GREEN BAY -- One of the better stories of camp that you haven't heard much about -- thanks to Favreapalooza -- is that of rookie offensive lineman Josh Sitton.

With center Scott Wells sidelined with a lower back injury and would-be backup Junius Coston struggling to reacclimate himself to the position after playing it in college, the Packers have revamped their offensive line temporarily by moving right guard Jason Spitz to center and bringing Sitton, a rookie fourth-round pick, in for Spitz on the No. 1 unit.

Sitton, in turn, has forced himself into the fray for a starting spot, according to McCarthy.

"Josh has taken full advantage of his opportunity. That's why we're going to give him an opportunity to compete and win the right guard position," coach Mike McCarthy said between practices Wednesday.

Sitton has been so impressive that Spitz is now in a three-man battle with Daryn Colledge and Allen Barbre for the left guard spot as well as competing with Sitton to hold onto his right guard job.

Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said Sitton's poise belies his inexperience.

"He doesn't act like a rookie. You don't see guys running through a gap and him turning his head around wondering what happened. He seems like he gets it," Philbin said. "This coaching stuff's overrated. He's got some natural football instincts that you like."

Sitton, who was a starter for most of his four years at Central Florida, said his goal was simply to make the roster -- even though he's clearly beyond that. But he also expected to perform well.

"I'm not surprised. I know what I'm capable of. I'm very confident in myself as a football player," Sitton said.

"I respect the level of competition at this level, and I realize that everyone is great here. But, I'm also very confident in myself, and I know what I can do. If I put my mind to it, I know physically and mentally I can do it."

Safety dance: With backup safeties Charlie Peprah and Aaron Rouse sidelined by injuries, cornerback Jarrett Bush got his most extensive work at safety to date. Bush, who was the No. 3 cornerback through 12 games last year, saw some time at safety during off-season practices but had primarily worked at corner before Rouse went down in practice Tuesday.

"I like it. It's a different mindset," said Bush, who intercepted a deflected pass during the morning practice. "(You're) filling more run gaps, being more physical. Instead of jamming a receiver, you're jamming a tight end. And you're blitzing, so you're in the trenches with the linemen so you have to muscle up a little bit. It's getting in there, getting dirty, instead of corner (which is) kind of finesse."

Rodgers turns it around: While the Favre situation has, by McCarthy's own admission, been a distraction, Philbin said that's no excuse for the offense's shoddy performance over the past several days, including in the intrasquad scrimmage Sunday night and in practice Tuesday.

"We need better leadership, period. It's a unit issue," Philbin said between Wednesday's practices. "The last couple days, we haven't practiced up to our standards, what we're used to and what we feel we're capable of doing. It's been disappointing.

"I don't think it should (be an excuse). There's big things (going on elsewhere) in life. There's guys over there (in Iraq) fighting in a war, and we're worried about (Favre). You have a job to do -- do your job. We expect our guys to do better. We're not practicing the way we have been offensively. And we're concerned about it."

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers responded with a pair of strong practices, including a terrific showing at night.

"I thought Aaron had a very good day, especially after the prior two practices," McCarthy said. "I thought the team as a whole had a very good day."