Green Bay heads into Thursday night after a 38-17 win at Chicago, the 700th regular-season win in franchise history. In the victory, star quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 22 of 28 passes (78.6 percent) for 302 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 151.2 passer rating.
Wide receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson were two of Rodgers' favorite targets last week, as Cobb had seven catches for 113 yards, and Nelson caught 10 balls for 108 yards. The pair were the first Packers teammates to each have at least 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a game since December 21, 1969.
“We know what we’re capable of as an offense” says Cobb. “We have a lot of playmakers. We’re going to continue to gel.”
Rodgers, who now has 25,196 career passing yards, reached 25,000 passing yards in 3,065 attempts, the fewest attempts in NFL history to reach the mark.
For what it's worth, Rodgers seems to do well on a short work week, as he has led the Packers to a 4-1 record when he starts on Thursdays, including a 3-0 record against NFC North opponents. Since 2009, Rodgers is among the leaders in many passing categories on Thursdays, ranking first in the NFC in completion percentage (70.9) and tied for first in the NFC with 10 touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Vikings enter Week 5 playing .500 football following a 41-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Despite the loss of running back Adrian Peterson and quarterback Matt Cassel from the lineup, Minnesota has been able to compete due to the impressive performances from the team’s 2014 rookie class.
“I like how this team competes,” says Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer. “I like how it works. I like how it studies. I thought our guys played very hard. This was a great team win.”
Rookie Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (Round 1, No. 32 overall) made his first career start and completed 19 passes for 317 yards for a 98.9 passer rating, becoming just the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era with at least 300 passing yards and no interceptions in his first career start.
Bridgewater showed poise, pocket presence, and also added a 13-yard rushing touchdown for good measure. However, he did not participate in practice Tuesday, as he is nursing an injured ankle.
Running back Jerick McKinnon (Round 3, No. 96 overall) rushed for a game-high 135 yards, including a 55-yard run, which is tied for the fourth-longest run by a rookie in team history.
On defense, linebacker and former UCLA Bruin Anthony Barr (Round 1, No. 9 overall) collected six tackles and a sack in the win. Barr is now tied for the team lead with two sacks this season.
“We have a nice Thursday night game coming up against Green Bay,” says Vikings kicker Blair Walsh, who kicked his franchise-leading 14th field goal of 50-plus yards in Sunday’s win. “This is a really important game for us, in the division, against our rival, and we haven’t beaten Green Bay there in a while so we’re going to come out firing.”
MINNESOTA VIKINGS at GREEN BAY PACKERS INJURY REPORT
Minnesota Vikings
DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Tuesday
QB Teddy Bridgewater (ankle), LB Chad Greenway (hand, rib), TE Kyle Rudolph (abdomen, groin)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Tuesday
RB Jerick McKinnon (ankle), CB Captain Munnerlyn (illness), CB Josh Robinson (hamstring)
FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Tuesday
RB Jerome Felton (knee), LB Michael Mauti (foot), WR Rodney Smith (hamstring), LB Brandon Watts (knee)
Green Bay Packers
DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Tuesday
LB Sam Barrington (hamstring), DT Josh Boyd (knee), WR Jarrett Boykin (groin)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Tuesday
LB Brad Jones (quadricep)
FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Tuesday
LB Clay Matthews (groin)
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services
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