GREEN BAY, Wis. -- For a quarterback whose team just improved to 6-0, Aaron Rodgers didn't sound all that thrilled Sunday evening before he left Lambeau Field for a week off.
There wasn't the pep in his voice you might expect after the Green Bay Packers' 27-20 win against the San Diego Chargers sent them into their bye week.
Rodgers claimed it was because he was tired -- but not from a long day on the field given his offense had the ball for only 22 of the 60 minutes but rather from pacing the sideline.
"They had the ball for 38 minutes," Rodgers said. "A lot of walking around in circles. If I had a tracker on me, on my iPhone, I probably would have had 1,500 steps at least."
And then Rodgers' tone changed.
"No, you know what? I'm happy," he said with a smile. "We're 6-0, but there's room for improvement."
For a change, that's needed on his side of the ball even though the defense allowed Philip Rivers to throw for 503 yards. If there's a concern for the Packers as they look at a post-bye schedule that starts out with consecutive road games at Denver and Carolina -- both teams are still undefeated -- it's with the offense.
They might never be the same without deep-threat receiver Jordy Nelson, but the need for receiver Davante Adams to return from the sprained ankle that kept him out for a third straight game and for running back Eddie Lacy to come out of whatever funk he's in -- no one would say what the issue was with the Pro Bowl running back -- tops the second-half to-do list.
It didn't help that another receiver, rookie Ty Montgomery, dropped out because of a second-quarter ankle injury.
"Davante and Ty and Eddie, getting those guys back to 100 percent will be important because we come off the bye and play two road games against teams that are undefeated right now," Rodgers said.
It's not as if the Packers didn't have a running game; James Starks started because, according to one team source they "felt Starks would have a big game." Sure enough, Starks ran for 25 yards on his first carry and finished with 112 yards on just 10 carries. His first career two-touchdown game included a 65-yard touchdown run and a 5-yard touchdown catch and run.
With only 49 offensive plays, Lacy didn't have much of a chance to get going. He carried only four times for 3 yards and caught two passes for 17 yards, leaving many to wonder why he had so little involvement.
He insisted it wasn't because of his right ankle, which he injured in Week 2 but was healed to the point where he was taken off the injury report last week.
"Starks got on a roll early, and when the guy gets hot like that, you want him to keep going, and he was able to keep performing," Lacy said. "Even though he was dinged up, he played through it, and I'm happy for him."
Lacy has never been much of a quick starter. Last year, he gained 711 of his 1,139 yards in the second half of the season, but he has yet to rush for more than 90 yards in a game this year.
"It's really no different than the way we've operated," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "We went with James first frankly because he's been playing extremely well, and Eddie's been a little banged-up. We didn't have the number of reps. I would have liked to have seen us run the ball a lot more if you were going to draw up the game and play it differently. So that part didn't work out that way, but James obviously had a huge day."
Other than Starks, the Packers biggest playmaker on offense Sunday was Jeff Janis, the seldom-used second-year pro who caught two passes but was the most productive receiver with 79 yards. James Jones has six touchdowns in as many games, including an 8-yarder Sunday, but had only two catches for 30 yards against the Chargers.
The Packers won with their No. 2 running back as their leading rusher and their No. 5 receiver as their top pass catcher, which tells McCarthy a little something about his team.
"I have a 6-0 football team that needs to get healthy," McCarthy said. "And we have a chance to get a lot better."