Cover / Artwork » The Green Bay Packers are hoping to stay

GREEN BAY http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-byron-murphy-jersey , Wis. (AP) in the playoff chase long enough to potentially welcome back Aaron Rodgers from a collarbone injury. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just put two starting offensive linemen on injured reserve and could be without starting running back Doug Martin because of a concussion. They’re three games under .500 and are a longshot to get into the postseason for the first time since 2007. A visit to Lambeau Field on Sunday to face the desperate Packers (5-6) does not seem like the ideal time for the last-place Buccaneers (4-7) to bring their injured starting quarterback Jameis Winston back from a shoulder injury. Coach Dirk Koetter decided otherwise this week. ”Jameis is going to start on Sunday. Any player that is ever back practicing, when have we ever not done that?” Koetter said. ”When does a player not come back and (return to being) a starter that week?” Backup Ryan Fitzpatrick guided the team to a 2-1 record during Winston’s absence. Winston has thrown for least 328 yards four times this season. Mike Evans is one of the league’s top receivers with 51 catches for 702 yards and four touchdowns. It’s the third-best passing attack in the NFL (264.5 yards). ”Well, big-time weapons. … You just look at the size and athletic ability of their perimeter group,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. ”But obviously a focal point for us defensively.” Green Bay is 1-5 since Rodgers got hurt at Minnesota on Oct. 15. His replacement Brett Hundley showed progress during a 31-28 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. But the Packers can’t afford any more defeats if they’re going to make a ninth straight trip to the postseason. ”We dug ourselves into a hole … It’s really must-win at this point,” receiver Davante Adams said. RODGERS RETURN? Rodgers was eligible to start practicing this week if he was cleared medically. Even if that happened, the earliest that Rodgers would be eligible to play would be Week 15 against Carolina. And if playoff hopes continue to fade , the Packers would be in a position similar to the Buccaneers this week in deciding whether to bring back a talented starting quarterback so late in the season. For now Andy Isabella Jersey , all the Packers can focus on is beating Tampa Bay. They face another winnable game in Week 14 at Cleveland. ”I don’t have any `relax’ one-liners or `run the table’ or whatever. I’ll leave that up to Aaron,” linebacker Clay Matthews said. ”But we have to win these next two and when Aaron’s back at the helm, we have a pretty good squad. That’s the reality of it. COMING AND GOING Winston’s return from a three-game absence coincides with the season-ending knee injuries to center Ali Marpet and right tackle Demar Dotson. They were both placed on injured reserve this week. But Koetter said there is no greater risk for Winston to damage his shoulder than before his initial injury, so he will play. ”The player’s health is always the No. 1 thing for every football team,” Koetter said. ”But if a player is at no more risk than whatever the normal risk is, and in the NFL that is substantial, then they’re going to play. That’s what they’re paid to do.” HUNDLEY’S PROGRESS Hundley bounced back from a four-turnover outing two weeks ago against the Baltimore Ravens by throwing for 245 yards and a career-best three touchdown passes last week at Pittsburgh. There is still plenty of improvement needed Brian Burns Jersey , and Hundley was sacked four times in the second half. But the Steelers game was a valuable learning experience in a nationally televised game played in a hostile road environment. ”It comes with me being able to see (plays develop) better and the timing with the receivers,” Hundley said. ”It comes with experience, timing and getting the rhythm of all of it.” WEIGHT OF EXPECTATIONS The Bucs haven’t made the playoffs since 2007, however they entered this season with heightened expectations after finishing 9-7 last season. Koetter rejects the notion that appearing on HBO’s ”Hard Knocks” series during the preseason created additional pressure that’s had an adverse impact on the team. ”I say all the time, no one has higher expectations for us than we have for ourselves, so I don’t think anybody from the outside could create expectations,” Koetter said. AIRING IT OUT The game features two of the league’s less effective pass defenses http://www.panthersfootballauthentic.com/greg-little-jersey-authentic , with the Packers ranking 25th (244.1 yards per game) and the Buccaneers allowing an NFL-high 284.6 yards per game through the air. Green Bay does hope to get Matthews back from a groin injury to give the pass rush a kick-start after just one sack against Pittsburgh. — AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall in Tampa Bay contributed to this story. — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Although Kliff Kingsbury was Southern California’s offensive coordinator for just 34 days, Clay Helton says he isn’t mad after the Arizona Cardinals swooped in.Kingsbury became the Cardinals’ head coach and left the Trojans in the lurch Tuesday, leaving LA just over one month after he agreed to take charge of USC’s offense. The former Texas Tech coach’s abrupt departure throws USC right back into turmoil, but Helton was graceful and conciliatory in a brief statement.“I am happy for Kliff,” Helton said. “Any time you get an opportunity to be an NFL head coach, it is special. He is a talented coach. That’s why we brought him here. I wish him nothing but the best.”Still, USC is back where it started last month when athletic director Lynn Swann justified his much-criticized decision to keep Helton in charge after the Trojans’ first losing season since 2000 by pairing him with Kingsbury Will Grier Jersey , one of the top offensive minds in college football.Finding a replacement for Kingsbury could take several weeks, according to Helton. Some top candidates for similar jobs already have been snapped up, but Helton betrayed no public worries about solving his latest problem with the tumultuous Trojans.“USC has always attracted the best coaches in the country from all levels,” Helton said. “We will spend the upcoming weeks finding the best possible fit for USC and our program.”Helton and Kingsbury hadn’t made any major hires of Kingsbury’s offensive assistants, so the Trojans are also without an offensive line coach, a quarterbacks coach and an outside receivers coach.But the Trojans thought they had landed the ideal coach to take over an offense that ranked 91st in the FBS in scoring and 11th in the Pac-12 in yardage last season. They patiently pursued Kingsbury as their top choice after his firing at Tech, luring him with USC’s seemingly endless supply of five-star talent and the chance to showcase his skills for another big job.Instead http://www.panthersfootballauthentic.com/christian-miller-jersey-authentic , that job arrived before anyone apparently expected — and was bigger than most observers thought possible, with the Cardinals making an unconventional hire of a college head coach coming off three straight losing seasons and a 35-40 overall record.Helton, the Trojans’ former offensive coordinator, dismissed offensive coordinator Tee Martin and several assistants after the Trojans finished 5-7 in just their fourth losing season since 1961. USC’s quarterbacks coach, Bryan Ellis, left to become Western Kentucky’s offensive coordinator.