.NBA teams typically make their hotel arrangements for the coming season in August after the league releases the full 1,230-game

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- An athletic tight end added to the passing game. Deep balls turned into game-changing plays.And in the backfield, a former receiver has turned into a breakaway threat on the ground.The Green Bay Packers have found offensive balance and more options for quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the teams late-season surge back into the playoff picture.That run the table comment that Rodgers made when the Packers were 4-6 -- referring to Green Bay needing to win its final six regular-season games -- isnt such a far-fetched idea after all.Obviously its a leap of faith, but also a feeling based on seeing these guys every single day, understanding how close I felt like we were to being a better offense, Rodgers said Tuesday.The passing game was already the strong point for the Packers (8-6), even before their current four-game win streak. The Packers relied on a quick-passing attack to receivers Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Randall Cobb to help compensate for an injury-riddled backfield and a foot injury to tight end Jared Cook.Slowly but surely, more threats are emerging, just in time for a game against Minnesotas tough defense coming up Christmas Eve at Lambeau Field.The Packers now have at least a couple of avenues to return to the playoffs for an eighth straight season, though the most direct road involves beating the Vikings to set up a winner-take-all showdown in Detroit for the NFC North on New Years Day against the Lions.If something else happens, then thats great, but were worried about this week and trying to get one more win and put ourselves in position to win the division, Nelson said.The Packers have hit on deep balls the last two weeks, with Adams snaring a 66-yard touchdown catch against Seattle before the Rodgers-to-Nelson bomb against the Bears that set up the winning field goal.The 6-foot-4 Cook is a matchup problem in coverage, as evidenced by his six catches for 85 yards on eight targets against Chicago.Ive talked about it since I got here, the fastest way to the end zone is through the middle of the field, so the bigger target you have going down the field the better it is for your quarterback, coach Mike McCarthy said.In the backfield, after losing Eddie Lacy to a season-ending ankle injury in October, the Packers finally seemed to have found a lead back in the most unconventional of ways.Former receiver Ty Montgomery erased any lingering doubt that he was just a novelty after rushing for a career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries against Chicago. McCarthy disclosed last week that Montgomery was now a full-time running back, and the Bears treated him as such in coverage -- a first for an opposing defense this year, Rodgers said.Behind Montgomery, Christine Michael also appears to be settling in with Green Bay after being claimed off waivers from Seattle last month. Montgomery and Michael provided a one-two backfield punch against Chicago that the Packers havent had since Lacy and James Starks were healthy at the start of the season.The added diversity on offense comes at just the right time, too, with Rodgers working through calf and hamstring injuries.Even then, Rodgers arm remains sharp, even if his mobility might be limited.I felt like regardless of how our defense was playing, if we could set the tone offensively ... it would help out the defense, Rodgers said about his run the table comment. Give them a little confidence when they took they field that theyre not behind or against the field position every single time, as they were many times in that four-game stretch.Game notes The Packers didnt practice Tuesday. Rodgers said he expected to be limited when practice resumed Wednesday. ... McCarthy was hopeful that LB Nick Perry (hand) could practice on Wednesday. Perry, who leads the team with eight sacks, has missed the last two games.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap Edgar Martinez Jersey . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Wholesale Mariners Jerseys . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. http://www.cheapmarinersjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-randy-johnson-jersey . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Cheap MLB Jerseys . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Cheap Seattle Mariners Jerseys . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. At least three NBA teams have stopped staying at Donald Trump-branded hotels this season in part to avoid any implied association with the new president-elect, according to league sources.Sources told ESPN.com that the Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks have moved away from Trump hotels in New York City and Chicago, which bear Donald Trumps name through a licensing agreement.Sources say that another Eastern Conference team contracted to stay at the Trump SoHo in New York this season has likewise already decided to switch to a different property in Manhattan when its current contract expires at seasons end and that the Trump association is among the factors for the switch.Seven other teams told ESPN.com on Tuesday that they are still currently scheduled to stay at Trump-branded properties this season.As a matter of privacy, ESPN has chosen not to name those eight teams in total so as not to publicly identify where they will be staying on this seasons trips for games against the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets or Chicago Bulls.Trump does not currently hold an equity stake in the Trump SoHo hotel, but his company still owns and operates the Chicago property.Sources say that the Bucks stayed at the Trump International Tower and Hotel in Chicago on a preseason trip to play the Bulls in early October, but met with complications when they tried to make an 11th-hour cancellation. Milwaukee, sources say, has already made other arrangements for its regular-season road games against the Bulls.The Grizzlies and Mavericks, sources say, have stayed at the Trump SoHo in the past but opted during the offseason to book new New York hotels for this season.Mavs owner Mark Cuban, speaking Wednesday, told the Associated Press that the decision was made months ago. Not recently.Grizzlies coach David Fizdale, speaking after the teams shootaround Wednesday in Los Angeles, insisted that where Memphis stays or doesnt stay is not politically motivated.No truth to that, Fizdale told the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Wednesday. Our decisions as to what hotels we stay in ?are made long before any of this election stuff took place. Its no story?.Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry and Cuban are both high-profile supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who last week lost the race to be the United States 45th president to Trump.Since the election, three prominent NBA coaches -- Detroits Stan Van Gundy, Golden States Steve Kerr and San Antonios Gregg Popovich -- have publicly addressed the unease that they and some of their players feel in the wake of Trumps election, starting with the dismay Van Gundy voiced that the countrys new president, in his words, is openly and brazenlly racist and misogynistic and ethnocentric.ddddddddddddVan Gundy addressed the ESPN report Wednesday.?I think every teams got to take a look at that, he said. I think teams are getting tuned in a little but politically and everything else. And give the players a great deal of credit on that. Ive been really proud of our own players and the players around the league, that theyre attuned to whats going on and theyre going to stand up for their values. I think thats impressive.?Jabari Parker of the Bucks commended team ownership for its decision.?Im pretty proud for my owner, representing us and representing himself, Parker told USA Today, and not trying to represent our organization with controversy. You dont want to endorse hate; you dont want to endorse racism. You dont want to support controversy.Im really proud we wont be staying there because I couldnt be comfortable being around him and his businesses. I know hes our president. But its just going to take some time. And he hasnt publicly come out with an apology for anyone or for the things he said.And Im connected to all the ideologies he disrespects. I was named after a Muslim. My mother is basically an immigrant because she came from Tonga. Her rights as a woman -- she got less pay. Im black and hes said some controversial stuff about black people. When it comes to me not supporting Donald Trump, its pretty much correlated to the things he has said.ESPN contacted all 30 teams this week to ask about their travel plans in New York and other NBA cities that feature Trump-branded hotels, which include Chicago, Miami, Toronto and Washington.Several teams that have stayed at the Trump SoHo in particular in the past told ESPN that they are not staying there this season but did not specifically attribute the switch to any political reason. Several more said that theyve never stayed at Trump-branded hotels.NBA teams typically make their hotel arrangements for the coming season in August after the league releases the full 1,230-game schedule for the regular season. But formal data detailing where teams stay is not maintained on a leaguewide basis.One travel expert familiar with NBA accounts told ESPN.com on Tuesday that the Trump SoHo has emerged in recent years as an increasingly popular property throughout the league because more teams are coming to New York for two-game trips since the Nets moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn starting with the 2012-13 season.ESPN.com reporters Brian Windhorst, Kevin Arnovitz, Jeff Goodman, Tim MacMahon and Ohm Youngmisuk all contributed to this report. ' ' '