Rodgers 'got done what he needed to get done'

Aaron Rodgers was limited during Wednesday's practice, but took snaps when the offense moved outside for team periods.

Rodgers was only visible at the start of the portion of practice open to media, leaving through the back of the Hutson Center to do rehab work on his injured left calf. He didn't return until after the media exited.

Rodgers threw some passes during practice Tuesday, but wasn't asked to move much after straining his calf strained in Sunday's 20-3 win over Tampa Bay. The Packers will have to contend with a difficult defensive front this Sunday against Detroit, which can generate pressure with a four-man rush.

"Aaron was playing today. Obviously, he was listed as limited," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "He did all the pre-practice work, no-huddle and then we had a segment there in practice where he was able to get some rehab done and then he was back outside for the team stuff. He basically got done what he needed to get done today and he's getting better."

The rest of the roster was in uniform during practice, though cornerback Davon House (scapula fracture) was listed as a non-participant. Guards Josh Sitton (toe) and T.J. Lang (ankle), and linebackers Clay Matthews (biceps) and Mike Neal (abdomen) were all limited.

Here are some other updates from Mike McCarthy's news conference:

On Jim Caldwell:

Jim's an excellent coach. You look at his background. I think this is, what, the third time or at least the second time in the league he's been a head coach. Very consistent and I think his teams play that way. I think he's done a very good job, particularly if you look at the number of games they've won, close games. Excellent offensive mind and he's doing a heck of a job."

On Lions' defense:

Excellent defense. You can start with personnel and also scheme. They've always done a great job with Gunther over there and now Teryl has done an excellent job. They do a really good as far as the things I look for: They're very disciplined in their alignments, the angle of their alignments, particularly the alignments of their perimeter players, the linebackers and secondary. They're very detailed and disciplined in their keys and they're going to make sure that they challenge your primary concepts and the things that you do. It's a defense that tackles very well. Very talented both in the front end and in the back end. I'm very impressed with the secondary. Obviously, we played against a different secondary in the first game. So this is a very, very good defense."

On winning close games:

I think you have daily opportunities to build confidence. I think it's important to not only continue to create those opportunities, but it's to stack the success of the confidence builders. Whether it's something happens in practice, anytime you see growth in a unit, a position, a player, you just keep stacking that success and it's something that continues to grow when you have big moments, win five close games or so in a row, you tap into that. It's all about stacking success and building confidence.

On running against Detroit's front:

I think the biggest thing, I think you have to go further than that: it's third down. These guys do a great job with their four-man rush, challenging your protection unit and the ability to play coverage with seven because if you convert the third downs, you're getting an extra set of downs and I think we had 54 plays in the game, that's not going to cut it. We obviously have to be productive in normal D&D to create better third-down situations for ourselves, but I think third down will be a key statistic in the game.

On Week 3 loss:

I think so, production-wise. We didn't start the season… it wasn't our best year just as far as our performance and quality of play and so it's definitely increased on our whole football team, particularly on offense it's definitely increased since the first game.

On run defense:

It comes down to fits, confidence, trusting your teammate, playing to your leverage, not jumping outside your gap trying to make a play and at the end of the day tackle the damn ball carrier. I think we're doing a better job of that.

On Josh Sitton practicing in back-to-back days:

He's feeling good, but it's a combination of both. I think with Josh's particular injury the later in the week you practice him is not the best thing on Sunday.