McCarthy: Peppers 'everything I thought he would be'
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy spoke with the media for about eight minutes after Thursday afternoon's practice. Here are the highlights.
On Julius Peppers' improvement:
He's definitely been everything I thought he would be. He's getting more and more comfortable. It's not only if he's playing faster, it's how they're playing together in the scheme. You just need reps. That's why we do a lot of the same drills we used to do in training camp and just carry them over the regular season.
On Matthews:
Clay took his individual reps. I haven't spoken to him after practice. I don't have a beat on Sunday yet.
On Nick Perry:
We don't have a handle on it today. Nick practiced today. Did some good things at practice. He looked good.
On Bears not having Devin Hester:
Devin Hester is a great returner. He's impacted a lot of football games. I'm glad he's not in Chicago, but obviously we'll see him down the road when we play Atlanta.
On Bears special teams:
They're good on special teams. Good speed. I thought they did some good things Monday night.
On a September trip to Chicago:
I've always looked at the Chicago series that you get to play one in decent weather, and one in bad weather. When you have these type of rivalry games. It's two totally different types of games, when they play in the fall and in the winter.
On Jay Cutler:
He's playing very well. He's coming off a good year. He missed some games last year, but he had some good numbers. He looks comfortable in their system. It's a quarterback-friendly system.
On Davon House:
Just, consistency. Davon, I thought he arrived last training camp where you thought, man, this guy is going to jump up and play in the starting position. I think he's doing that on more of a consistent basis. I think his ability to track the football and go up and catch the football has really improved.
On Bears receivers:
They've got a big, physical group there. Big targets. They're aggressive, experienced. You can see the relationship between the quarterback and whole receiver group. It's definitely a challenge when you play those big boys.
On Packers receivers getting open:
I think our receiver group is getting better. I think our offense needs to get going, and it starts with me. Everything that happens on offense is ultimately my responsibility. I'm happy with our receiver group. I think we have some guys in that group who have potential.
On critique McCarthy would give himself:
I'm 1-2.
— rwood@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ByRyanWood