Packers Calendar: Hydration Testing Keeps Players Focused

Coming off the New Year holiday, the Packers will hold hydration testing Friday morning.

Hope everyone had a terrific New Year's Day. There was an entertaining slate of college football games yesterday, but by this weekend it will be time to get back to pro football.

Since the Green Bay Packers clinched a bye in the playoffs, the players were given some time off on Wednesday and Thursday on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

With the most important part of the season coming up, however, McCarthy didn't want the break to feel like a mini-vacation.

In other words, he didn't want his players imbibing too much when they rung in the New Year.

"This is a little different," said McCarthy. "This is a time to obviously step away from it and just enjoy what you accomplished. I understand we have the holiday here Wednesday and Thursday. Hydration testing on Friday morning will be first thing we do. We'll stay on top of our business."

The Packers will get back to work on Friday, returning to the practice field even though they won't know their oppponent until Sunday, the highest-seeded team among the wildcard round winners.

Packers coaches were busy self-scouting the past several days, looking at the things the Packers can do to improve, regardless of opponent.

"We'll have two practices at the end of the week that will be clearly focused on the things we feel we need to concentrate on," said McCarthy. "Obviously, there will be a lot of fundamental work, a lot of footwork. We'll handle the football and do all the things from a development, training standpoint to continue to try to improve as a football team. Then schematically, we have some things we want to get into."

The status of quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be of particular attention, coming off the calf injury that forced him to miss a portion of last week's game against the Detroit Lions. But with more than a week until the Packers' next game, Rodgers' practice participation is of relatively little importance until they get deeper into next week.

McCarthy will perhaps have an update when he holds a press conference on Friday at 11:55 a.m. CT to be streamed live on Packers.com.

If the playoff schedule is the same as the regularseason schedule, wide receiver Jordy Nelson will also make his weekly appearance on 620 AM WTMJ in Milwaukee on Friday afternoon.

Nelson was regularly on air at 3:20 p.m., streamed live on 620WTMJ.com.

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