Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver sat out practice Thursday, one day after he tweaked a quadriceps injury, but coach Mike McCarthy said the move was precautionary.
"He's fine," McCarthy said Thursday after the 1-hour, 45-minute, no-pads workout at Highland Park High School's indoor facility in Dallas. "He wants to practice and all that, but I'm not taking any chances with him. I'll probably hold him out tomorrow, as well."
Driver officially was listed as limited on the Packers' Super Bowl injury report.
Driver didn't play Nov. 7 against the Dallas Cowboys and missed significant time in two other games because of a quadriceps injury. The 12-year veteran still finished second on the team with 51 catches and ranked fourth with 565 receiving yards.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' hard-hitting defense expects Driver, who turned 36 on Wednesday, to play in his long-awaited first Super Bowl. They know some receivers can be intimidated, but Driver isn't one of them.
"Not Driver, no," Steelers linebacker James Farrior said. "He's been a great receiver for that team throughout the years. He's fearless. He doesn't mind getting hit, and it's not going to be a game where you can intimidate him."
Driver said former teammates such as Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman taught him the merits of going across the middle.
"That's where you're going to make your bread and butter," Driver said. "Because if people know that you're not afraid to go across the middle, you're going to be able to make plays. They know that they can hit you as hard as they can, you'll still stand up and smile and shake it off. And that's what I've done over my career."
Despite all the punishment, Driver wants to play out a contract that spans two more seasons.
"I want to walk away before I have to crawl away," he said.
In other Packers injury news, linebacker Erik Walden didn't participate in team drills Thursday after testing his sprained ankle the previous day.
"He was very sore, which is why we limited him today," McCarthy said. "It's up the air with him right now. We'll see how he feels tomorrow. Even if he feels a lot better, he'll be limited. I'm going to hold him back and give him every chance to be ready for the game."
Walden sustained the injury during the third quarter of the Jan. 23 NFC Championship Game at Chicago and didn't return. Frank Zombo, who hasn't played since Week 14 because of a knee injury, continued to work with the first team in Walden's absence.
The Packers conducted the jog-through portion of practice at the team hotel in Irving for the second consecutive day. They did, however, alter their routine by waiting to change for their practice at Highland Park until they arrived at the school. On Wednesday, they dressed at Southern Methodist University before busing 5 minutes to Highland Park.
FOX's game-day broadcast crew, which will carry Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, attended the practice at the high school. Afterward, McCarthy spent a few minutes chatting with two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Jimmy Johnson, who's part of the FOX studio team.
"He had a lot of encouraging words," McCarthy said. "He was very complimentary. It was neat to have a chance to talk to him. It was the first time I've ever met him in person."
Notes: The Packers will take their team photo Friday morning at Highland Park before conducting their final on-field practice. The team photo became a hot topic last week after injured players complained they wouldn't be included, causing the team to reschedule the shoot, which originally was planned for Tuesday. ... Things became chippy during Thursday's blitz period of practice when offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith, working with the scout team, and linebacker Rob Francois got into a pushing and grabbing match. Teammates stepped in and separated them, and there were no further incidents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
