I'm not sure how far along that virtual technology is for the NFL, and what the carryover is to performance compared to do actually doing it on the practice or game field. But I'm sure it could help and will be a standard part of training in a few years.

And a Happy Thanksgiving to you Steve and everybody else out there. I don't know what McCarthy's plan is, though in his postgame comments he sounded like he regretted not playing Mays until garbage time. It probably also depends on whether Montgomery plays this week, sounds like he's not practicing today but doesn't mean he won't play Sunday. I'd play him. He's a big back (230 pounds) and they need to pound the ball. Williams can't get all the carries. I'm guessing Ripkowski might get some too.

Guess I want to see how the rest of this season plays out first. Agree completely on the running thing. When he first took over I was of the mind that they need to be careful about running him because of the injury risk. But at this point it's clear he needs to run a lot to be an effective player, so they'll just have to take their chances and emphasize to him to slide when he sees any danger.

I still am not positive what happened there. McCarthy said Mays' fumble was a reason, but that doesn't explain nine passes and two runs in the first two series. McCarthy hinted at it after the game when he talked about how difficult it would be to pound the ball at Baltimore's two 340-pound DTs, though he said that in the context of only having one running back after he'd lost faith in Mays with the fumble. I also suspect McCarthy thought he could open up the passing more after seeing how Hundley played in the fourth quarter at Chicago, and he might have hoped to catch Baltimore off guard by coming out throwing. Those are the best explanations I can come up with.

Based on what McCarthy has said, sounds to me like he wants to get the ball in the receivers' hands, so when they throw I'm guessing they'll be looking to get the ball to Adams, Nelson and Cobb. But you never know what can happen in any game, anyone can have a big day.

I'm wondering who will play more if Matthews doesn't play this week, Biegel or Fackrell. Fackrell did have maybe his best game, but it's going to take more than to convince me he should be on the roster again next year. I'm curious to see how Biegel does as he gets into better football shape.

I don't know if he's been blackballed in the sense that there's an agreement among teams not to sign him. But obviously no team has wanted to bring him in because of the backlash from some/many fans and the media scrutiny it would bring to the locker room. That's taking on a lot for a backup quarterback. I didn't think he'd be worth signing for the Packers because I thought Hundley would be better than he's been, and it would be incredibly hard for Kaepernick to come in and succeed in an offense he's never worked in and with a coach who hasn't worked with him before. Remember, though his stats weren't that bad last year, he was 1-10 as a starter. So I still doubt they'd be any better off with him. Signing him also would have set them up for a QB controversy, as soon as Hundley had faltered at all there'd have been calls for Kaepernick, so you're kind of undermining Hundley from the start.

It is a chicken-egg question, and one I've been wrestling with for a long time. I still think the biggest problem on defense is that in the last six years or so the only pick on which they've hit big on defense is Mike Daniels. Would another player or two be in that category with a different staff, or at least be having more impact? I can't say for sure. But you need probably three difference makers to have a good defense, and right now they have only one, though I have to say Kenny Clark is ascending, he was having a really good season before getting hurt last week.

Probably. The one thing they don't have on offense is a receiver/tight end who really scares defenses with his speed and downfield playmaking.

My guess is it would have to be really, really bad.

I don't know what play McCarthy had called (if he had called any), so I can't answer. I do know in two-minute drills Rodgers calls his own plays, at least in the no-huddle part. Don't know if that continues when they get a chance to huddle. So maybe McCarthy didn't call a play at all and left it in Rodgers' hands.

Maybe sign a veteran in the offseason. Rodgers has had several injuries now, so that wouldn't be the worst idea. Or draft one, as you suggest, which has been more in line with Thompson's and McCarthy's history. But I'd never take a backup QB in the first three rounds, probably even four. I'd look in the fifth or later. That's what Wolf did when he had Favre -- all those guys he picked except Aaron Brooks (fourth round) were fifth round or later. I know the Patriots took Garoppolo, but they took him thinking he might replace Brady. Rodgers has too many years left to do that.

This is the sentiment of several questions, and there's a legitimate point that both TT and MM have been here a long time. There's the Bill Walsh line of thinking that a coach shouldn't stay with one team for more than 10 years. And this will be a big question when the season ends. But I also have to point out that this league is QB-centric almost to the point of absurdity. Look at Denver. The Broncos have had one of the league's best defenses for several years but now they can't beat anybody because they don't have a QB. They fired their O-coordinator this week but I doubt that will do any good. The only thing that will help is if their change at QB -- Paxton Lynch is going to start this week -- is an upgrade. There are exceptions, there's usually a team or two that win mainly with defense (Minnesota, Jacksonville), and Thompson has drafted enough defensive players the last few years to question why they aren't at least better on that side of the ball. But it's also true that this is a QB league.

Only if we don't talk about Joe Callahan either.

Agree they need to mix that in. If they're going to run the ball a lot, which they should, they need that read option as counter move. Hundley can run, so use his legs. Just tell him to avoid trouble so he doesn't get hurt.

Probably some truth in that, he was a really good back in '13 and gave them a fighting chance. I had forgotten this, but they lost 40-10 at Detroit in Flynn's first start, so that was a non-competitive game too. But after that they played a lot better. This last game was horrendous. There's no other way to put it. They won the week before and for a week all was kinda well. This is a week-to-week league.

I haven't heard or read anything suggesting something like that is in play. So I highly, highly doubt they'd change something as fundamental as the points you raise. I'm sure there will be tweaks for player safety. Don't know what they'll be.

Wolf said that when he was GM also. He drafted more later-round QBs than Thompson has. I don't know that this is a fireable offense, because there's something to be said for using your picks to help win with your starter, look at all the criticism Thompson draws for the defense. You keep drafting backup QBs, that's one more pick that doesn't help you win when Rodgers is playing. It does suggest that you shouldn't rely solely on the draft.

Amy Trask had a really high position with the Raiders -- you can look up what her title was, but I think she might have been their cap person. Mike Brown's daughter -- I can't remember her name off hand -- runs the day to day administrative operations for the Bengals. The major professional sports are one area where the glass ceiling is especially low.

That's tough to answer without knowing the details of where they stand. But if he's healthy enough to play and they still have an OK chance, then yeah, I think he plays.

Yeah, saw that. I haven't read any stories on it so don't know why Seattle let him go. Not sure if it's because he's run out of gas or something else.

That's a possibility. What we don't know is how much influence they had on any of those good picks. Thompson always has final say. So maybe Thompson just drafted better then. I've tried to get a feel for this over the years but haven't been able to get anywhere. I still get the sense that in the end they've been Thompson's picks. Now, did one or two of those guys influence Thompson either consciously or subconsciously more then than his current staff? Maybe. Very hard to know unless you were on that staff, and maybe even then it's hard to know. I do know that Wolf, Highsmith and Gutekunst are pretty highly regarded by the handful of people I talk to from other teams. Your question makes me think of Seattle. Schneider had a couple phenomenal drafts early on, those couple drafts built that great defense. And Wilson was a good pick. But since then the Seahawks' drafts haven't been that good. I'd still argue there's a lot more luck in drafting than most people in the league are willing to admit to. But that's just me.

I know Dave, but so was Hill and they let him get away. But in the end, this is all quibbling. There aren't many backup QBs who can go .500 (or close to it) -- there are plenty of starters who can't do that. And Hundley's not one of them.

Sorry about that last answer, not sure what's going on, ScribbleLive is starting to lock up here. Just checked my Twitter feed and sounds like McCray is practicing today.

They could move Nelson to the slot and start Allison on the outside.

With Baltimore, I'd guess that their special teams ranking has a lot to do with Harbaugh having been a special teams coach before becoming a head coach. But then Baltimore's offenses haven't been so hot, and he's not the coordinator, so he has to rely on a coordinator to fix that, and I think he's been through a bunch of them.

My apologies, have to call it quits now, with the holiday tomorrow have other duties to get to. But thanks everyone for stopping by, so many smart questions. As to Mike's question, honestly, after that Dallas game I thought this had the makings of a special season for the Packers. Rodgers was at the top of his game and seemed even more determined than usual -- I suspect he was driven to get back to the SB and tired of the flak he and the organization were getting for not being in one since the 2010 season. The NFC has proven to be wide open. Their chances were as good as anybody's, and as long as they wouldn't have had to go to Atlanta for a playoff game, I thought their chances to get to the SB were really good. Then Rodgers goes down and that all went down the tubes. It's been a long, hard fall for the organization. Still six games left to see what they're made. Thanks again to everyone for stopping by and asking your questions. We'll do it again back on our regular day, next Thursday. And Happy Thanksgiving to all!