EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — There wasn’t a whole lot more to be said about the Minnesota Vikings offensive meltdown under third-string quarterback Christian Ponder in Thursday’s 42-10 loss to the Packers in Green Bay. But coach Mike Zimmer and his defenders had plenty to gripe about defensively going forward.

First, the offense.

Because of the short week, rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was inactive because of a sprained left ankle. That forced Ponder to become the third different starting quarterback in as many weeks. And things didn’t go well, to say the least.

“It was embarrassing playing like that,” said Ponder, who had two second-quarter interceptions, including a pick-six, and a 13.4 passer rating when the Packers led 28-0 at halftime. “I feel bad putting the team in this position.”

Adding to the quarterback issues in the inability to get receiver Cordarrelle Patterson involved in the offense on a consistent basis. Patterson caught just two of the four passes thrown to him for just eight yards before a hip injury sidelined him in the second half.

“We need to get him more involved than what we are but actually I thought he did some good things (Thursday) night,” Zimmer said. “He didn’t obviously catch as many balls as we would’ve liked or anything like that, but I thought he improved on being a receiver.”

With Bridgewater expected back for the Detroit Lions game a week from Sunday, Zimmer is more concerned about a defense that collapsed against the run first and then Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who posted a 138.7 rating on 12-for-17 passing with three touchdowns and no turnovers before exiting in the third quarter with the score 42-0.

“There’s nothing more disheartening as a coach than for you to get manhandled up front, to be in the wrong gaps, to have people running the ball at you,” said Zimmer, whose defense has shown flashes of being good, but hasn’t compiled a complete game since the season opener at St. Louis. “It’s just disheartening.”

Veteran defense end Brian Robison echoed Zimmer’s concerns and then upped the ante, saying players “checked out” when the score got out of hand.

“I’m just going to be blunt and say it can never be that way,” Robison said. “This is a team that I’ve felt like all along has fought and scratched no matter what type of adversity we have faced and I felt like we didn’t have that last night.”

The feeling is the talented and poised Bridgewater will bring some relief back to the offense when the Lions visit. As for the defense, Zimmer said he’s going to be working overtime on that with the extra time to prepare.

“I’d consider everything right now,” he said.

NOTES: After playing in 115 consecutive games and leading the Vikings in tackles for a team record-tying six straight seasons, LB Chad Greenway isn’t sure when he’ll return to the field. He has a broken hand, which he says he could play with. After all, he played with a broken wrist a year ago. But he can’t play with broken ribs. He tried that at New Orleans and was unable to function effectively. So he has sat out back-to-back games and doesn’t sound hopeful for the Lions game a week from Sunday. … FS Harrison Smith suffered a sprained left ankle in Thursday night’s game and was in a walking boot on Friday. Neither Smith nor coach Mike Zimmer said they believe the injury will keep Smith from playing against the Lions a week from Sunday. … WR Cordarrelle Patterson suffered a hip injury returning the second half kickoff. He ended up playing only 41 of the team’s 79 offensive snaps, but isn’t expected to miss any time in the Lions game a week from Sunday. … QB Chandler Harnish, who was signed from the practice squad to back up QB Christian Ponder on Thursday night, was released. He was signed to the practice squad on Monday. So he made about $29,000 for being on the roster from Monday to Friday. If he clears waivers, the Vikings could use one of their two vacant practice squad spots on Harnish. … WR Rodney Smith was released on Thursday to make room for Harnish to be promoted from the practice squad. The Vikings then lost Smith, their No. 6 receiver, when the Browns claimed him off waivers.