Packers LT Chad Clifton stays quiet, focused on Giants, NFC championship game

Of course, the coaching staff's comments didn't take Clifton by surprise.

"(I'm) not a big rah-rah guy by any means but (I) just go out and do my job," he said.

Opposite of Clifton on the line is right tackle Mark Tauscher, who jokes with the media, has his own TV show and openly picks on the younger linemen. Philbin said the two are very similar in how they approach practice.

"From a comfort standpoint for your quarterback, for your coaching staff, they provide a real solid foundation for your pass protection," Philbin said. "They've done an outstanding job throughout the course of their career."

Clifton acknowledges the tackles who both were picked in 2000 and started their rookie year take pride in not needing a lot of help with blocking assignments.

"It's not like we never get any help whatsoever, but it's minimal and we both go out there, we trust our technique, we work hard in practice and that's why we've had success," Clifton said.

And the Packers' offense has been very successful, too, despite early struggles with the running game before Ryan Grant emerged.

"In a way we took it personally," Clifton said. "I think each and every player just kind of looked within themselves, kind of looked at themselves to see what they could do better and as the weeks went on that's something we improved on."

If only Clifton could be that confident in interviews. He said his podium appearance didn't bother him at all, but he wondered if his linemates just might rib him for the performance.

"Are they going to watch this? Yeah, Tauscher maybe," he said. "I would hope they have a lot better things to do."