GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Now that they have an opponent, the glaring mystery for the Green Bay Packers the next few days is what they will be able to get out of Aaron Rodgers before their playoff debut Sunday.

The All-Pro quarterback has been on the mend since further injuring his left calf in the Dec. 28 win over the Detroit Lions to end the regular season. That earned Green Bay the NFC North title and a first-round bye in the postseason.

Head coach Mike McCarthy announced Friday, when the players returned from a mini-break during the bye week, that Rodgers wouldn’t practice until at least this Thursday.

That timetable seemed to hold true Monday as the Packers (12-4) prepared to host the third-seeded Dallas Cowboys (13-4) in a divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field.

“Aaron Rodgers is progressing,” McCarthy said late Monday afternoon. “He had a hip in his hop today. He’ll have an evaluation Wednesday morning by (team) Doctor (Pat) McKenzie, and then we’ll set a plan for the week.”

Green Bay is on its normal schedule before a Sunday game with practices slated for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Even if Rodgers is cleared to practice Thursday, that would give him potentially only two days of on-field work for the game against the Cowboys.

Neither McCarthy nor Rodgers, let alone teammates, fret over what the condensed prep time could mean for the NFL’s MVP candidate and Green Bay’s prolific offense in the must-win game.

“He doesn’t miss practice, and I know he wants to practice,” McCarthy said. “But, we need to be smart. Dr. McKenzie and Aaron and the rest of the staff, we’ll talk it through and make an educated decision.

“I’m not concerned. Look at the way he played in the second half of the Detroit game (after briefly leaving with the injury). He’s learned to play through different situations. He has continuity with his teammates. So, I think you’ve got to be in tune with that. But, hey, the way he progresses, he’s a quick healer. He jumped out there last week and was playing normal football there until (aggravating) the injury. I think he’ll be in pretty good shape come Sunday.”

Rodgers insisted Friday that he and the offense wouldn’t be susceptible to rust due to his missed practice time, particularly with two weeks between games.

“I’ve never believed in the whole rust thing,” Rodgers said. “It’s about execution. If you don’t execute, you don’t execute. It’s not about being rusty. We played 20 games so far counting preseason, so rust doesn’t even come into our mindset or our actions. If we don’t play well, it’s because we didn’t play well. It has nothing to do with any type of rust or not being out there.”

Jordy Nelson, the top pass-catching target for Rodgers this season, also missed Green Bay’s bye-week practices Friday and Saturday for a personal reason.

Nelson has no doubt he and Rodgers can keep clicking Sunday as they have all season “because we’ve been together for seven years and have a lot of time together,” the veteran receiver said Monday.

“He didn’t practice much last week, and it wasn’t an issue,” Nelson added. “We’ll still be in meeting rooms together. A lot of it is mental anyway right now. We’ve had plenty of reps, a lot of time together. We’ll be able to go out and play.”

–The Packers filled out their 10-player practice squad to get ready for the week of preparations for the Cowboys by signing first-year center Joe Madsen.

The 6-foot-3, 305-pound Madsen played for the Los Angeles KISS of the Arena Football League last year. The West Virginia product was signed as an undrafted rookie by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2013 and released at the end of the preseason that year.

–Notes: Cornerback Davon House resumed practicing late last week in limited fashion during the team’s bye week for the start of the postseason. House, a situational contributor on defense, has missed the last three games because of a fractured right scapula. It’s uncertain whether House will be available for the game against Dallas in the divisional round of the playoffs Sunday.