Coaches and teammates believe cornerback Charles Woodson could play until he's 40.
The Packers' defensive leader isn't ready to commit to that. Not yet anyway.
"I didn't have to make that promise, but who knows?" Woodson said after practice Thursday, when his two-year contract extension was announced by the team.
The restructured and lucrative deal locks up the 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year through 2014.
"Right now, this will probably be the last one," said Woodson, who turns 34 on Oct. 7 and will be 38 when the contract expires.
The five-year pact is reportedly worth more than $55 million with about $21 million in upfront money and bonuses.
The news came three days after New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, runner-up to Woodson for top defensive player last season, signed a four-year, $46 million contract to rejoin the team.
Head coach Mike McCarthy anticipates Woodson will fulfill the length of the new deal and potentially outlast it.
"He really came into training camp (this year) in great shape," McCarthy said. "He looks like he did the last three years. Stay healthy, God willing, and he is instinctive and tough as they come, so I don't see any dropoff at all."
Woodson enters Green Bay's season opener at the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday with intentions of helping the Packers get to the Super Bowl for the first time in 13 years and build on the finest of his 12 previous years in the league.
He had career highs of nine interceptions, three touchdown returns and four forced fumbles in 2009, his fourth season in Green Bay.
Woodson, a four-time Pro Bowl player with the Oakland Raiders, reluctantly signed with the small-town Packers as a free agent in 2006 and felt out of place the first couple years.
"It's been a long journey. Not only being here, in Green Bay, but just a long career that started in Oakland," Woodson said. "The mission at this point is to retire here. It's a big deal.
"It took a while. But, once I came around, I came around hard," he added. "It's been a great ride for me, and hopefully, we can bring a championship here. Hopefully, this will be my last team."
--So it begins.
Sunday's season opener at the Philadelphia Eagles will leave the Packers 147 days from the destination they not only want to reach but at which some of them expect to land: Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas for Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6.
"For sure, we've got a swagger -- a killer one, too," loquacious tight end Jermichael Finley said Wednesday. "We're going to come out and show it Sunday."
From linebacker Nick Barnett's printing and selling T-shirts that read "Super Bowl or Die" before training camp started to quarterback Aaron Rodgers' orchestrating cowboy hats worn by some players at a season kickoff luncheon for the team last week, the Packers clearly are motivated by a Texas-sized objective.
"This is a fun job, but it's also a grind," veteran right tackle Mark Tauscher said. "You have to be able to have some fun and have laughs, and I think Aaron does a great job of trying to keep guys loose when it's the appropriate time."
Even head coach Mike McCarthy fed the Super Bowl hype by invoking those two big words at the team meeting on the eve of training camp.
While many of the pieces of a league championship-contending team appear to be in place, starting with a seemingly unstoppable offense directed by the unflappable Rodgers, McCarthy has tried to tone down the excitement that has enveloped Green Bay.
"Whether we're buying cowboys hats ... to me, that's not a real big deal," McCarthy said. "That's not a focus of ours. We're not a flamboyant-type football team. It's by design. I like the confidence of our team, but we're at the starting line. We're zero and zero. We're preparing to win our first game."
To be sure, the Packers don't enter this season foolproof, despite all of the bouquets being thrown their way by many national pundits who have them penciled in as NFC champions and Rodgers as the league MVP.
Questions abound with their highly ranked defense of a season ago. A rash of injuries prevented the unit from having its full complement of starters on the field together for even one preseason game.
"The continuity is probably not what we would like because we did not have everybody throughout the preseason," McCarthy said.
Defensive end Cullen Jenkins and linebackers Clay Matthews and Brad Jones will be back in the starting lineup Sunday after extended absences.
Yet, the defense will be without Pro Bowl cornerback Al Harris, who is on the physically unable to perform list for at least the first six games recovering from November knee surgery, and counting on two rookies in the secondary at the outset -- safety Morgan Burnett and undrafted cornerback Sam Shields.
On top of that, the Packers' special-teams woes of 2009 spilled over to this summer with further coverage breakdowns and not having a surefire kick returner.
So, as much as Finley has his swagger on about how this season will turn out, others in the Lambeau Field locker room are conversely guarded for what lies ahead the next four months and possibly beyond.
"It'll mean something when we're getting ready to fly down to Dallas the week before (the Super Bowl)," Jenkins said. "I've always heard stuff about what could happen my whole career, but stuff never plays out exactly the way people write it. You have to go make it happen. Just because somebody picks you doesn't mean it's going to happen."
SERIES HISTORY: 37th regular-season meeting. Packers lead series, 23-13. The longtime NFL opponents are meeting in a season opener for the sixth time since 1934, with Green Bay holding a 4-1 edge, but it's their first Week 1 encounter in Philadelphia. The teams' last meeting came in the 2007 season opener, a 16-13 Packers win at Lambeau Field. The Packers haven't won at Philadelphia since 1962, losing nine straight road games to the Eagles, including 20-17 in overtime in the infamous fourth-and-26 NFC divisional playoff game during the 2003 season.
NOTES, QUOTES
--While Charles Woodson is singled out as the leader of the Packers' defense -- and rightfully so, since he is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year -- linebacker Clay Matthews is right there as a player the unit desperately needs on the field.
Matthews' belated 2010 game debut will come Sunday, when the Packers kick off the season at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Matthews, who led the team with 10 sacks and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl as a rookie last season, didn't play a down in the preseason after aggravating a left hamstring injury in Green Bay's scrimmage a week into training camp.
The medical staff cleared Matthews for full work in practice this week, and the early assessments were positive.
"Clay Matthews demonstrated fresh legs out there (Wednesday)," head coach Mike McCarthy said. "I thought he looked very good, particularly in the third-down-pressure periods. He was bouncing around. I think Clay is back 100 percent."
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers moved Matthews from the right side to the left side in the Packers' 3-4 scheme at the outset of camp as a way to keep offenses from shading pass protection to one side. Defensive end Cullen Jenkins, like Matthews an effective pass rusher, lines up on the right side.
--After four straight years of being the league's youngest team based on season-opening rosters, the Packers just might retain the title.
Thanks to keeping three undrafted rookies and having six players who are no older than 22 -- draft picks Bryan Bulaga, Morgan Burnett, Andrew Quarless and Marshall Newhouse are only 21 -- the average age of Green Bay's 53-man roster in Week 1 this season is 25.89.
That is only slightly older than the average of 25.70 for the Packers on opening day last year. Their previous league-low averages were 25.57 in 2008 and 25.72 in '07.
McCarthy doesn't consider the youthful makeup a deterrent.
"We've played with rookies before, and we've played with younger players before, and we're fortunate enough to have a lot of experience with our veterans," McCarthy said.
The Packers have six players 30 and older.
The opening-day average age is skewed somewhat by not having to count 35-year-old cornerback Al Harris, the team's oldest player along with receiver Donald Driver. Harris is on the physically unable to perform list.
--Perhaps a nod to the talent level the Packers have cultivated with their young prospects, the team had a league-high five players claimed off waivers after it released them in the final roster cutdown Saturday.
Finding new homes right away were running back Kregg Lumpkin (Tampa Bay), tight end Spencer Havner (Detroit), center/guard Evan Dietrich-Smith (Seattle), defensive tackle Anthony Toribio (Kansas City) and linebacker Cyril Obiozor (Arizona).
What's more, Australian rookie punter Chris Bryan signed a free-agent contract with the Buccaneers two days after the Packers cut him in favor of first-year player Tim Masthay.
Bryan told SEN sports-talk radio station in Melbourne, Australia, that he was planning to stay with the Packers on their practice squad.
"On my way driving in (to Green Bay's facility), I rang my wife (Lauren) and said, 'Can you just check my e-mails to see if anyone had written to me,'" Bryan said. "There was one from Tampa Bay. It just came out of the blue, and they basically said that they wanted me down there within 24 hours."
--The Packers are one of only five teams to have won their last three season openers.
Green Bay won those three games by only a combined 14 points, starting with a 16-13 victory over the Eagles at Lambeau Field in 2007 on a 42-yard field goal by then-rookie Mason Crosby with two seconds left.
--The Packers are starting the season on the road for the first time in McCarthy's five years as coach.
Their last season-opening road excursion resulted in a 17-3 loss against the Detroit Lions in 2005.
--Packers wideout Greg Jennings didn't hold back Wednesday when asked about the challenge of playing the opener in front of Philadelphia's notoriously hostile fans.
"Their fans, boy, they're ornery," Jennings said. "They're ornery from the moment you come through that tunnel.
"Anytime you're playing away, the home team is playing (with a) downhill mentality. They have the advantage because they have that 12th man. You have to come out and counterpunch them in the mouth before they actually hit you. That's our mindset."
Green Bay has lost nine straight games against the Eagles in the would-be City of Brotherly Love.
BY THE NUMBERS: 15 -- Players on the Packers' 53-man roster in Week 1 this year who weren't on the team's opening-day roster last year.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "All of those types of awards, Super Bowl talk, frankly that's preseason talk. That's over in our mind. The only thing we're interested in is Philadelphia. It's nice when people recognize your players for potential, but we really don't care about potential. We're at the starting line of our season." -- Head coach Mike McCarthy, on the high expectations this season for the team as well as quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a popular preseason choice for league MVP.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Undrafted rookie cornerback Sam Shields' NFL baptism figures to be a significant one.
Head coach Mike McCarthy dropped strong hints Wednesday that Shields will be the nickel back when the Packers open the season Sunday at the Philadelphia Eagles.
After saying the team hasn't ruled out second-year Brandon Underwood from playing, McCarthy suggested Underwood isn't out of the woods in his recovery from a left shoulder injury he sustained late in the preseason. Underwood had been working at the nickel spot since the start of training camp.
Underwood has yet to practice this week and has been doing rehab work wearing a protective harness around the shoulder, which McCarthy acknowledged isn't conducive for being able to play defensive back effectively.
"I think it's important for Brandon to get pretty far down the road before we feel comfortable and he feels comfortable that he's going to be able to do the things that are necessary, particularly at that position," McCarthy said.
Shields flashed on occasion in the preseason with his unmatched blazing speed and knack for being around the football -- he led the defense with two interceptions and five pass breakups in the exhibition games. Yet, he remains a work in progress with his technique after being moved from receiver to cornerback only a year ago for his final college season at Miami.
PLAYER NOTES
--DE Mike Neal was added to the injury report after he didn't practice Thursday because of an abdominal strain he sustained the previous day. The injury puts into question the rookie's availability for Sunday's opener at the Philadelphia Eagles. Neal is expected to play considerably in the defensive line rotation.
--OLBs Clay Matthews (hamstring) and Brad Jones (shoulder) practiced in full for a second straight day and remain on track to be in the starting lineup Sunday.
--DE Cullen Jenkins (calf) also has gone through the full workouts the last two days and appears ready to make the start at right end.
--CB Brandon Underwood has yet to practice this week, and his status for Sunday doesn't appear good. That means undrafted rookie Sam Shields is in line to be the nickel back this weekend.
--OLB Brady Poppinga missed a second straight day of practice because of knee inflammation. Poppinga doesn't consider the injury serious and is optimistic about being available in a backup role Sunday.
--ILB Desmond Bishop was held out Thursday after he experienced some soreness in his hamstring following a full practice the previous day. The backup's status is up in the air for Sunday.
--OL Bryan Bulaga, the team's first-round draft pick this year, appears on the injury report with the hip injury that kept him out of the last two preseason games. Bulaga is practicing this week and is the top understudy to Chad Clifton at left tackle and Daryn Colledge at left guard.
GAME PLAN: Head coach/play caller Mike McCarthy likes to say he is committed to the run, but he's not kidding anyone. The Packers enter the season with the best passing attack going after Aaron Rodgers' unbelievably high rate of execution in what amounted to only a little more than a game of action during the preseason - 41-of-53 for 470 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 141.2.
So, why wouldn't McCarthy go vertical, even against the Eagles' traditionally exotic, blitz-happy defense that will challenge Green Bay's revitalized offensive line, which didn't allow a sack of Rodgers in exhibition play? Consider that in the three games Rodgers and the No. 1 unit were on the field for a total of 13 series, the Packers carried out 56 pass plays to only 25 run plays (including those nullified by penalties) for a heavily lopsided pass-run ratio of 69-31. Still, McCarthy needs to bring up the confidence of halfbacks Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson carrying the football after they combined for three fumbles (two lost) in August.
Defensively, Dom Capers will finally have a full complement of starters after injuries to linebackers Clay Matthews and Brad Jones and defensive end Cullen Jenkins forced the coordinator to go more vanilla than usual. Now that Matthews is lined up on the left side opposite Jenkins, look for Capers to go full bore with the pressure packages from both ends to try to get after Kevin Kolb in his first season as the Eagles' starting quarterback. The Packers can ill afford to not get home and thus allow Kolb the time to exploit a secondary that probably will include undrafted rookie Sam Shields in the nickel role against speedy wideouts DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Packers LT Chad Clifton vs. Eagles DE Trent Cole -- Clifton begins his 11th season as a starter and, at age 34, remains one of the league's top pass protectors. He shut down the Indianapolis Colts' Dwight Freeney for a half in Green Bay's third preseason game, ensuring that quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn't sacked once in his stellar exhibition run after absorbing a league-high 50 sacks last season. Clifton, though, was dealing with some recurring knee soreness late in the preseason and will need to be right Sunday when he contends with Cole, who ranked third in the NFC with 12 1/2 sacks in 2009.
--Packers punt coverage unit vs. Eagles punt returner DeSean Jackson -- Concerns about Green Bay's special teams in the wake of a dismal performance across the board last season didn't subside in the preseason, particularly on the coverage end. Opponents averaged a healthy 11.8 yards, this after the Packers ranked near the bottom of the NFL in 2009 in yielding an average of 10.1 yards. For starters this season, they get to deal with Jackson, as much of a big-play threat on punt returns as he is as a receiver on offense. He led the league with a return average of 15.2 yards and ran back two punts for touchdowns last year.
INJURY IMPACT: Barring any setbacks on the practice field at the end of the week, the Packers expect to have their starting defense together in a game for the first time in 2010 when the season opens Sunday at the Philadelphia Eagles. Outside linebackers Clay Matthews (hamstring) and Brad Jones (shoulder) have the green light to play after being nonfactors for all or most of the preseason, as does right end Cullen Jenkins (calf). ... The Packers, however, could still be short-handed at linebacker, depending on the severity of knee inflammation that cropped up for Brady Poppinga on Wednesday. Undrafted rookie Frank Zombo would be next in line to spell Matthews and Jones at the outside spots. ... A lingering shoulder injury for Brandon Underwood, who has yet to practice this week, likely means undrafted rookie Sam Shields will take over as the nickel back Sunday.
