For a team that won't finish at .500 and not going to the playoffs for the second consecutive year, it was a pretty upbeat locker room as the Green Bay Packers started preparing for the 2018 swan song against the Detroit Lions this Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Enjoy it.
That was the message from interim Head Coach Joe Philbin who will try and lead the Packers to a three and one finish since taking over for Mike McCarthy.
Enjoy the last week together for as Philbin put it, "at 5 o'clock next Monday, this will be a ghost town." This will likely be the last time players who have toiled together for months will be together as the roster, not to mention the coaching staff will undergo a considerable transformation once the dust settles in the Lambeau ghost town.
The team learned what can happen when it fights together. Down 15 points in the fourth quarter to the New York Jets, they found a way to make plays to pull out the overtime win. They want to replicate that bonding and even a score against their NFC North rivals who embarrassed the Packers at Ford Field in October.
Aaron Rodgers held court in front of his locker for the last time and he spent several minutes echoing Philbin's theme of taking advantage of one last opportunity to enjoy the preparation and of playing with each other and for the organization. It also wasn't the first time Rodgers has mentioned "playing for Joe." He has brought it up in each of the first three weeks Philbin has led the team. It's almost as if there's a grass roots campaign building in the locker room to have President and CEO Mark Murphy give more than tacit consideration to Philbin as McCarthy's full time successor.
I asked Rodgers if that was his intent.
(Audio: Aaron Rodgers)
The Packers may have to play for Joe with one more thinned roster. They opened the practice week with 15 players listed on their injury report and the team officially moved defensive tackle Kenny Clark to injured reserve with one game to go.
Clark, an NFC Pro Bowl alternate, has missed the last two weeks with an elbow injury. He becomes the 15th player to join the IR list this year.
Davante Adams did not participate. He said a Jet defender landed on his right knee after just his second of 11 receptions last Sunday and it stiffened up on him over the holiday break. He's still hopeful about playing against Detroit, as is the Packer record book. He needs only two catches to pass Sterling Sharpe for the most receptions in a single season. Adams is 134 yards shy of Jordy Nelson's single season receiving yardage record of 1519.
Randall Cobb and Equanimeous St. Brown are both in the concussion protocol along with tackle Jason Spriggs. Jaire Alexander (groin), Fadal Brown (toe), Jimmy Graham (knee/thumb), David Bakhtiari (hip) and Clay Matthews (back) were the others who did not participate.
And even with only days left in the season, the Packers practice squad added another player as General Manager Brian Gutekunst signed tight end Evan Baylis. The first year player from Oregon was undrafted and signed with Houston in 2017. He was active for one game last year and also spent time with the Indianapolis and Carolina practice squads before he was released by the Panthers at the end of this summer's training camp.
Gutekunst also made a pitch for veteran safety D.J. Swearinger who was released by the Washington Redskins after Sunday's game when he made remarks critical of his defensive coordinator. The Packers, along with the Oakland Raiders put in a waiver claim for Swearinger but so did the Arizona Cardinals who were awarded his rights based the worst record of the three teams. That could have made for an interesting switch of safeties as Gutekunst traded starter Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Washington earlier this year and nearly brought his secondary running mate to Green Bay for the final game of the season.