GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Linebacker Nick Barnett and tight end Jermichael Finley can't play for the Packers in the Super Bowl, but they at least want to be included in the team photo.
Both players posted complaints on their Twitter accounts Tuesday after finding out that players on injured reserve will not be in the team picture taken next week in Texas.
Barnett called it "sad," and Finley said it was "not cool."
"It was a team decision," Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb said. "It was based primarily on the sheer number of players we have on injured reserve. Our primary goal in Dallas is to get the team ready to win a game."
Green Bay lists 16 players on IR. Injured players will join the team in the Dallas area late next week and will be on the sideline during the Feb. 6 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"They will be in our bench area on game day and part of our team," Blumb said.
Both players softened their criticism later in the day.
"I was not trying to be a distraction nor was I downing the organization they have done so much for me," Barnett wrote Tuesday afternoon.
Another potential concern for the Packers' injured players is the team photo takes place during Tuesday's media day, and they aren't scheduled to join the team until Thursday. If the team were to bring injured players to the Dallas area earlier in the week, the players would miss nearly a week of their injury rehabilitation.
"This next two weeks is about the unbelievable success of my teammates, and last thing I want is to be (is a) distraction," Finley wrote.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
