarthy replied Tuesday: "Well, that's something we've got to work through, we're still working through that. I was in a personnel meeting this morning. I have not talked to Ted since then, and I know we made a couple changes with two (players) going on IR. Derek Sherrod has come up. So we need to get his reps and his rotation set, but we're still working on the 53rd position."

After the game on Monday night, Tolzien said the team had not given him any indication that it intended to promote him.

"I think in this league, you've got to expect anything. It's not the most fortunate circumstances, obviously," Tolzien said. "I wish Aaron was still playing. But it's my job to be prepared."

Tolzien, who joined the Packers' practice squad after the final cuts at the end of training camp having spent the last two years with the San Francisco 49ers, called his grasp of the Packers' playbook "a work in progress."

The Packers, though, clearly like him and want him to compete next year for the No. 2 job behind Rodgers, as it seems unlikely the 33-year-old Wallace would return to be the primary backup. To show that, they gave Tolzien a hefty raise recently after the Cleveland Browns tried to sign him to their 53-man roster. Tolzien went from making the standard $6,000 per week on the practice squad to $32,058 per week, or the prorated weekly minimum for a second-year player on an active roster ($554,999).

"You always consider it because that's a roster spot," Tolzien said last week when asked about the Browns' offer. "When you think of the NFL and how many quarterback spots there are, there's very few total spots. There's just a million pieces to the puzzle, but I like it here. I like the direction that I'm going and that the team is going. I'm glad to be a part of it and happy to be here."

Paying a practice-squad player a 53-man roster salary isn't unprecedented with the Packers, who've done it with quarterback Graham Harrell, cornerback Brandian Ross and wide receivers Tori Gurley and Diondre Borel in recent years.

Here's the potential dilemma the Packers could have, however: Promoting Tolzien to the 53-man roster would likely require them to keep him there the rest of the year, meaning they'd be carrying three quarterbacks on the active roster. McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson have tried to keep only two on the 53 in recent years, with Harrell getting called up in 2011 and last year at the end of each season.

If the Packers wanted the roster spot back later in the year, they'd have to cut Tolzien, exposing him to waivers. Given the Browns' and other teams' interest — Baltimore also tried to sign him to their practice squad at the end of camp — he'd likely be claimed.

Ex-Packers backup Matt Flynn, who was cut earlier this season by Oakland, was released by Buffalo on Monday and went through waivers unclaimed on Tuesday. There were no indications, however, that the Packers were trying to sign him, and McCarthy certainly sounded uninterested in him  after the Raiders cut him last month.

"Personally, I'm very happy with the quarterback room, the way it looks, the people in it," McCarthy said on Oct. 7. "Obviously Matt was a Packer, (I am) very fond of Matt and his time here. As far as any roster moves and things like that, I really don't have any comment on (that). But I do like Seneca Wallace, I like what he's done since he's been here, I feel very good about our quarterback room."

Flynn departed as a free agent following the 2011 season, having started two games — a 2010 loss at New England, when Rodgers was sidelined with a concussion, and the 2011 regular-season finale, when he threw for a franchise-record 480 yards and six touchdowns in a victory over the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field. He signed with the Seattle Seahawks but lost out to then-rookie Russell Wilson in training camp, then was traded this offseason to Oakland, where he started one game before being released. The Seahawks and Raiders paid Flynn a combined $14.5 million over those two seasons.

Jason Wilde  wrote: