Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is coming off a season in which he turned 30 and suffered an injury that cost him half his season. But Rodgers says neither age nor health will keep him from running the ball.

Rodgers told the Journal Sentinel that he will “always” want to use his legs as well as his arm.

There are concerns that Rodgers won't run as much since he spent so much time on the shelf after breaking his collarbone against the Bears. But it sounds as if he intends to continue to use his legs to move the chains when necessary. He has been very adept at this throughout his career.

Rookie wide receivers rarely make a cannonball entrance in Green Bay. Jarrett Boykin will be difficult to dislodge. With Davante Adams, there are unknowns. With Boykin, knowns. He was one source of reliability when the season turned upside down.

Yet he's on notice. Adams may be a more athletic playmaker at receiver long term.

After Randall Cobb went down, Boykin stepped in and served as the Packers de facto WR3, catching 49 passes for 681 yards and three scores. In games where he played at least 59% of the snaps, he averaged 4.3-61-.27, which equates to 124 fantasy points over a full season. That’s about what Marques Colston scored as the #27 WR in 2013. Cobb is back, but James Jones is gone, and Boykin is likely to play a lot in the Packers’ patented three-wide attack, which should be more productive with Aaron Rodgers under center. Rookie Davante Adams is the wild card, but at this point the feeling is that Boykin will hold him off. Randall Cobb only played 27% snaps as a rookie, so Adams should see a similarly limited role.

Aaron Rodgers said he and backup quarterback Matt Flynn recently discussed that when the Packers drafted TE Richard Rodgers in the third round, at least one analyst on the TV broadcast of the NFL draft said he’d rated Rodgers a sixth-round prospect.

“Which is pretty laughable when you watch the talent he’s got and the ability, especially some of the plays he made today,” Aaron Rodgers said. “Again, it’s helmet and shorts, but you have to be excited about his body type and the hands. He’s made some incredible catches, makes it look easy. I think he’s going to push for some playing time if he can transfer what he’s done in the spring now to the fall and have the potential to be an impact player.”

These practices are probably as important to Packers WR Davante Adams as anyone on the team in that he'll need to gain a trust with Aaron Rodgers. As noted by the position coach, it's not easy for rookie wideouts to break onto the scene. This offense demands a lot from receivers mentally. A background in similar concepts should help Adams assimilate. As his coach at Fresno State pointed out, there are a few things Adams must work on this spring, too.

We believe that Jarrett Boykin will hold off the talented yet inexperienced Adams to be the WR3 in 2014. After Randall Cobb went down, Boykin stepped in and caught 49 passes for 681 yards and three scores. In games where he played at least 59% of the snaps, he averaged 4.3-61-.27, which equates to 124 fantasy points over a full season. That’s about what Marques Colston scored as the #27 WR in 2013. Cobb is back, but James Jones is gone, and Boykin should play a lot in the Packers’ patented three-wide attack, which should be more productive with Aaron Rodgers under center.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers says yoga has him 11 pounds lighter and more flexible. Collarbone all healed too.

The prospect of using QB Aaron Rodgers and running back Eddie Lacy in tandem for a full season is tantalizing to Packers head coach Mike McCarthy.

“I’m definitely excited to play with a healthy Aaron Rodgers and Eddie Lacy,” McCarthy said at last week’s NFL owners meeting.

For the first time since 2009, Rodgers will have a bona fide 1,000-yard rusher for a full season to help take some pressure off the passing game. Defensive coordinators no longer will be able to let their safeties sit back in coverage and show little or no regard for the Packers’ run game.

Even a little more running than in the past could help keep Rogers and WR Randall Cobb on the field more, as both missed significant time last season. It also will give the Packers an opportunity to ease in Jarrett Boykin and Myles White, who will likely be the WR3 and WR4 to start the season. Lacy is ranked sixth on our early season RB list and looks like a potential late first round or early second round pick.

Prior to free agency, coach Mike McCarthy suggested wide receiver Jarrett Boykin's emergence would make it easier for the Green Bay Packers to move on from James Jones.

Now that Jones is returning home to Oakland, McCarthy said he "fully expects" Boykin to "step up."

"I can't say enough about Boykin," McCarthy told reporters at the NFL Annual Meeting on Wednesday. "The young man is a heck of a player, he's done it the right way, special teams, he's performed every opportunity he's given."

Boykin has a great chance to be a valuable fantasy player this season playing the role of James Jones. Jones had a career-high 14 TDs in 2012 and last year had a career-high in receiving yards with 817 - a lot of that coming without Aaron Rodgers at QB, but also without Randall Cobb. Still, in the Green Bay offense, Boykin could have WR3 or WR4 potential in just about any format.

The reigning offensive rookie of the year who rushed for a Packers' rookie record 1,178 yards last season, Eddie Lacy will be the workhorse back once again. In fact, he could be on the field even more than he was last season, when he played 60.5 percent of the offensive snaps. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said at last month's scouting combine that he wants Lacy to become a three-down back. Last season, he often gave way to fullback John Kuhn on third down.

Lacy finished as the #7 RB in his rookie season and did it in essentially 14 games. Removing Week 2 (where he was concussed and only carried the ball once), Lacy averaged 14.9 fantasy points, which is the 6th-best average, just behind Adrian Peterson. He is a great talent and plays in a potent offense that should be even better in 2014 with a (hopefully) healthy Aaron Rodgers under center.

Packers announced they officially have re-signed LB/DE Mike Neal and TE Andrew Quarless.

Quarless took over for Jermichael Finley after Finley went down in Week 7. From Week 8 through the Packers' playoff loss to the 49ers, Quarless averaged 2.6 catches for 27 yards and 0.20 TD, or 3.9 fantasy points per game. That's about what Brandon Pettigrew and Tyler Eifert scored in 2013, so it's not terribly promising. Moreover, his two best games -- back to back 6-66-1 outings against the Falcons and Cowboys -- came with Matt Flynn under center, so it's not clear what kind of rapport he has with Aaron Rodgers. According to Mockdraftable, he most resembles Todd Heap athletically, though it's tough to make that case using the eye test. Still, if he's starting, Quarless will be an intriguing TE2 option playing in Green Bay's high-octane offense. 

Packers HC Mike McCarthy on Eddie Lacy: "What I look for Eddie to do is be a three-down player."

Lacy finished as the #7 RB in his rookie season and did it in essentially 14 games. Removing Week 2 (where he was concussed and only carried the ball once), Lacy averaged 14.9 fantasy points, which is the 6th-best average, just behind Adrian Peterson. He is a great talent and plays in a potent offense that should be even better in 2014 with a (hopefully) healthy Aaron Rodgers under center.