GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The weight of the world -- or at least the weight of Green Bay, Wisconsin -- is on Brett Hundley's shoulders.

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy clearly doesn’t want his new quarterback to feel that way.

That had to be why McCarthy started this week with a clear message to his team, one that he shared with reporters.

“We all need to do better,” McCarthy said, adding that this included himself and his coaches. “We had an injury to Aaron Rodgers, and nobody has stepped up. You know? No group has stepped up yet. We’ve had two games that have been very similar in nature, New Orleans and Detroit. We’ve acknowledged, we’ve planned, to change our course of how we’re playing as far as tilting the identity in a sense, and we need to get more production out of this new path. And it hasn’t happened yet.”

To be sure, no one will have a bigger impact on games than Hundley, who has lost both of his starts plus the game he finished in Minnesota after Rodgers suffered a broken right collarbone in the first quarter.

Hundley hasn’t been productive enough, and neither he nor McCarthy disputes that. But he hasn’t gotten much help, either.

“You all are putting it on Brett right now with the losses,” Packers receiver Randall Cobb said. “It’s not him. It’s us as a team. That’s the way we always look at it. It is a quarterback-driven league. Obviously, when you have one of the greatest, if not the greatest, to ever play the game, it’s definitely going to be a lot of chatter about him not being out there.”

For Cobb’s part, he said he and his fellow wideouts can do more to help Hundley.

“I think it’s big plays,” Cobb said. “We always talk about it in the receiver room: The team goes through us. When we’re able to make those big plays, I think it provides a spark for this team. Not only offensively but throughout the entire team. I put that on my shoulders. I talk about it all the time. I have to break more tackles. I don’t believe I’ve been the player I need to be for this team. Once I break tackles, Jordy [Nelson] and Davante [Adams] break tackles, that energy I think will build, and I think it’ll continue throughout the course of the season. It’s on our shoulders. I’m putting it on the three of us.”

The Packers’ defense could shoulder some of the load, too.

It has gone in the tank since Rodgers’ injury. Through five weeks, the Packers were 4-1, and their defense ranked 11th overall (sixth against the run, 22nd against the pass and 18th on third down).

Taking just games played between Weeks 6 and 9, which includes the Packers’ three-game losing streak plus the bye week, the defense ranks 30th overall, 19th against the run, 31st against the pass and 30th on third down.

The offense hasn’t been much better. In that same span, the Packers (4-4) are 30th in yards per game, 14th in rushing, 29th in passing and 30th on third down.

Third downs were particularly problematic in Monday night’s 30-17 loss to the Lions. The Packers converted just 2 of 9 such opportunities, and the Lions converted 8 of 13.

It’s no wonder McCarthy’s emphasis in practice this week in advance of Sunday’s game at Chicago (3-5) was on third down.

“The name of the game is points,” Hundley said. “And once you get into the rhythm, it all depends on how the game’s going and what we’re doing, but once you get into that rhythm and once you get into the red zone, you’ve got to score points.

“That’s where it shows when you’ve driven the field that long, you’ve got to get some points on the board. That’s the big thing that we’re emphasizing this week is third down, and when we get in there, score. Put some points up.”

If Hundley is feeling the pressure that McCarthy is clearly trying to keep off him, it hasn’t shown. At 24, Hundley has been nothing but calm on the field, chewing the gum that has become his trademark. It’s been the same thing during his twice-weekly sessions with the media.

“When I’m out there, I just like chewing my gum and having fun, man,” Hundley said. “The gum is nice. It’s my mouthpiece out there.

"I just try to have fun. This is a game of football that we’re blessed to be playing. The name of the game is winning, but, at the same time, I can’t do something that’s not me just to try to make this thing go, just because I have to play my game and that’s the best that I can give to this team. If I do more than me, then I’m getting out of my comfort zone, and things probably won’t go right.”