“It would be really neat to see him out there, but unfortunately he’ll have to wait two [more] weeks to [play],” Matthews said. “Who knows if it will give us a boost or a jolt? It’s always good when [Rodgers is on the field].”

Said receiver Jordy Nelson: “We’ll wait and see, I guess. I’m not really worried about it, to be honest with you. If he is, that’d be great. Obviously, that means he’s progressed and doing what he needs to do to be ready if he’s able to come back. Yeah, it’d be fun to see him out there, but obviously that won’t affect what’s going on for Sunday.”

Rodgers said he would return this season if his collarbone, which was surgically repaired with plates and screws, is healed. But the Packers (5-6) probably wouldn’t put the two-time NFL MVP on the field if the playoffs weren’t within reach. They have winnable games against Tampa Bay at home on Sunday and at Cleveland the following week before Rodgers could play against the Panthers.

“We have to win these next five,” said Matthews, who returned to practice Wednesday. “I mean, that’s the reality of it. I don’t have any ‘relax’ one-liners or ‘run the table’ or whatever. I’ll leave that up to Aaron. But that’s the reality of it. We have to get it done. Part of that is if you’re looking at the big picture, I know no game is bigger than the next one, but we have to win these next two and when Aaron’s back at the helm, we have a pretty good squad. That’s the reality of it. So, yeah, hopefully we get to see him because that means we’re winning ballgames.”

On a second-and-6 play from the Raiders 24-yard line on Oakland’s second possession of the game, Crabtree blocked Talib during a 5-yard run by Marshawn Lynch. Crabtree kept pushing Talib out of bounds near the Broncos’ bench area.

Talib and Crabtree then exchanged shoves before they threw punches at each other. Talib said Monday that Crabtree threw a punch at him first. As he did in a game last season, Talib had ripped a necklace off Crabtree before the fight.

Because of the previous incident, Crabtree had taped the chain to his body before the game, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. And Talib still got it.

Several other players from both teams joined in along the Broncos’ sideline. Talib eventually got ahold of Crabtree’s helmet, pulling it out of a crowd, and he tossed it toward the stands.

Earlier Monday, Joseph called Talib’s actions “unacceptable,” while Talib has said he hopes the NFL would consider “how it started” before handing down any potential discipline.

Joseph said he addressed the incident at Monday’s team meeting.

“It’s unacceptable; we can’t do it,” Joseph said.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, in a tweet Monday, said it was “hard to understand” the NFL’s initial two-game suspension.

Those who arrived at Heinz Field early on Sunday saw Rodgers throw for about 10 or 15 minutes.

“I think it [was] a great opportunity,” McCarthy said. “I mean, think about it: You’re on a rehab process and the ability to throw in an opponent’s stadium. Everything that they’re doing is calculated between the training room, the strength and conditioning room and Aaron. As you would imagine, he’s going at it 120 miles an hour, and so far so good.”

The team also lost Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen for the second half when his foot that was broken in Week 2 became sore in his first game back after being activated from injured reserve. The long-term impact of that remains to be seen, although the initial prognosis was good.

“I always hear often it was an ugly win, but I never heard of saying such a thing as a pretty loss,” Newton said. “So either way it goes, we would prefer to get a win at the end of the day. It wasn’t a blockbuster outing offensively for us, but at the end of the day we found ways to win the football game and that’s what you have to have.”

The defense struggled at times as well, allowing the Jets to top 22 points for only the fourth time this season.

But a week from now all that will matter is the Panthers (8-3) are facing the New Orleans Saints, who fell to 8-3 with Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, for the outright division lead.

After losing six games by a field goal or less a year ago, the Panthers will take any kind of victory that keeps their playoff hopes alive.

“You’ve got to be able to win games like this to get to where you want to go,’’ outside linebacker Thomas Davis said. “It’s not going to always been a 20-, 30-point victory. You’ve got to squeak by and win some games like this. Last year we weren’t able to come away with those victories. That ended up being the difference in our season. We just found ways to win this week.’’

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As unimpressive as it was, the win kept the Panthers from falling further behind the Saints and kept them a game ahead of the Atlanta Falcons, who improved to 7-4 with a victory against Tampa Bay.

They can’t depend on two non-offensive touchdowns to save the day.

But on a day when they needed to avoid falling into a trap, the most important thing is they found a way to win.

“A win is a win,’’ safety Mike Adams said. “You can say ugly win because of their record (now 4-7). If they were 10-0, would we say an ugly win?’’

Probably not. But because of this win the Panthers have a lot more to look forward to facing a New Orleans team that beat them 34-13 earlier this season in Charlotte.

“It’s on,’’ Adams said. “We’ve got to be ready. We’ve got to play better than we did today. Obviously, we’ve got to bring our A game.’’