GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers will be without three key players on offense in Sunday’s game against Detroit.

Running back James Starks (knee/ankle), receiver/kick returner Randall Cobb (groin) and receiver Greg Jennings (knee), who has missed the last two games, won’t play in the regular-season finale.

Coach Mike McCarthy would not say Friday whether quarterback Aaron Rodgers will sit the game out.

“The most important thing with Aaron is he’s ready to play,” McCarthy said. “It’s important for the quarterbacks, we repped all three of them this week. So I’d like to see all three of them play in the game, is the initial plan as we started the week.”

Rodgers didn’t shed any light on whether he would play.

“I’m going to leave it up to Mike,” he said.

The Packers also listed right tackle Bryan Bulaga (knee) as doubtful. Linebacker Clay Matthews (ankle) and cornerback Charles Woodson (knee) are questionable.

McCarthy has been coy this week about his approach to Sunday’s game after the Packers (14-1) clinched the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

While the playoffs-bound Lions (10-5) can gain the No. 5 seed in the NFC bracket by winning at Green Bay for the first time since 1991, the Packers don’t have anything riding on the final score against their longtime rivals.

“It ain’t the end of the world. We’ve still got them playoffs,” Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley said.

The Packers will have a first-round bye and won’t play again until the Jan. 14-15 weekend.

McCarthy shrugged off the suggestion that a loss would hurt his team’s momentum.

“I don’t ever worry about the outcome of the game,” he said. “I’m a firm believer in trusting the process. I truly believe we’re going to win this football game. So I’m more concerned with the process leading up to this game, and I’ll be just as much concerned as the process leading up to our next competition.

“Games are won, in my opinion, throughout the week. We fully expect to win this game.”

The Packers would be counting on a combination of Matt Flynn and Graham Harrell to lead the league’s No. 1-scoring offense if Rodgers doesn’t play for only the second time in his four seasons as the starter.

Flynn, a fourth-year player, made his only pro start Dec. 19, 2010, with Rodgers out because of a concussion. Flynn played well in the prime-time game on the road against the heavily favored New England Patriots, who hung on for a 31-27 win.

“I want to see Matt Flynn play like he did in New England, but take it a step further – win the game,” McCarthy said.

Harrell is anxious to get his first regular-season action since he signed with the Packers as a free agent in 2010.

“I’d love to get in, but we’re going out to win,” Harrell said.

And Harrell wouldn’t be surprised if Flynn, not Rodgers, makes the start Sunday.

“It’ll be interesting,” Harrell said. “I don’t think you can go wrong either way. Aaron, he’s been healthy almost his whole career. He’s a smart player, and he obviously helps us win. So letting him get some action would be good for us, but if they decide to rest him, it obviously makes a ton of sense as well.”

Notes: DE Ryan Pickett and LT Chad Clifton are expected to play. Both veterans are probable for the game. Pickett missed the last two games because of a concussion. Clifton hasn’t played since suffering a hamstring injury Oct. 9 and then a back injury during his rehab work. Finley also is probable. He practiced the last two days on a limited basis after a sore knee kept him out Wednesday. . McCarthy said the team would practice Wednesday and Thursday and possibly Friday next week before an opponent is known for the divisional round of the playoffs. “We’re going to keep our players mentally and physically on the same time clock,” McCarthy said.

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GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers will be without three key players on offense in Sunday’s game against Detroit.

Running back James Starks (knee/ankle), receiver/kick returner Randall Cobb (groin) and receiver Greg Jennings (knee), who has missed the last two games, won’t play in the regular-season finale.

Coach Mike McCarthy would not say Friday whether quarterback Aaron Rodgers will sit the game out.

“The most important thing with Aaron is he’s ready to play,” McCarthy said. “It’s important for the quarterbacks, we repped all three of them this week. So I’d like to see all three of them play in the game, is the initial plan as we started the week.”

Rodgers didn’t shed any light on whether he would play.

“I’m going to leave it up to Mike,” he said.

The Packers also listed right tackle Bryan Bulaga (knee) as doubtful. Linebacker Clay Matthews (ankle) and cornerback Charles Woodson (knee) are questionable.

McCarthy has been coy this week about his approach to Sunday’s game after the Packers (14-1) clinched the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

While the playoffs-bound Lions (10-5) can gain the No. 5 seed in the NFC bracket by winning at Green Bay for the first time since 1991, the Packers don’t have anything riding on the final score against their longtime rivals.

“It ain’t the end of the world. We’ve still got them playoffs,” Green Bay tight end Jermichael Finley said.

The Packers will have a first-round bye and won’t play again until the Jan. 14-15 weekend.

McCarthy shrugged off the suggestion that a loss would hurt his team’s momentum.

“I don’t ever worry about the outcome of the game,” he said.

“I’m a firm believer in trusting the process. I truly believe we’re going to win this football game. So I’m more concerned with the process leading up to this game, and I’ll be just as much concerned as the process leading up to our next competition.

“Games are won, in my opinion, throughout the week. We fully expect to win this game.”

The Packers would be counting on a combination of Matt Flynn and Graham Harrell to lead the league’s No. 1-scoring offense if Rodgers doesn’t play for only the second time in his four seasons as the starter.

Flynn, a fourth-year player, made his only pro start Dec. 19, 2010, with Rodgers out because of a concussion. Flynn played well in the prime-time game on the road against the heavily favored New England Patriots, who hung on for a 31-27 win.

“I want to see Matt Flynn play like he did in New England, but take it a step further – win the game,” McCarthy said.

Harrell is anxious to get his first regular-season action since he signed with the Packers as a free agent in 2010.

“I’d love to get in, but we’re going out to win,” Harrell said.
And Harrell wouldn’t be surprised if Flynn, not Rodgers, makes the start Sunday.

“It’ll be interesting,” Harrell said. “I don’t think you can go wrong either way. Aaron, he’s been healthy almost his whole career. He’s a smart player, and he obviously helps us win. So letting him get some action would be good for us, but if they decide to rest him, it obviously makes a ton of sense as well.”

Notes: DE Ryan Pickett and LT Chad Clifton are expected to play. Both veterans are probable for the game. Pickett missed the last two games because of a concussion. Clifton hasn’t played since suffering a hamstring injury Oct. 9 and then a back injury during his rehab work. Finley also is probable. He practiced the last two days on a limited basis after a sore knee kept him out Wednesday. . McCarthy said the team would practice Wednesday and Thursday and possibly Friday next week before an opponent is known for the divisional round of the playoffs. “We’re going to keep our players mentally and physically on the same time clock,” McCarthy said.

CHICAGO (CBS) — The struggling Bears say they have to “take a stand” against the Green Bay Packers when they head up to Wisconsin on Christmas Day.

“Green Bay is our rival, but lately, we haven’t been holding up our end of the deal. It’s kind of simple as that,” said Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith. They’ve dominated the rivalry here lately, and we have to take a stand. A great ball club – whenever you go that many games without losing, you’re saying a lot about what type of football you’re playing.”

The Packers are 13-1 this season. But the Bears have gone 0-4 since quarterback Jay Cutler had to leave with a broken thumb.

The Bears announced earlier this week that Josh McCown will start as quarterback against the Packers Sunday night, rather than the struggling Caleb Hanie.

McCown signed with the Bears after the injury. He hasn’t started a game since 2007 when he was with the Oakland Raiders.

But linebacker Brian Urlacher said the Bears can be competitive against the Packers regardless of the teams’ respective records.

“There have been times when they’ve been terrible and we’ve been good; we beat them. We’ve been good, they’ve been bad, they beat us. It doesn’t really matter; I hope it doesn’t matter this week either. It’s a big game for us going on there on Christmas Day, which will be the main focus of everyone’s game. It should be fun,” Urlacher said.

Linebacker Lance Briggs emphasized that the game is more about the team’s ability to salvage this season than the Bears-Packers rivalry.

“Even though we split during the season last year – they went ahead and won the championship game and went on to win the Super Bowl – I look at it as a big game. It’s a huge game,” Briggs said. We’re driving up to Wisconsin to play our rival, so I think it’s more than just taking a stand in the rivalry. It’s more taking a stand in the season.”

This week, Packers linemen got together on their own to watch film of last year’s miserable 7-3 loss at Ford Field — an early step in their preparation for Thursday’s much-hyped game in Detroit.

The reigning Super Bowl champions are 10-0 going into a big Thanksgiving Day showcase and have been unstoppable at times on offense, but watching last year’s film was humbling.

“We were actually just watching that game, and we did not play well,” Bulaga said. “Didn’t do anything well, really. It was just a poorly played game. That may be a nice way of putting it, too.”

The Packers were forced to shuffle their offensive line on the fly in that game after an early knee injury to then-left guard Daryn Colledge. Jason Spitz replaced him, struggled, and was replaced by T.J. Lang.

The Packers couldn’t get anything going on offense, and the Lions knocked Aaron Rodgers out of the game near the end of the first half with a concussion. Backup Matt Flynn struggled, too, and a late attempt at a rally came up short.

The Packers allowed four sacks and several more quarterback hits that day while gaining only 66 yards on 20 rushes — and 25 of those yards came on a pair of runs by Rodgers.

“Let’s not take anything away from them,” Bulaga said. “They beat us, they were more physical than us. They deserved to win. We just didn’t play well enough to win that day.”

But right guard Josh Sitton dismissed suggestions that the Packers struggled because the Lions’ defensive line was superior that day.

“That’s not about them, necessarily,” Sitton said. “I’d say our fundamentals, as an offensive line, weren’t great in that game. We’ve got to start from within.”

But what about the player Sitton will line up against Thursday, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh?

“Good football player,” Sitton said. “But like I said, it’s about us.”

Packers coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged that watching film of last year’s game in Detroit is part of their preparation this week, but said they are far more concerned with studying what the Lions are doing on defense this year.

“It’s something we can learn from,” McCarthy said. “You pay more attention to what they’re doing on defense and the personnel matchups and the tendencies of the individuals. But, yeah, it definitely factored in the game last year.”

Detroit has 27 sacks this season, tying them for eighth-most in the NFL. While the Lions have been vulnerable to the run, they’re allowing 192.8 yards passing per game — fifth-best in the league.

“They’ve got as good a front four as you’re going to see and they rotate some guys in who can play as well, so it’s going to be important for us to control them when they’re just rushing four,” Rodgers said. “They’ve been getting after the passer really well with (Kyle) Vanden Bosch and (Cliff) Avril and they’ve got a good rush up the middle.”

Charles Woodson spoke candidly last week about the Green Bay Packers’ pass defense, acknowledging its weaknesses and making one specific suggestion for improvement. All-Pro linebacker Clay Matthews is sitting at three sacks through eight games, and Woodson implored coaches to “find ways to get Clay to the quarterback.” He added: “We can’t continue to allow him to be stuck on a side and double-teamed every time he gets upfield.”

So as the Packers prepared for Monday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, it seemed fair to examine how the Packers have used Matthews this season. Are there, in fact, ways to elevate his sack totals to reduce pressure on Woodson and the rest of the Packers’ secondary? It might not be a critical factor against the Vikings’ run-oriented offense Monday night, but the issue rests atop a short list of questions the Packers must answer as they pursue a second consecutive Super Bowl championship.

According to numbers from ESPN Stats & Information, and by Matthews’ own observation, Woodson has a strong point.

Matthews has lined up as the Packers’ left outside linebacker, over the opponent’s right tackle, on 95.6 percent of the snaps he’s played this season. The chart provides the details, but suffice it to say, Matthews’ pre-snap positioning has been more predictable than in recent seasons. As a result, Matthews said this week, he has “absolutely” faced more double teams in 2011.

“You’re definitely seeing more help in regards to bringing guards over or tight ends or backs that are chipping,” Matthews said. “It’s pretty obvious, but at the same time, that’s not an excuse. We have to continue to create pressure, whether it’s me or one of the interior linemen or the other outside linebacker. We have to find ways to get to the quarterback and take pressure off of our DBs.”

There are some football justifications for anchoring Matthews on the left side of the defense. He has proved adept against the run and in covering opposing tight ends, both of which are more likely to originate from that side of an opposing offense. Covering tight ends or running backs has separated Matthews from 20 percent of the pass plays he has been on the field for (72 of 360).

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers told reporters this week in Green Bay that “we try to be as creative with Clay as you can possibly be,” and that Matthews said it is “definitely a possibility” that he could move around more Monday night.

But for what it’s worth, coach Mike McCarthy has prioritized communication problems as the Packers’ top area of defensive concern — not Matthews’ pre-snap positioning. The Packers have had some well-chronicled coverage miscues in their secondary that have resulted in big plays, whether safeties have bitten on run fakes or provided coverage over the top to the wrong receiver.

And if Matthews is double-teamed more often, McCarthy said, he expects other players to take advantage of the corresponding opportunity.

“Our biggest improvement on defense is that we need to clean up some communication,” McCarthy said. “The recurring big issue we’ve had is giving up big plays. That’s what we’re focusing on. … Pass rush comes down to winning your one-on-ones. Someone is going to have a one-on-one situation, and anytime you do have a one-on-one to rush the passer, it’s important to win those.”

In an ideal world, of course, that would be a fair expectation. But after eight games of waiting for another pass-rusher to step up, the Packers’ best option remains neutralized. Even Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, speaking this week on his ESPN 540 radio show, acknowledged that “I don’t think we’ve had the same kind of pressure through the first eight games that we’ve had in the past.”

The Packers’ defense would improve immediately if it eliminates the communication issues McCarthy is concerned about. But Woodson wasn’t just talking about getting better. He wants to win the Super Bowl. The Packers need an active Clay Matthews to ensure that. The problem has been identified, and a possible solution floated. Will it happen? Stay tuned.