GREEN BAY -- The Packers' final roster wasn't so final. The team had to find someone to play that often ignored, upside-down position of long-snapper -- the most anonymous player on the team, until he makes a mistake in a game.

With rookie J.J. Jansen on season-ending injured reserve with a knee injury, one of the 53 players who made it through the final roster reduction Saturday will have to go to make room for Jansen's replacement, Brett Goode.

Unlike in past years, when Packers general manager Ted Thompson added a player or two after the final cuts were made, Thompson said Sunday that the team didn't put in a single waiver claim -- including on long-snapper Thomas Gafford, whom the Packers released Aug. 3 and the Chicago Bears released Saturday.

"I think our core group has progressed far enough along that barring some injuries or something, we felt pretty good about being able to pick and choose from our group," Thompson said. "It wasn't that there weren't some people that we'd be interested in. It's just that, (if) you claim them, you have to cut somebody else, and we weren't really that eager to do that."

That said, the Packers will have to cut someone to add Goode, who won a job after beating out Tim Bugg and Ryan Senser in a long-snapping audition.

Goode, 23, was signed by the Packers on Sunday afternoon after winning a three-way tryout against Tim Bugg and Ryan Senser. Gode, 23, played played collegiately at Arkansas and was on the Jacksonville Jaguars' off-season roster the past two seasons.

Thompson said Jansen's knee injury, which he suffered on a high snap to punter Jon Ryan late in Thursday night's preseason finale against Tennessee, was severe enough that he would have been out "a fair number of weeks and months."

With Goode on the roster, the Packers will have to make a corresponding roster move, and among those in danger of being released are rookie right tackle Breno Giacomini, safety Charlie Peprah, linebacker Tracy White and cornerback Jarrett Bush.

Giacomini struggled mightily in the preseason finale against the Titans; Peprah missed most of camp with a hamstring injury; White is the seventh linebacker on the roster; and Bush had coverage problems in several preseason games. Peprah, White and Bush are all core special-teams players.

The fact that Thompson didn't claim a single player from another team was a surprise. Each of the past three seasons, he made several moves after the final cuts.

Last year, halfback Noah Herron was initially kept on the active roster but was later placed on injured reserve when fullback John Kuhn was claimed off waivers. The Packers also traded for halfback Ryan Grant on cutdown day, sending a sixth-round pick to the New York Giants for him.

In 2006, Thompson cut to 51 players -- two below the maximum -- then claimed Bush, Peprah and guard Tony Palmer on waivers. Cornerback Jason Horton was cut to make room for the third waiver-wire addition.

And in Thompson's first year, 2005, he signed free-agent tight end Donald Lee, who'd been released by Miami and cleared waivers, and promoted fullback Vonta Leach from the practice squad. To make room, he released tight end Ben Steele and running back Nick Luchey.

"That's part of the process," Thompson said. "You juggle things around, you take something from here, you add something here, and you just kind of have to figure it out as you go."

Eight signed to practice squad: The Packers brought back oft-injured halfback DeShawn Wynn, a 2007 seventh-round pick who was released by the club a week ago in the first round of cuts from 80 to 75 players, as part of the eight-man practice squad.

Joining Wynn are wide receivers Jake Allen and Brett Swain, center Brennen Carvalho, tight end Joey Haynos, linebacker Danny Lansanah, defensive tackle Alfred Malone and cornerback Joe Porter.

To be eligible for the practice squad, a player must not have been on the 45-man game-day roster for nine or more regular-season games. Wynn, active for seven games last season, thus was eligible.

As a rookie last year, Wynn -- labeled an underachiever during his college career at Florida -- started four games and had rushed for a team-high 203 yards and four touchdowns before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury at Denver on Oct. 28.

Wynn, who missed practice time during camp last year with a stomach virus and a quadriceps injury, made the 53-man roster with a strong performance in the preseason finale against Tennessee last season. While he wasn't on the roster for this year's exhibition finale against the Titans, the Packers still see enough promise in him to warrant further consideration.

"I know DeShawn gets a lot of guff, and we're all a little bit disappointed he's been injured some, but he helped us win some games last year," Thompson said. "I think he's a talented back, and we're going to put him back out there and let him compete some more."

The Packers likely wanted to sign defensive tackle Daniel Muir, who made the 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent last year, to the practice squad, but Muir was claimed by the Indianapolis Colts Sunday. 


Thompson responds: Thompson acknowledged that he was aware of the comments made by ex-Packers quarterback Brett Favre about him in an interview with New York Jets beat writers Saturday, but Thompson demurred when asked whether Favre's criticism of him was disappointing.

In the interview, Favre accused Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy of "throwing daggers to make themselves look like they were in the right" and said Thompson's offer to send Favre his locker during an awkward post-draft visit to Mississippi was left him thinking, "Way to get my ass out the door."

"I'll say this, and we've said this before: We wish Brett the best and we are trying to get ready for the start of the season," Thompson said.

Inexperienced QBs remain: While Thompson wouldn't rule out adding a veteran quarterback, he essentially said that the team will go with Aaron Rodgers, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn -- and their zero career NFL starts -- this season.

Asked if is comfortable going into the season with the three QBs he has, Thompson replied, "Yes I am. I think Mike and I both are. We wish we had a little more seasoning, but we don't."

Thompson deferred to McCarthy on whether Brohm or Flynn will be Rodgers' primary backup.

Shallow D-line depth: Thompson called releasing Muir "a close call" but suggested that the team doesn't necessarily need to add another defensive tackle after keeping just three on the final cuts. The Packers have just nine defensive linemen, after keeping 11 -- including six tackles -- last year.

"At all positions you wish you could have more, but that's where we are right now," Thompson said.

Thompson pointed to the versatility of starting right end Cullen Jenkins, who can play inside, as well as how ends Jason Hunter and Mike Montgomery have worked inside in passing situations.