After setback, Aaron Rodgers hopes to avoid going back to bulky brace

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There's good news and potentially bad news for Aaron Rodgers.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback could have his top three receivers back together for Monday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers, but he might be a little less mobile than he'd like.

Rodgers experienced what he called a setback with his ailing left knee during last Sunday's loss to the Detroit Lions, when he took a hit from linebacker Christian Jones on the game's opening drive.

For the first time since he was injured in the season opener, Rodgers wore a smaller, lighter brace against the Lions. Now there's a chance he may have to go back to the larger brace that he wore in the three games immediate following the injury.

"I hope not," Rodgers said. "The goal would be to wear the same brace I wore last week, but I have a lot of faith in our training staff and we're going to [use] the brace we feel is most safe and allowing me to do exactly what I'm able to do on Monday."

Rodgers did not practice on Thursday, the Packers' first of the week in advance of the 49ers game. That followed the same pattern as the last month. He said he hoped to practice on Friday; the past two weeks, he has taken part in that full-pads workout (which is normally on Thursday in advance of a Sunday game).

He did, however, call what happened against the Lions a setback. He threw for 442 yards and three touchdowns against the Lions but was done in by two first-half fumbles on strip sacks, marking only the third time in his career that he lost two fumbles in a game.

"Yeah, kind of a setback last week, the beginning of the week," Rodgers said. "Got to be in the rehab group again today, got a lot of good work in with [assistant trainer] Nate [Weir] and just hoping I get back out there tomorrow and have a feel-good Friday and a practice [Sunday] and be good to go -- hopefully back to where I was in Detroit."

While Rodgers worked with the trainers, receivers Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allisonwere surprise participants at practice on Thursday after missing the Detroit game. Both had hamstring injuries; Allison also was diagnosed with a concussion. Coach Mike McCarthy said before Thursday's practice that Allison had cleared the concussion protocol, but indications were both receivers would be in the rehab group.

Instead, they went through at least part of practice, meaning the trio of Cobb, Allison and No. 1 receiver Davante Adams are on the verge of a reunion. The trio hasn't played together since Week 3 because Cobb missed the previous two games.

Against the Lions, it was Adams and three rookie receivers. Two of them, Marquez Valdes-Scantling (seven catches for 68 yards) and Equanimeous St. Brown (three for 89) made contributions, but Adams (nine for 140 and a touchdown) did the majority of the work.

"I think we can be one of the best in the league," Adams said of the trio of himself, Cobb and Allison. "I honestly think that because obviously you know how I feel about myself and my game. Randall's been doing this thing for a long time, longer than I have. I have the utmost respect for him, and G-Mo goes about his business as good as anybody else in the league. So the sky's the limit for him. I feel like he has not even come close to reaching his potential. He's shown flashes, but he can do a lot for us."

Perhaps that will help the Packers get off to a faster start, something Rodgers has identified as a goal. Although they're 10th in the NFL in total offense, they are tied for 18th in scoring and tied for 19th in red-zone touchdown percentage. They have been outscored 42-13 in first quarters this season and 76-43 in first halves, while averaging just 23 points per game.

"It's definitely below, and we've kind of been stuck at that number," Rodgers said. "Scored that a couple of times -- 22, 24, way up to 29 in Week 2. Not quite the standard that we've set here over the years with the type of offense we think we can have and the type of offense we think we could have coming out of training camp.

"I told you guys Week 1 it's going to be a work in progress; I don't think we're far off. I feel kind of like after Washington a couple of years ago [2016, Week 11]. We are very close to getting things going and like I said then and I'll say again now, I feel like if we can get off to a better start on offense, it makes the entire squad play with a different type of confidence.

"We need to lead from the front as an offense and as a team and give our defense an opportunity to pin their ears back and get after the quarterback and make them a little more one-dimensional."

A full complement of receivers and the smaller knee brace could help.