The Green Bay Packers added some reassurance by activating superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the IR this week. The return of perhaps the best quarterback in the NFL undoubtedly gives the Packers a realistic shot at making the playoffs this year.

However, they face a formidable test in Week 15 versus the Carolina Panthers. That said, head coach Mike McCarthy does not want his players to come out with a false sense bravado now that Rodgers is suddenly back at the helm.

By way of Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“We’ve got to play better,” Mike McCarthy said. “That was my message to them today. I think our football team has done an excellent job of finding different ways to win. We’re not going to go to Carolina with a bunch of false confidence. We understand the impact that Aaron Rodgers makes for our football team and, hell, the impact that he’d make for anybody’s football team. He’s a great player, he’s an impact player. We’re in a position that we’re in. We’re 7-6. We clearly understand what’s on the line here. Carolina’s in a similar position.”

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It is easy for players to get caught up in the hype of having their MVP-caliber signal-caller back, especially with Green Bay having played some impressive games in the stretch of Rodgers' absence. However, the Panthers need to win almost as badly as the Packers do if they want to remain near the top of the crowded NFC South.

For what it is worth, Rodgers doesn't believe he is coming back to play the role of savior.

Green Bay will likely need to win out in order to secure a berth in the NFC Wild Card. That said, their run at the postseason could be over as soon as it started if they do not pull out a victory on Sunday.

Can the Packers, how that Aaron Rodgers is back, do this?