While the Green Bay Packers traded away a pair of players without getting an immediate return, general manager Brian Gutekunst says they're not giving up on the season.

Green Bay traded Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Washington for a 2019 fourth-round pick and running back/kick returner Ty Montgomery to Baltimore for a conditional 2020 seventh-rounder.

"I don't necessarily think there's a message it sends to the locker room," the first-year GM said Wednesday. "I think the decisions that we make are always in the best interest of our team, not only in the short term, but the long term, as well. But I think our locker room knows where we're headed and, like I said, I think we're humming at the right time and I think there's a lot of positive things going forward."

The Green Bay Packers have traded Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Washington Redskins for a fourth-round draft pick, according to sources.

Clinton-Dix, 25, since been a starter since 2014, but will hit the free agency market after the season.

The Baltimore Ravens have acquired Ty Montgomery from the Green Bay Packers for a seventh-round draft pick in 2020, according to a source.

The deal comes two days after Montgomery made a special teams error, running a fourth-quarter kickoff out of the end zone and making a costly fumble in a 29-27 loss at the Los Angeles Rams.

The Ravens' running game has lacked any explosiveness this season with Alex Collins (3.7-yard per carry) and Buck Allen (2.6).

Aaron Rodgers hopes to be able to play without a knee brace in the near future.

Rodgers suffered a left knee injury in Week 1.

With or without the knee brace, Rodgers said the Packers (3-2-1) are "going to have to play better, we're going to have to play a lot better than we have to win those games."

The Packers' next five opponents have a combined record of 23-10-1, and only the Seahawks (3-3) don't have a winning record.

"This is an important stretch in our season," Rodgers said. "I'm not going to say it's going to define our season, but it's definitely going to shake things out when we get on the other side of this and get back home in six weeks on where we're at in the race and what we're playing for."

Aaron Rodgers experienced what he called a setback with his ailing left knee during last week's loss to the Detroit Lions.

Rodgers was wearing a smaller, lighter brace for the first time since injuring himself in Week 1. There's a chance he may have to go back to the larger brace that he wore in the three games immediate following the injury.

"I hope not," the Green Bay Packers quarterback said. "The goal would be to wear the same brace I wore last week, but I have a lot of faith in our training staff and we're going to [use] the brace we feel is most safe and allowing me to do exactly what I'm able to do on Monday."

Aaron Rodgers insists that his relationship with Mike McCarthy is fine.

"Mike and I talk all the time; we have a great relationship," Rodgers said. "There's always been great communication between us, even if there is things that we need to talk about that are tough subjects, we've never had a problem finding time and talking. That's the way it's been for 10-plus years."

Rodgers said the Green Bay Packers' offense was "terrible" in Week 4's win over the Buffalo Bills.

The quarterback emphasized there are no hard feelings when a reporter followed up by asking if everything was OK with his coach.

"Yeah, that's what I just said," Rodgers said. "Communication is the basis for a good relationship, wouldn't you say? I think it is. For any relationship, it starts with good communication and being able to be honest with each other, and then hug it out afterward."

The Green Bay Packers shut out the Buffalo Bills 22-0 on Sunday, but Aaron Rodgers was upset with how the offense functioned.

"We were terrible on offense," Rodgers said. "I don't think it made a difference for the offense."

The Packers put up 423 yards of offense, including 298 through the air from Rodgers. After scoring two touchdowns in their first three possessions, the Packers failed to find the end zone again.

"I'm also a realist. That's just not acceptable offense for us," Rodgers said. "Four hundred and twenty-three yards looks pretty good in comparison to some of the games we've put forward the first three weeks, but it should have been about 45 points and 600 yards."