A roundup of what's happening on the Green Bay Packers beat.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Maybe it was Randall Cobb that Aaron Rodgers was speaking to when he said, "R-E-L-A-X."
The Packers receiver admitted Thursday that he was pressing early in the year and now finds himself in a much better frame of mind.
And it has shown in his production.
The game after Rodgers' decree, Cobb had a breakout performance with seven catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns in a win at the Chicago Bears. In his last four games, Cobb has 21 receptions for 326 yards and five touchdowns. No receiver in the NFL has more touchdown catches in that stretch (teammate Jordy Nelson also has five), and only eight players have more receiving yards in the last four games.
For the season, Cobb has eight touchdowns, matching his career high in just seven games. No NFL receiver has more at this point. Only tight ends Antonio Gates and Julius Thomas, with nine touchdown catches each, have more than Cobb.
"The mental side of things is very important," Cobb said. "I think I was pressing a little bit too much early on this season, trying to do too much instead of just being myself and doing what I do. Just relaxing and playing ball."
Cobb said there could have been myriad reasons why he was pressing. Chief among them likely was his contract situation. He's in the final year of his rookie contract and knows a big year could mean big money either from the Packers before free agency or another team on the open market.
"I mean, it definitely had something to do with it," Cobb admitted. "But I think I found peace mentally, and that's the biggest thing, having that peace and being able to not worry about those things."
In case you missed it from ESPN.com:
In a feature package on the back-shoulder fade pass, Nelson broke down the key aspects of the play. But Nelson was quick to point one important fact, it's not a play but rather a reaction.
Remember all that talk about Sunday's Packers-Saints game being a shootout? Well, the Packers' defense took offense to that suggestion, perhaps with good reason considering it ranks sixth in the league against the pass.
Running back Eddie Lacy, a New Orleans-area native, is looking forward to going back home, where his parents just moved into a house after living in a trailer for nearly a decade following Hurricane Katrina.
Coach Mike McCarthy expressed concern over whether safety Morgan Burnett would be available against the Saints because of the calf injury that has kept him out of practice all week.
Saints reporter Mike Triplett and I previewed Sunday's game.
Best of the rest:
At ESPNWisconsin.com, Jason Wilde talked to Lacy's mother about what the family went through following Katrina.
In the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Weston Hodkiewicz wrote that if Burnett doesn't play, the Packers have confidence that Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Micah Hyde will have no problems manning the safety spots, and Pete Dougherty wrote that McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dom Capers have done a good job adjusting on the fly this season.
In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tom Silverstein wrote that Cobb has become Rodgers' favorite target on scramble plays.