GREEN BAY -- Here's what's gone on today at 1265 Lombardi Ave. with your Green Bay Packers:

> Veteran right tackle Mark Tauscher signed a deal that will take him through the end of the season and participated in practice, albeit on a limited basis.

"His plan today was to take him through the jog-through and the individual work and keep him out of the team periods. It's a decision clearly driven by the medical staff," coach Mike McCarthy said. "It's going to probably take him some time to get ready. We're just getting started today based on signing the contract and so forth, so it will probably be a week on this plan here. I watched him go through the individual (work). I thought he is off to a good start. He's in good shape, but it's like anything. There is a difference in being in rehab shape and getting in football shape, so that's what we're working on with Mark."

McCarthy said Tauscher likely won't be ready to play against Detroit on Sunday but that the medical and coaching staffs see him as "someone that we're going to bring along as fast as we can."

McCarthy called the performances of current right tackle Allen Barbre "a little up and down. I think Allen is doing a good job in the run game. I feel he has learned from his experiences each week, but there are some technical things that he needs to improve on in the pass-protection area, and that's our emphasis with him. I like his tenacity, I like the way he finishes, but he's got some things he needs to clean up."

Tauscher said Monday "was a good start, just going out and doing some drills and getting the pads out and hitting again. It's been, obviously, a long layoff. It's been about 10 months. So obviously to come back and get back into it, I think there's going to be a little bit of time that's needed."

Tauscher admitted that while he expected to play again this season, some doubts did enter his mind.

"You know, when you blow your knee out for the second time and you're in a position, there's a lot of things that go into your mind. But like I said, for the most part -- there were some exceptions -- (I) just kind of tried to stay on task and not worry about the things I couldn't control. And I figured if I put in good effort and did what I needed to do to be back, to be strong, I felt like that's all I could do and everything else would just fall into place. And that happened."

> Left tackle Chad Clifton (ankle) was back practicing after missing two weeks and games, but when asked about whether Clifton will be ready for the Lions, McCarthy said he'd "like to see him work probably at least two days later in the week just to make sure he is ready. So we'll see how he feels tomorrow."

No. 2 halfback Brandon Jackson practiced fully on Monday but the coaches are taking a wait-and-see approach with him. "We'll see how he responds. I think it was (about) 10 days ago, he came out and practiced and didn't have a favorable response the following day," McCarthy said.

> McCarthy thinks safety Atari Bigby (knee), out since the season opener vs. Chicago, has a chance of being ready Sunday, but wouldn't say how good of a chance. "Really, Atari, Chad Clifton, Brandon Jackson, it will all be very similar for them. Jeremy Thompson, you could probably put him in that same category. We wanted to work them today based on the plan set by the medical staff and really just see how they respond tomorrow to give us more information on how we can go forward through the week. We're hopeful that Atari can go Wednesday, and then hopefully Thursday, and if he can go through the week, he'll definitely have a chance to play."

> Jordy Nelson will handle both punt and kickoff returns with Will Blackmon on season-ending injured reserve.

> Brady Poppinga was sick and missed practice. While McCarthy said the team "had a couple guys that came up (ill) today," including practice-squad cornerback Trevor Ford, the team is not concerned about an H1N1/swine flu outbreak.

> Wide receiver Greg Jennings expressed his frustration with his limited role thusfar in the offense. Jennings has caught just 11 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown, including a combined three catches for 31 yards in the Packers' two losses.

Asked if teams are doing more to defend him, Jennings replied, "They have done more, but no, not excessively more. It’s not much more than they’ve done in the past, or anything they haven’t done before, or anything we haven’t seen. So I would have to say no."

Instead, Jennings cited the protection problems the Packers have had -- quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been sacked 20 times -- as the main reason for his dip in production.

"When you’re running your route and you’re at a 15-yard depth and every one out of four times you turn around your quarterback is going down to the ground, it’s like, ‘C’mon!’" Jennings said. "It’s frustrating, but we’ve talked about it. I was just telling (Rodgers), ‘We need to communicate. If you need me to speed up my routes, we’ve got to do something so you’re not taking these hits.’ But it’s something where we’ve all got to dig deep. We’ve got to protect better, we’ve got to run better routes, we’ve got to catch the ball. I mean, shoot. We were talking before practice: We’ve got 14 drops, and I honestly feel they’re being generous with the number. We should have more. And we have 10 of those 14 here (at wide receiver). That’s too many drops. So we’re not making plays. Yeah, we’ve made some big plays, but the opportunities we’ve gotten, who knows what could have taken place.

"Ultimately, for me, it’s about winning. If we’re winning, if we’re 4-0 right now, and I have these opportunities, I’m still saying, ‘C’mon, I need more opportunities,’ but it’s cushioned and the blow is softened by the productivity of the team. But that’s not the case. So it’s like, ‘What’s going on?’"