Tuesday, August 26, 2008

McCarthy: Grant could start Thursday night

1:10 p.m.

After practice, Coach Mike McCarthy addressed a variety of topics:

* Ryan Grant will go with the first unit on Thursday night, depending on his health. McCarthy said Grant needs the reps.

* Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila didnt practice today because his knee was sore and didnt respond well to Mondays practice. Mike Montgomery is suffering from groin injury and didnt practice.

* The plan is to keep the best 53 players on the final roster, McCarthy said One of the deepest positions is at linebacker, where as many as seven players could be kept.

* In general terms, McCarthy said training camp practices were considered high quality in terms of the way the team practiced, the tempo and the energy that was termed far better than the first two years. However, some practices and scheduling was disjointed because of the preseason schedule that gave the Packers three short weeks in a row.

* The starting unit is likely to play one or two series on Thursday or about 10-12 plays.

* Longsnapper J.J. Jansen to this point has done a good job, but is still being assessed. Its possible the Packers could look elsewhere if he doesnt perform well Thursday night, McCarthy said.