Editor’s note: Jason Wilde covers the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Wisconsin.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- John Kuhn was on his way back from Atlanta with his New Orleans Saints teammates last Sunday night, so he didn’t get to watch the entire game. Although the veteran fullback and Green Bay Packers folk hero moved on to a new NFL home this season, he still keeps tabs on his former team -- at least, when the Saints’ charter doesn’t prevent it -- and his protégé/successor Aaron Ripkowski in particular.

“It really has been a lot of fun [to watch him],” Kuhn said during an appearance on ESPN Wisconsin’s “Wilde & Tausch” earlier this week. “I can kind of remember when my career really kicked off in 2010 -- similar to this year with the Packers [and the] running back injuries. We really needed help there, and I filled in and played a fair amount of halfback that year.

“And as I watch ‘Rip’ do the same thing this year, it gives me flashbacks to that year. It’s a warm feeling.”

Kuhn’s not the only one getting that feeling from Ripkowski, who carried nine times for 61 yards and caught a pair of passes for 15 yards -- including a 7-yard touchdown -- in the Packers’ NFC North-clinching 31-24 victory over the Detroit Lions, with much of that production coming while Kuhn was able to watch. And Ripkowski figures to play an important role in this Sunday’s NFC wild card playoff game against the New York Giants at Lambeau Field, too, after coach Mike McCarthy gave some of wide receiver-turned-halfback Ty Montgomery’s snaps against the Lions to Ripkowski, who played 36 snaps to Montgomery’s 35.

Following the game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers paid Ripkowski the highest of compliments: He compared the second-year fullback from Oklahoma to Kuhn, one of his best friends and a player he politicked for the Packers to bring back before Kuhn joined the Saints.

“John Kuhn is one of my all-time favorite teammates, and we had a great run together. Rip’s approach this year, he obviously learned a lot from John [and] he’s taken a lot of steps forward this year and been that John Kuhn-type of player, where you just know you can count on him," Rodgers said. “If Mike says, ‘Hey, who do you want back there on the big third down?’ I want Rip back there, just like I wanted John back there.”

Rodgers doubled down on that praise this week, insisting that while McCarthy does have a soft spot in his play-calling heart for fullbacks, Kuhn and Ripkowski have intensified it.

“I think it’s more the players [than the offense]. I really do,” said Rodgers, who began lobbying for more playing time for Ripkowski in November. “I think John was a special player -- his approach, his mental ability to grasp things, to be creative inside of a scheme. Obviously, they’re both very skilled, but John’s preparation was second to none. And then Rip got to play with him, and saw how important that preparedness was to success on the field, and has been able to carry that over.

“I mean, they’re both talented guys. John, you watch some of the film from ’08, ’09, ’10, John was super athletic -- I mean, he still is athletic -- but he was our goal-line back back then, and scored a lot of touchdowns every year. Then Rip, he busted off 60-some yards in [the Detroit] game, and he caught a touchdown. So he’s been playing really well for us.

“Obviously, the scheme we have, the position in the offense is given opportunities for success. But those two guys are special players."

While McCarthy did reemphasize his affinity for fullbacks this week -- “It's a philosophy of mine of how you want to play offense,” he said -- both the 6-foot-1, 246-pound Ripkowski and 6-foot, 250-pound Kuhn showed they could play as oversized halfbacks, which allowed them opportunities to be productive.

In 2010, the last time the Packers won a Super Bowl, starting running back Ryan Grant was lost for the season to a broken ankle in the regular-season opener. A cavalcade of running backs followed, including Kuhn, who wound up carrying 84 times that season -- after getting just 18 total carries his first three NFL seasons -- before then-rookie James Starks emerged late in the year.

This season, the Packers lost starter Eddie Lacy to a season-ending ankle injury in October, have been without Starks (knee, concussion) for much of the year and have auditioned several halfback options (Montgomery, Knile Davis, Don Jackson, Christine Michael) throughout the year. Given the revolving door, chants of “Kuuuuuuuhn!” likely would have filled Lambeau Field had the Packers not decided to move on from him.

Instead, it’s been Ripkowski -- after getting a mere 14 offensive touches (six carries for 13 yards and three touchdowns, eight receptions for 41 yards and one touchdown) in college -- chipping in.

“I know there were a lot of questions at the beginning of the year letting John walk. John was a huge part of our offense last year, especially in the playoffs when we were running the ball,” Pro Bowl guard T.J. Lang said. “[There was] a lot of talk about, ‘Is Rip a guy that’s going to be able to get it done?’ He’s exceeded all of those expectations, not only from blocking, but carrying the ball.

“He’s a special kid. He’s a heck of a football player, whether it’s blocking, whether it’s carrying the ball. He’s come a long way mentally since the preseason and training camp as far as all the adjustments at the line and the checks and making sure he’s on the right page with the offensive line, where we’re blocking. He’s definitely been a huge key to what we’re doing.”

For his part, the even-keeled Ripkowski, whose striking resemblance to a certain Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer pal led Rodgers to nickname him Yukon Cornelius, has taken the heady praise in stride, even correcting a reporter who called his production -- 34 carries for 150 and two touchdowns, and nine receptions for 46 yards and another touchdown -- “amazing” at midweek.

“I wouldn’t say ‘amazing.’ I’m not sure where that’s coming from,” he replied. “It’s my first year really playing, and I’m just trying to do more and more to stay on the field and help the team. I mean, if you go back and watch the tape and see how well those guys are blocking it up, it’s not surprising. Anybody could run through those gaps.

“I can’t let it go to my head. I’ve got to show up at work every day and improve my craft.”

As a rookie sixth-round pick last year, Ripkowski played just 19 offensive snaps but shadowed Kuhn throughout his final season in Green Bay. The two remain close, talking throughout the season -- including last week, in advance of the Packers’ winner-take-all showdown with the Lions. Kuhn still makes his offseason home in Green Bay, so the pair figure to reconnect once Kuhn comes back from the Big Easy.

“What I really love is, the Packers stayed true to themselves. They didn’t frantically freak out when guys got hurt. They let Rip go in there and give it a shot, and he’s done a heck of a job,” said Kuhn, who joined the Packers off waivers from Pittsburgh in 2007 and played 139 of a possible 144 regular-season games during nine seasons in Green Bay.

“Knowing the guy, preparing the guy, working with the guy last year, I knew he was going to do really well, but I don’t know if anybody expected him to do this well. I mean, second season in the league? First year starting? And he’s really kicking some butt out there.”