The Green Bay Packers did not play in Super Bowl XLIX. They did not win a championship. Their last game was, believe it or not, nearly a month ago.

It’s hard to believe because since then, the Packers – notably head coach Mike McCarthy – has been kept in the spotlight during one of the few slow times in the National Football League calendar.

Since losing in the NFC Championship game, McCarthy has rejiggered his coaching staff and also relinquished play calling duties, which is perhaps the biggest coaching news that could come out of Green Bay at this point.

Things are pretty solid up at Lambeau Field, and have been. Continuity is a good thing in the NFL, especially when the team wins.

And that starts at the top, with Ted Thompson, who has been the top of the personnel food chain since 2005.

While he stays in the shadows for most of the year, now is Thompson’s time in the spotlight, as the annual NFL Scouting Combine begins this week at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

McCarthy will speak this week too, and we may hear from him here and there between now and training camp. We may find out if the MVP is engaged or not, or if he’s about to star in new commercials or make cameos on the small or silver screens.

But from now until the beginning of May, it’s all about Thompson and his vision for the Packers.

Thompson has until March 2 to decide whether or not to franchise tag free agent wide receiver Randall Cobb (if a new contract can’t be worked out). Free agency begins on March 10. Restricted free agents have to sign offer sheets by April 24.

Then, the NFL Draft in Chicago on April 30 through May 2.

Fans often bemoan his approach to unrestricted free agency, that he rarely makes the "big splash" signings, instead picking at the fringes and signing players like Ryan Pickett and Letroy Guion, who "no one knows" and future Hall of Famers like Charles Woodson and Julius Peppers at points in their career that fans wonder what they have left.

Of course, such moves have not only been cost effective, but have paid dividends.

It’s also easy to forget that Tramon Williams, in his prime, never got away, or that Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings signed team-friendly deals the first time they had a chance to leave. Or that Sam Shields didn’t get away. Or that Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers never got to a point where there was any real concern of them hitting the open market.

Such moves make news when they happen, but it’s easy to forget them. Those guys are already "on the team."

Where’s the fresh blood, the "sexy" addition?

For Thompson, that’s what this week – and the coming weeks – are about.

This Packers roster turns over quite a bit, and will always be one of the youngest in the league. It has to be, in part, because of the huge cap number Rodgers and Matthews take up. If you pay them, a half dozen other players need to be making the minimum, or close to it.

That turnover has already begun, beginning with the release of tight end Brandon Bostick. Most expect middle linebackers Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk to be released (or at least have their contracts re-worked) as well. Perhaps competition is brought in for punter Tim Masthay.

And, invariably, Thompson will decide that a first or second-year player did not come along quickly enough to warrant another bite at the apple.

So Thompson is in Indianapolis, not only looking for the players he will draft over the final day of April and first weekend of May, but the handful of priority undrafted players he will call to bring in to camp.

They are the fresh blood, the sexy additions that really won’t catch your eye until camp opens, or even until the season begins. Really. Who thought 2014 pick Corey Linsley (fifth round, pick no. 161) and 2013 pick David Bakhtiari (fourth round, pick no. 109) would be immediate starters and anchors on this offensive line?

Who would have thought a seventh rounder in Sam Barrington or a fourth-rounder in Mike Daniels would be contributing to the changing attitude of the defense?

Yes, Thompson has reached and missed in drafts. He’s far from alone in that regard. But the Packers count those undrafted players that become contributors as part of those "classes." More often than not, he finds guys who can play and perform, if not stars.

Regardless of where they were selected, you can’t say that Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Linsley, Eddie Lacy, Bakhtiari, Micah Hyde, Daniels, Randall Cobb, Davon House, Bryan Bulaga, Morgan Burnett and Andrew Quarrels haven’t played key roles in the Packers’ regular season success since 2010.

Only 11 players can be on the field at any given time, and those have bene some big time contributors – names that don’t include Rodgers, Matthews, B.J. Raj, Jordy Nelson, Josh Sitton, Greg Jennings or T.J. Lang.

Save for a few names on that list, most Packers fans – if they’re being honest – had some kind of issue with the selection. It was too high for that guy. What about that other guy? Who is this guy?

This is the other reason why this is Thompson’s time. I, personally, find the mystery of what he does and why he does it interesting. What’s truly fascinating is the reaction to it. This will be his 11th draft, and even those who follow the team closely rarely have an idea of what is going on, and what will happen.

So that means the public is even less informed than they would like, and it drives them crazy. (But, it makes for good talk radio and Facebook and Twitter conversations, that’s for sure.)

I’m doubt he’s amused by it, though. I don’t think he knows, or if he does, that he particularly cares – which in itself drives fans crazy.

Ted Thompson is in the spotlight, for sure, for about the next three months.

What will be most interesting about the whole process, though, is that he’ll somehow, again, manage to turn it right back to who he feels are most important – the players and the coaching staff.