Packers begin Vikings prep without Rodgers, who has no concern with knee injury

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Today the Packers’ prep for the Vikings beginning in earnest – without Aaron Rodgers on the field. Rodgers held out with a knee ailment, though he expressed no concern about his availability for Sunday’s game.

On Wednesday, the Packers were also without Keisean Nixon and Christian Watson on the practice field. But David Bakhtiari did limited work for the first time since his appendectomy.

By now there is no doubt you’ve already heard the Vikings have set an NFL record by going 11-0 in one-score games this season. And they’ve played every type of contest: the largest comeback in league history, holding on for dear life, blowing late leads before recapturing them just before the finish. Amazingly, their only win they’ve had all season that was not by a single score, came back in Week 1 against the Packers. But that game was so long ago, there’s only so much to be learned from that game film.

“I think both sides know that we are 2 completely diff teams right now,” said receiver Allen Lazard. “There have been injuries, people have developed, grown in confidence since then. We are not expecting the same team from them, and I don’t think they probably are about us either.”

“That performance came down to a few big plays,” said safety Adrian Amos. “We let the best player on their team have a big time game.”

During the Packers’ run, they have had a lot of things go their way. Green Bay has won 3 games and every other domino has fallen its way as well.

“Yeah, it has been awesome,” Rodgers said. “I can’t think of one game that hasn’t gone our way. These games have consistently gone exactly how we wanted them to. We are thankful for all these games that have gone our way as well. Now we need one, maybe two more to go our way as well.”

As you look forward to the final 2 weeks of the regular season, yes, 3:25 pm Sunday is huge (with the Packers vs. Vikings), but noon is big as well. The Packers will be the biggest Browns fans ever as they need Cleveland to upset the Commanders. Yes, Washington plays a good Cowboys squad in Week 18. But Dallas may have nothing to play for, and be locked into the #5 seed by the end of this week.