Rodgers iffy for Patriots game

Sunday's Packers-Patriots game is a potential Super Bowl preview, but only if Aaron Rodgers is in the lineup for the Packers. At this point, that's an iffy proposition for the Packers' quarterback.

Rodgers, who suffered his second concussion of the season on Sunday, not only didn't practice today, he didn't even participate in meetings. 

"He's going through the normal protocol that you go through with the concussions, procedures," coach Mike McCarthy said. "I don’t anticipate him practicing tomorrow. I think it’d be a slim chance for him to practice on Friday. We’ll probably make a decision Saturday if he is cleared by the medical staff."

McCarthy said it will be a matter of monitoring Rodgers throughout the week to see if his symptoms persist.

"There are a series of tests that every player goes through," McCarthy said. "As he clears each hurdle and then he’s able to practice and that’s really the final stage, [once it’s deemed] he can practice and everything is clear. We’re obviously not close to that step yet."

So when can Rodgers even attend meetings? 

"That’s a medical decision," McCarthy said. "Dr. John Gray really controls the process of when they’re able to participate in meetings and then obviously the next step from that is the physical conditioning and then after that is the participation with the on the field activity."

Q: How concerned are you about his participation? Once he clears all these tests and then it gets to the end of the week and he’s yet to practice, are you concerned about putting him in there without having any practice time?

MM: That’s a better question for me to probably answer at the end of the week because really the first thing I’m looking at is No. 1 is he healthy enough to go through the mental preparation. Once we get to that point, we’ll probably have a better feel where he stands. The conversations that you have normally with your quarterback throughout the week, he’s played a lot of football for us. I know it’s only his third season as a starter. He played against Atlanta in his first year without practicing all week, so we do have some history there.

Q: You’ve been around a lot of quarterbacks as a coach. Can you talk about the level at which Tom Brady is playing right now?

MM: He’s playing at an incredible level. I can’t say enough about Tom’s performance. He’s No. 1. As we all know, he’s a proven champion. Their offense is so in sync. As you watch them play, you can see the coordination between Tom and the offensive line as far as the adjustments that are made, particularly the protection adjustments. Whether they’re in their empty sets or with the reloading, protection calls based on the initial look of the defense and so forth, [he] gets the ball out of his hand so quick at a burst of pressure. You can see the timing between him and the receivers. Everybody is on the same page. They’re obviously functioning at a very high level.