GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Only once since the Vince Lombardi era has the Green Bay Packers’ top tight end averaged fewer than 8.0 yards per catch.

It’s about to be twice.

Even the potential return of Andrew Quarless likely won’t change that.

Since the 1968 season, the only year in which the Packers’ leading tight end averaged fewer than 8.0 yards per reception was 2008, when Donald Lee caught 39 passes for 303 yards – a 7.8-yard average.

With five games remaining, Richard Rodgers has 40 catches for 293 yards – a 7.33-yard average. Yes, Rodgers has been productive in the red zone; he has five touchdown catches. So did Lee in 2008. Even the plodding Bubba Franks, who made a career out of 1- and 2-yard touchdown catches, never dipped below 8.0 in any of his eight seasons with the Packers.

Rodgers’ yards-per-catch average ranks 29th among NFL tight ends and his yards-after-catch average of 3.95 ranks tied for 18th, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Rodgers averages 1.35 yards after contact, compared with 4.32 for New England’s Rob Gronkowski, the league leader in that category among tight ends.

The Packers’ tight-end production has fallen off significantly since the 2013 career-ending neck injury to Jermichael Finley, who averaged 12.5 yards per catch in his six seasons.

“That’s always been a thing that we focus on every single year, it’s been yards after contact,” Packers tight ends coach Jerry Fontenot said this week. “We haven’t been as good as we have been in previous years. That seemed to be something that Jermichael was especially good at. Our expectations were high, and I think we’re very capable of breaking tackles and gaining extra yardage and to do it to the best of our ability is all we ask. I don’t expect to turn anybody into something that they’re not, but we can definitely improve on.”

Quarless, who hasn’t played since his Week 3 knee injury, could help. But given that he has only two catches for 14 yards this season, he’s not likely to surpass Rodgers in terms of receptions. Nevertheless, his career average of 10.6 yards per catch includes an 11.1-yard average last season, when he caught 29 passes and three touchdowns (including the last-second game winner at Miami).

“Really the game is just about moving the chains,” Quarless said. “That’s why at tight end, a lot of the times we have shorter routes and anytime we can move the chains, it’s a big deal.”

However, it’s unclear if Quarless will play Thursday at the Detroit Lions. He returned to practice Monday but remains on the temporary injured reserve list. General manager Ted Thompson will have to make a roster move to create a spot for Quarless before he could play.

“It was good to get him out there,” coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday. “I think any time a player is out of the competition environment, as he's been, [it's good]. He's been working exclusively in the rehab and the workouts and things like that. You have to get your feet back underneath you, you have to get your game legs, and I think you saw some of that.”

The Packers went into the season hoping to use Quarless in a significant role as Rodgers’ backup, but his early-season injury thwarted that.

“Those two guys were going to be the two-headed monster in our room,” Fontenot said.

In the first two games, Rodgers played 63.4 percent of the offensive snaps. Since Quarless went on temporary IR, Rodgers has played 77.1 percent of the snaps, including a four-game stretch in which he played 229 out of 251 snaps (91.2 percent).

Whether Quarless returns Thursday or the following week against the Dallas Cowboys, at least he will bring a veteran presence lacking at the position.

“I’m a sixth-year veteran,” Quarless said. “So there’s things I know how to do.”