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ness of any player to get back on the field, but that's always a collective conversation -- the medical staff, the player ... and really, I don't make medical decisions," McCarthy said.
• "That will be no different with Aaron Rodgers. We all know he wants to play. He wants to play as soon as he can. But those are big decisions when you put a player back on the field. When everybody's confident, then that's when it will happen."
• Then again, the day after the injury, McCarthy said of Rodgers, "Let's not kid ourselves, if he walked in your office and asked for the ball on Saturday, what would you do?"
• Each of the past two weeks, the Packers have waited until Friday to officially rule out Rodgers.
• Asked whether his announcement of Tolzien as the starter meant Rodgers definitely won't play, McCarthy said, "I have not spoken to the medical staff about Aaron Rodgers' status."
• Asked if he'd been told last week already that Rodgers wouldn't play against the Vikings, McCarthy said, "No, we haven't had that conversation."
• For the Packers, Sunday's game is crucial.
• At 5-5 and trailing Chicago (6-4) and Detroit (6-4) in the NFC North, they can ill afford to lose another game with Rodgers on the sideline. Their next game is a Nov. 28 Thanksgiving showdown with the Lions at Ford Field, a game Rodgers is hoping to start.
• "You know Aaron. You know how competitive he is. He's like a linebacker playing quarterback. That's just his competitive nature," Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews said.
• "It's like me sitting out with a broken thumb. Just because I can't play, it doesn't make it any easier sitting on the sideline.
• "But we need to be a little smarter with him. Not just because of his title as a franchise quarterback, but the fact that it's a tricky injury. I mean, you get hit once and go down once awkwardly and the season's over."
• The last time the Packers were .500 after 10 games was 2008, Rodgers' first year as the starter. They went on a five-game losing streak after that, winning the regular-season finale over a winless Lions team to finish 6-10.
• Since then, the Packers had lost back-to-back games only three times before their current losing streak.
• The last time: After Rodgers suffered a concussion during a 7-3 loss at Detroit on Dec. 12, 2010.
• The Packers then lost the following week at New England, with backup Matt Flynn starting in Rodgers' place.

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