Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was responsible for two of the turnovers against the Lions, fumbling on sacks, which led to 10 Detroit points. McCarthy said he wasn't going to make excuses for Rodgers, who has a bad left knee, but said he's "playing through a lot," without going into specifics.

McCarthy did like what he saw in the second half and the effort put forth, both from receiver Davante Adams and rookies Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown.

On a bad calf, Adams (nine catches, 140 yards, TD) wasn't expected to play as much as he did, but ended up "having a heck of a day against one of the top corners in the league" in Detroit's Darius Slay.

The rookies also had to adjust to a constant no-huddle, catch-up mode they weren't necessarily prepared for, but they adjusted and produced.

"Anytime you have swings that your football team has to overcome, especially early in the season, it's a good thing," McCarthy said. "The adversity you experience in this league, … it's the same every year, but when it comes is different every year."

The adversity extends, unfortunately, to the kicking game and a forgettable day for veteran kicker Mason Crosby. His five missed kicks (four field goals, one extra point) factored considerably in the outcome of the game, particularly in McCarthy scrapping his game plan at halftime because the team's deficit was so large.

It wasn't the first time this season the Packers entered a second half no longer working off their original game plan, but it didn't need to be that way in Detroit if there are two or three field goals on the board in the first half.

"He's got to make those kicks," McCarthy said of Crosby's misses, with all three in the first half under 45 yards in length. "He's a proven, highly successful kicker. I still believe in him. He knows it – he has to make those kicks. It's a different game at halftime.