Aaron Rodgers wanted Allen Lazard on the field, and Lazard wanted Rodgers to throw him the ball.

Even with Davante Adams already out for a second straight game with turf toe and Geronimo Allison knocked out of the game with a head and chest injury, the Packers still didn't immediately turn to Lazard.

"I may have put in a good word there in the fourth quarter to get him some opportunities," Rodgers said.

The story said it wasn't until after rookie receiver Darrius Shepherd dropped a pass at the Lions' 1-yard line -- it actually ricocheted off his face mask and was intercepted -- that the Packers finally went to the relatively unknown 6-foot-5 receiver. Lazard ended with a line of 4-65-1. With the injuries to Adams and Allison, Lazard has a chance to stick and is worth a pickup, but will likely be a hot commodity.

“We’ve given [Aaron Rodgers] all the freedom,” HC Matt LaFleur said Monday. “So, if he sees something, he’s got the green light to do whatever he needs to do to get us into a good play. We’re not going to take that from him.”

LaFleur has given Rodgers that authority but he did not say how large the menu was from which Rodgers can choose. Is it one play, two plays, a half dozen or limitless as it seemed to be under former coach Mike McCarthy?

The story said LeFleur's offense is based around calling one play, with the QB having the option to change to just one other play if he needs to. Based on the quote, it looks like Rodgers could have more freedom than that.

Aaron Rodgers simply doesn’t know exactly what to expect in Thursday’s opener against the Bears.

“I think everybody needs to understand this is going to be the first iteration of our offense, and because it’s a new scheme and there are new pieces, this is going to grow from this point,” Rodgers said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “I’m excited about the stuff we have in and the stuff we’ve been working on in camp. There’s going to be even more. I think that’s the exciting part. I like the foundational start for this offense. I think it could be tough to stop because of the stress it puts on defense with their eye control and pattern-reading and reading the alignments. But we have a lot of room to grow from what we put on the field on Thursday.”

As the story went on to say, it will take time for Rodgers and new coach Matt LaFleur to learn each other’s preferences and tendencies, and that will evolve as they’re on the fly this year. LaFleur himself admitted as much Sunday, saying: “I’ll have a better answer for you here in a couple weeks about where I think we are.”

Aaron Rodgers returned to practice on Monday after skipping last week's preseason game in Baltimore and the practice that immediately followed because of tightness in his back, something he has rarely -- if ever -- been bothered by in the past.

That doesn't mean the Green Bay Packers quarterback will play in Thursday's preseason game against the Oakland Raiders in Winnipeg -- or at all before the Sept. 5 regular-season opener against the Chicago Bears, the story said. Rodgers said after the 1-hour, 57-minute padded practice that he "felt pretty good," and coach Matt LaFleur said Rodgers "looked pretty good today to me."