Q: Is Aaron Rodgers more of a challenge than Favre was four years ago?A: I guess time will tell. I don't remember much about how Brett was playing at that time. Obviously he was playing pretty well to get that team to the [NFC] championship game. Aaron's had a year this year that's going to rival just about any year a quarterback can put up those types of numbers. He's played completely lights out and we know that he's going to be a great challenge.
Q: What do you have to do to slow him down?A: Play.
Q: With the way Eli has played the last few weeks…A: We have to play better than [we did in Week 13]. It's all about taking away their strengths. When you have an offense like that the focal point is going to be the quarterback. We have to do a good job of trying our best to keep him off-rhythm. That will give us a shot to succeed.
Q: How exciting is it going into Green Bay to take on a 15-1 team?A: It's exciting. We get the opportunity to play another week. We still have every goal right within our grasp that we came into the season with. It's not going to get any easier. We know that the Packers are the number one seed for a reason. 15-1, playing in Lambeau Field – those guys are pretty good. We have our hands full. I feel as though we'll be ready for the task.
Q: Is the key with Rodgers to get pressure up the middle?A: I know a lot of people put a lot of concentration on pressure up the middle, but I think pressure in all areas. Normally when you get pressure up the middle it allows you to take away some of his avenues to throw, but Aaron is not as short as Brees so he can see a little better when it comes to hands in his face and things like that, but it still makes it tougher if you get pressure up the middle.
Q: How much did you learn about the Giants in the Week 13 loss to the Packers?A: I learned that any given Sunday you have the opportunity to beat every team in this league, regardless of who you are. I'm sure no one expected Kansas City to beat the Packers, but they did. Any given Sunday you have that opportunity to beat a team like this. We're looking forward to this Sunday.
Q: Do you remember what you were thinking after losing to the Packers?A: I think every time you come out of a game like that you think about the opportunities missed and if a call would have went this way or we would have called a different play call here or whatever it may be. But you give those guys credit. We were tied and they went down and got the last second field goal. So you always think to yourself, 'If I had done this differently or if we would have made this play call here differently or if I would have disguised here' – whatever it may be. But it happened for a reason. Hopefully it happened for us as a testament of redemption. That's something that's going to be on our minds. I'm sure it's on theirs too. I saw the Greg Jennings tweet about remember what happened in '08. So it's going to be an emotional football game for both teams and I think it's going to be a good football game.
Q: Did you guys want this rematch?A: Yeah, I think we did, but more than anything we just wanted the opportunity to keep playing, regardless of who we were going to face. It just happens to be the Green Bay Packers and we're looking forward to that, but we don't care who it is at this point. To be the best, you have to beat the best and we'll have that opportunity on Sunday.
Q: Are you going to be like Jason Pierre-Paul and guarantee a win?A: No, I'm not, but I'm going to guarantee that we're going to go up there and try to get the win. Knowing you guys, you probably asked him a loaded question and he just gave his honest opinion about it.
Q: What have you learned about your team?A: I learned that if you win football games you get the opportunity to play next week. So hopefully we can win this week and have an opportunity to play next week.
Q: How have you put it together?A: Playing one play at a time, not get besides ourselves, not getting too high with the highs or too low with the lows. I know that's cliché, but it is that simple. I think earlier in the year we didn't do a good job of letting things go, whether it be good plays or bad, and in some ways became individuals. Now I think we're playing better as a unit.
Q: What did you learn about Perry Fewell? A couple of weeks ago he was under a lot of heat.A: I learned that he doesn't really care what [the media] says. It would be easy for him to read the newspaper and say, 'Well, this person got fired and he might be up for the coaching job' or this and that and whatever it may be. He didn't allow any of that to distract him. He continued to press forward and continued to do his job at the highest level. I think we all benefited from that.
Q: Can history actually help you here because the mystique of Lambeau is not something that beat you guys the last time you were there in the playoffs there? Will that help you erase the mental edge that they have?A: I don't know if they have that much mental edge, but time will tell. We know what it takes to go up there and win. Obviously they know what it takes to win there, too. It's just going to be two football teams doing any and everything within the game of football to make sure they come out with a win. I think that makes for exciting football.
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