Replacing Benson a group effort

GREEN BAY - Cedric Benson's foot injury should keep him out 8 weeks, and so the Packers put him on the new in-season injured reserve, that means Benson can be re-activated later in the season. But that doesn't help for Sunday.

According to head coach McCarthy, Alex Green will be the first back called upon against Houston. Green gave the Packers a glimpse of his potential Sunday ripping off a 41-yarder in the 2nd half against the Colts.

Green, who’s coming back from an ACL tear last season said the big run helped his state of mind.  

“It was definitely a confidence booster as far as being a running back and everything and being able to get out into space with the injury and everything.” Green went on to say that big play or not, the team lost, so there’s improvement to be made, “Gotta play harder and play smarter and make things happen this game."

Guard Josh Sitton said he’s always had faith in his teammates who carry the rock and that it was nice to see the explosiveness from Green.

“It was good to see him break that big run and get out into the open field and make some guys miss,” said Sitton.

While Green will get the first shot, (as we saw at practice Wednesday) James Starks and Brandon Saine will both be part of the equation, meaning it's back to mixing and matching for head coach Mike McCarthy.

"We're going to take the hot hand,” said McCarthy. “I mean Alex and James both got reps today and so did Brandon Saine. We've got three half backs and we're going to utilize all three."

Green, Starks, and Saine each bring a unique style to the table but the offensive linemen say that their job is more about scheme than personnel.

"We don't ever look who's in the backfield,” said guard T.J. Lang.

According to Lang it’s all about opening the holes for the ball carrier.

“We do our job up front, try and create some lanes for that guy and we know that if we give them a clean look they can make some plays."

And if they're successful in making plays, the Packers will be able to maintain a semblance of balance in their play-calling, something even quarterback Aaron Rodgers thinks is important.

"We're still going to try and have balance more than we have in the past," said Rodgers.

Fullback John Kuhn added, "It takes a good run game to get the pass game going and we know that and vise versa so in order to open it up for Aaron and the receivers we will need to run the ball."