GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy is doing everything he can to take the strain off Aaron Rodgers’ ailing left hamstring while still making sure his quarterback gets in enough work before Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.

A day after McCarthy decided not to practice -- a rare move for a Wednesday -- McCarthy limited Rodgers’ snaps in practice during the portion that was open to reporters. Rodgers on Thursday took what appeared to be the essential work to get ready for an opponent, and then spent the rest of the time doing exercises with the medical staff off to the side.

McCarthy didn’t discuss Rodgers’ condition specifically on Thursday but pointed to multiple factors for altering his practice schedule this week coming off Monday night’s win at Philadelphia.

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“Today’s practice will be an abbreviated Thursday compared to prior Thursdays,” McCarthy said before practice. “Frankly, we’ve taken two of the periods from today’s practice and moved it to Saturday’s work. So we’ll still get the same amount of work done on the field, but once again, we talked about this in here yesterday, just the demands that we’ve had the past two games, giving players an extra day or half a day to try to get some more treatment and some more work in the weight room so they can get their bodies back. We’ll practice today in shells with a later practice, so we’ll start our day later.”

Brett Hundley took the rest of the quarterback snaps while Rodgers was either watching or rehabbing. He was the only other quarterback available for practice. Rookie Joe Callahan, who was re-signed to the practice squad Thursday morning, was not back on the field.

Rodgers came up limping in the third quarter against the Eagles and returned to the game after trainers wrapped his left leg in tape. His mobility was limited the rest of the game.

However, McCarthy on Wednesday said he did not think Rodgers’ hamstring injury would limit him as much as his strained calf did late in the 2014 season.

"I don't think we're back at 2014," McCarthy said Wednesday.

Linebacker Clay Matthews, who suffered a separated left shoulder in Monday night’s win over the Eagles on what he called a “cheap shot” from offensive lineman Allen Barbre, also practiced on a limited basis. So did fellow linebackers Blake Martinez (knee) and Jake Ryan (ankle), who both missed the game at Philadelphia. That forced Matthews to move to inside linebacker.

The only four players who did not practice were cornerback Demetri Goodson (knee), linebacker Kyler Fackrell (hamstring), guard T.J. Lang (ankle) and center JC Tretter (knee).