Shields questionable for Monday's game

Sam Shields has been listed as questionable for Monday night's game with the Atlanta Falcons, but has a chance to play if he passes the concussion protocol over the weekend.

Shields sustained the concussion early in Sunday's 26-21 win over New England and missed Thursday and Friday's practice. He was estimated as did not participate on Saturday's injury report since the Packers conduct their final practice of the week the day before games.

"Sam Shields is obviously going through the protocol," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "The medical staff has told me he still has a chance to play. He'll be given the opportunity to play in the game if everything goes right."

If Shields can't play, McCarthy said he's confident Davon House and Casey Hayward will step up against the Falcons and All-Pro receiver Julio Jones.

The Packers also added defensive lineman Luther Robinson to the injury report after he suffered a calf injury in practice Thursday. He has been ruled out for the game, along with inside linebacker Jamari Lattimore.

McCarthy said he doesn't expect the ankle injury Lattimore suffered against the Patriots to be season-ending. He's also hopeful defensive linemen Mike Daniels (back) and Josh Boyd (knee) will both be fully available Monday after missing practice time this week.

Here are the rest of McCarthy's comments from his Saturday morning news conference:

Injury report (practice participation is an estimation)

Out – ILB Jamari Lattimore (did not participate, ankle), DL Luther Robinson (DNP, calf).

Questionable – CB Sam Shields (DNP, concussion).

Probable – DL Josh Boyd (limited, knee), DL Mike Daniels (limited, back), G T.J. Lang (limited, ankle), OLB Nick Perry (limited, shoulder), G Josh Sitton (limited, toe), OL Lane Taylor (full, probable).

On Sam Shields:

Sam Shields is obviously going through the protocol. The medical staff has told me he still has a chance to play. He'll be given the opportunity to play in the game if everything goes right.

Does he have do anything on Sunday by rule to be eligible to play?

You're either in the protocol or you're not in the protocol. Once the player comes out of that and he's cleared. Then it becomes the decision of the coaching staff or in conversation with the player to see if he's ready to go.

Could you wait until Monday with Shields?

I mean Sam Shields is a starter, so I'm going to give him every opportunity to play.

What happened with Luther Robinson?

Luther Robinson hurt his calf in practice yesterday. He will be out this week.

Any concern for him long-term?

Well, they did the scans yesterday. I haven't got the full report yet, so I really don't have a time frame.

Feel good about depth at cornerback if Shields can't go

Yeah, we're ready. It's definitely a very good receiving group. We've been practicing all week without Sam, so Davon, Casey and Tramon they'll be ready to go.

Balancing early contributions with rookies without rushing their development

A, you build a roster and B, you develop it and then C, you prepare to win games. I really don't get too far away from that. There's a difference between developing your roster and getting ready to win games. We prepare players and the players we feel give us the best chance to win on Sunday is really the line that separates the difference between developing and trying to win.

Will you have to limit Mike Daniels, Josh Boyd's snaps?

I don't really want to get into that. I think Mike is going to be full strength and I think Josh is going to be full strength by Monday.

On approaching Vince Lombardi for second-most wins in franchise history:

Goals like that are something that I've never really written down. I've always looked at the opportunity to coach in Green Bay as very unique and I'm just trying to take advantage of it as best I can. There's a lot of things that go into being successful: our program and what the organization gives us and so forth. It's not something that I think a whole lot about.

On Nick Perry's availability for Monday after getting 10 snaps against New England:

I think he'll be ready for more. Nick's had a good week of practice. Definitely, I think the extra day off will help him. But, hey, how the game unfolds and the different situations that occur, that all factors into it, but he's clearly better this week than he was last week.

On Devin Hester:

Devin's had a very good year. He's been very productive. This is his stomping grounds. He knows the importance of the return game in December football. He definitely has been a challenge for us in the past and we spent a little extra time preparing for him for Monday night.

On the team's schedule helping keep it healthy late in the season:

The flow of the schedule is beneficial no doubt about it, in my opinion. I think it's important to really educate, not only your players but your staff on how the flow's going to be changing throughout the year. If you look at November, we were 4-0 in November but we were also on a seven-game schedule, everything was clean, three of the four games were at home. You have to take all of that into account when you evaluate how you performed and, obviously, the success of those four weeks. Now, with that, you have two at home and two on the road and you've got four weeks where the schedule's going to be different every single week. Those are the kind of things you prepare for and you lay it out in advance and just try and make sure everybody's ready because every player that gets ready for performance, the lead-up to the game is important because you want them out there, you want their minds free and you want them prepared physically, mentally and, obviously, spiritually.

On if he'll be watching the Big Ten championship game between Wisconsin and Ohio State:

Absolutely. I think it's going to be a great game. ... I'll be watching.