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To the extent that preseason games mean anything, Thursday night will be the biggest of the summer for the Green Bay Packers. They're hosting the defending AFC champion Indianapolis Colts to kick off preseason Week 3 in a game where starters on both sides could play into the third quarter.

Oh, and apparently the affair will be televised on ESPN as well. Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will be there. (Just don't tell Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.)

As Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com points out, the Packers are expected to rest a number of starters, including linebackers Clay Matthews and Brad Jones. Defensive end Cullen Jenkins, among others, might also sit. But if you ever want to draw any conclusions from what you see in the preseason, Thursday is your night.

We'll have a few more things to say about the game over the course of the day and plan to post some late-night observations. Until then, let's take our morning spin around the NFC North:

I'm pumped to watch Shields as the nickel CB. I have a feeling Manning is going to light us up with some of our starters out. It will also be interesting to see how our starting O does against the Colt's starting D.

NO INJURIES, PLEASE!

Score at halftime:

Packers - 84
Colts - 84

Score at the end of the game:

Packers - 91
Colts - 87

No injuries plz.

Will this be re-aired on local affiliates later in the night? I work til 10. : /

If we win. Championship. If we lose. 0-16.

DrugBust wrote:No injuries plz.

+1. This is all I care about...

When: 7 p.m. Thursday.

Where: Lambeau Field.

Broadcast: Radio - AM-620. Television - Channel 12 and ESPN.

Injury report: Packers - S Atari Bigby (ankle) LB Clay Matthews (hamstring), RB Kregg Lumpkin (hamstring), RB Quinn Porter (ankle), LB Brad Jones (shoulder), DE Cullen Jenkins (calf), CB Al Harris (knee) and RB James Starks (hamstring) are not expected to play. LB A.J. Hawk (ankle), LB Alex Joseph (thigh) and OL Allen Barbre (back) are questionable. Colts - TE Dallas Clark (leg), CB Jerraud Powers (foot) and C Jeff Saturday (knee) are not expected to play. OT Charlie Johnson (foot), OL Adam Terry (undisclosed), OL Jaimie Thomas (undisclosed), WR Austin Collie (undisclosed), TE Brody Eldridge (undisclosed), RB Javarris James (undisclosed), RB Devin Moore (undisclosed) and LB Trevor Anderson (undisclosed) are questionable.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
Run around: The absence of Lumpkin and Porter means the burden for carrying the ball will fall on Ryan Grant, Brandon Jackson (above) and John Kuhn. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Grant has just eight carries in two games and needs the work. The No. 1 unit has passed the ball so much (66.7%) that Grant has hardly had time to develop chemistry with his offensive line. He'll play the first half and should get a decent amount of carries.

Victory lap: As long as he doesn't mess up, Daryn Colledge appears to have won the starting left guard job. The only thing that could derail him, it seems, would be one of those lousy performances that plagued him parts of last season. The Colts are aggressive, up-the-field rushers, which means Colledge's pass blocking ability will be put to the test. If he falters, rookie Bryan Bulaga will be waiting to take his spot.

Blitz party: Defensive coordinator Dom Capers has pulled the reins back on his blitz package the first two games of the exhibition season. Now it's time to let the dogs loose a little. At some point, Capers has to see his defense do what the defense calls for and this is the best time to do it. The defense will play at least a half and while several key players will be out, he might as well see where things stand against Peyton Manning, the best-prepared quarterback in the game.

Nickel for your thoughts: Assuming Al Harris won't be ready for the regular season - and that appears to be a good assumption - the nickel position will go to one of four corners: Brandon Underwood, Pat Lee, Sam Shields or Jarrett Bush. Underwood and Lee will get the most action there and this game will probably determine which way the coaches go. The player who performs the best against the Colts' high-powered passing game probably wins the job.

Mr. Rodgers' neighborhood: Assuming Colts ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis both play a significant amount, this should be a good test to see how well veteran tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher are holding up. Rodgers has yet to be sacked and he'd probably like to keep it that way. The two Colts pass rushers combined for 23 sacks and six forced fumbles last year. The Colts also have rookie end Jerry Hughes, a raw talent with pass rush ability.

MickeyDavis wrote:Mr. Rodgers' neighborhood: Assuming Colts ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis both play a significant amount, this should be a good test to see how well veteran tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher are holding up. Rodgers has yet to be sacked and he'd probably like to keep it that way. The two Colts pass rushers combined for 23 sacks and six forced fumbles last year. The Colts also have rookie end Jerry Hughes, a raw talent with pass rush ability.

This is all that matters to me. Keep those threes guys away from Rodgers so he is healthy for the regular season.

ESPN NFC North Blog Preview for tonight's game. Included is a video of the MNF crew discussing the game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/15355/setting-up-packers-colts

I'm pretty jacked for tonight for it being a preaseason game.

Oh great. I forgot this was a Monday Night game so we're going to have to listen to Jon Gruden suck Favre's dick all night.

trwi7 wrote:Oh great. I forgot this was a Monday Night game so we're going to have to listen to Jon Gruden suck Favre's dick all night.

I'm not going to lie, the Chewy vs. Finley post was pretty awesome...

But I am sad you changed your signature from the crazy Toronto guy. That was one of the best posts in the history of all posts.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=1025398

Feel free to use it or any one of his other great posts in that thread.

That was my first ever WeeksNMeeks post. I thought it was entertaining, but I wish he would have struck when the lighting was hot... I hadn't checked that thread for a while, honestly, I was wondering how there was anything else left to say...

trwi7 wrote:http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=1025398

Feel free to use it or any one of his other great posts in that thread.

My first time seeing that just now... I couldnt stop laughing from all that tough Toronto talk...

So no Greg Jennings, any defensive starters out?

Matthews and Jenkins are out on D.

Wow,the ESPN countdown guys giving Rodgers a lot of love.

Yeah, this is on my tv lol Its nice to not have to look to feeds with suspicious quality, and now i can be seated on the sofa instead.

Zombo, Harrell, Raji, Colledge, Bullaga and
Burnett. Guys I'll be watching the most.