GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It’s hard to have a victory Monday without a win on Sunday, but Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy felt his team needed a mental and physical break after a grueling stretch of four road games -- three of them in prime time -- in five weeks.

So that’s what he did after Sunday night’s 24-17 loss at Minnesota.

It’s worth a try in order to change the mindset heading into the final five games of the season -- all must-wins if the Packers are to have any hope of a spot in the playoffs.

"That’s part of it," McCarthy said Monday when asked if his team needed both a mental and physical break. "I think these Sunday night games are taxing, no doubt. Obviously the game last night was a very physical football game. We have a lot of guys that are beat up, a lot of guys there’s going to be extra time, sorting through exactly what we need to get done over the next 48 hours to really set our plan for Wednesday. Even the personal day for players, you know, 95, 98 percent of the guys are here each and every day. So it’s not uncommon. We’re just not having structured meetings today."

On the physical side, the Packers are most concerned about their offensive line, specifically the left side. Left tackle David Bakhtiari tried to play through a knee injury Sunday night. He came back into the game after dropping out but couldn’t finish. A source said Monday that he’s actually dealing with injuries to both knees and an ankle. He was undergoing tests Monday, but there was optimism that he could play Sunday against the visiting Cardinals. Left guard Lane Taylor also dropped out against the Vikings because of a quadriceps injury.

The Packers also lost safety Kentrell Brice to a concussion after he returned to the game following another ankle injury.

Then there’s the cadre of players who didn’t even suit up against the Vikings: Randall Cobb (hamstring), Mike Daniels (foot), Kevin King (hamstring), Bashaud Breeland (groin) and Raven Greene (ankle). All have either played significant snaps or were expected to this season.

Maybe the injuries wouldn’t have changed the Packers’ unsightly 4-6-1 record or prevented them from losing four of their past five games since the bye, but McCarthy is trying to get his team as healthy as possible for the stretch run.

"I knew we had a tough stretch, you know, four really tough places to play, [but] I didn’t think we’d go 1-4 in that stretch," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after Sunday night’s loss. "But that’s where we’re at. We’re here. We’re 4-6-1. Gotta win our last five, and even that might not be enough."

Rodgers said in Minnesota that the Packers’ struggles aren’t a case of poor practice habits carrying over to the game. In fact, he said last week’s practices on Wednesday and Thursday were among the best of the season.

"I think our team has done a really good job keeping their eye on the target," McCarthy said. "They’re fighting. They’re playing hard. They’re giving us everything they’ve got. And as a coaching staff, we’re just going to keep giving them everything we’ve got. We need to coach better and we need to play better. And that’s what our evaluation shows. We have a couple patterns that maybe we need to spend a little more time on this week. Those are things we’re talking about."