Insider: Thumbs up to Bush, down to Hubbard

THUMBS UP

Veteran Jarrett Bush is far enough down the Packers' depth chart that he won't play on defense unless at least two cornerbacks ahead of him are injured, and even then he'd get snaps only in the dime package, which the Packers don't use a lot. But Bush is a pro's pro and on track to make the team for his 10th NFL season.

He's excellent on special teams, and though he's not a front-line defensive player, he's certainly good enough in a pinch.

He showed that in practice Tuesday, which was a little less competitive than the first seven days of practice, because in team drills one side of the ball was doing scout team to help the other side prepare for Saturday's preseason game at Tennessee.

Yet working as a cornerback for the scout team against the No. 1 offense, Bush made the play of the day by jumping an out route by Jarrett Boykin and snatching the hard-thrown ball just as it was about to hit Boykin's hands. Aaron Rodgers doesn't throw many interceptions, in practice or games, so it was no small thing.

THUMBS DOWN

Former Alabama outside linebacker Adrian Hubbard has all the makings of a good football player. At 6-feet-6, his height stands out on the defensive side along with Julius Peppers.

He's plenty athletic — at the NFL scouting combine he ran the 40 in 4.67 seconds, which is a good time for a 257-pound player with his length, and his vertical jump of 38½ inches was excellent. Some scouts projected him as high as a mid-round prospect, but he went undrafted.

A minor heart abnormality didn't help, though he was cleared to play by a cardiologist well before the draft. Regardless, the two-year starter from Alabama was the Packers' most interesting undrafted prospect this year.

But he's trying to make the roster at what's looking like one of the deeper positions on the team, and he hasn't made any eye-catching plays more than a week into camp. In one-on-one pass rushing, for instance, he's 1-5, with his lone win coming because he was held by tackle Derek Sherrod.

Another undrafted rookie, Jayrone Elliott of Tulane, actually has looked more explosive. And both rookies face an uphill battle to make the final 53 because of the players ahead of them: starters Clay Matthews and Peppers; backups Mike Neal and Nick Perry; third stringers Andy Mulumba and Nate Palmer; and fourth-round draft pick Carl Bradford.

Hubbard still has time to make the team, but he's going to have to show up big in the preseason games or he'll be fighting Elliott for a spot on the practice squad.

DID YOU NOTICE?

-- Second-year receiver Kevin Dorsey appears to have moved ahead of Chris Harper on the receivers depth chart. Harper had a bad drop on a deep ball during a team drill on Family Night.

-- Chase Rettig just might be in line to take a few snaps in Saturday's preseason game at Tennessee after all. Until Tuesday, by unofficial count he'd taken only two snaps in team drills. But on Tuesday he took one snap when the Packers were running their offense against the scout-team defense, and several snaps as a scout-team quarterback. He also ran a two-minute drill and took the No. 3 offense to a touchdown against the No. 3 defense, though his 10-yard touchdown pass to Myles White in the final seconds looked like a blown call by the officials because White appeared to get only one foot down in bounds.

-- Former Packers general manager Ron Wolf attended practice Tuesday. He lives in the Green Bay area.

-- First-year receiver Alex Gillett made his second eye-catching reception of camp in team drills. The first came on a contested deep ball last week. On Tuesday he made a one-handed snag of a ball thrown behind him. ?