GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Eddie Lacy doesn’t recall the hit that injured his ribs in Week 15 against the Oakland Raiders.

But the Green Bay Packers running back can remember every painful hit since then.

"I took a hit last week that made it hurt a little bit," Lacy said. "If you can play, go play. If not, then sit it down. As long as I feel like I can still continue to go out, I’ll monitor it. Trainers do a good job with me with monitoring it, but I go out and do what I can."

Lacy has used a rib pad to soften the blows and will wear it again in Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals. It helps, but it’s not the cure-all.

"It takes away [some of the pain] from when I take shots there," Lacy said.

And Lacy knows he’s going to take shots. It’s what every running back deals with just about every time he touches the ball.

Coach Mike McCarthy has tried to go easy on Lacy in practice. The Packers did not practice in pads this week, and Lacy was listed as a limited participant all this week.

"It gets better during weeks of practice because I get to rehab it a lot," Lacy said. "But once the game comes, it goes back to Square 1."

McCarthy split the workload almost evenly between Lacy and James Starks in Sunday’s wild-card playoff win against the Washington Redskins. Each back carried 12 times -- Lacy for 63 yards with a touchdown and Starks for 53 yards.

Lacy hasn’t carried more than 13 times since his injury on Dec. 20. Nevertheless, the Packers know they will need to move the ball on the ground to keep the Cardinals’ pass rush (which sacked Aaron Rodgers eight times in the game three weeks ago) off balance. It’s what the Packers did against the Redskins, who sacked Rodgers only once.

"I think we were extremely balanced [against Washington], it kind of helped each other as far as the run game opened up some things," Packers offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said.

"You go back and look at the fourth-and-1 [conversion], a well-executed run [and] Eddie breaks tackles and we’re able to extend drives. Those are the type of plays that stand out."

Even if they hurt Lacy a little more each time.