The Packer Pundit

With Favre's Return,
Building On Momentum Becomes Focus
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
Posted 02/05/2007
Had quarterback Brett Favre decided to retire, the momentum the Packers built with their four-game winning streak to conclude the 2006 season would have been a somewhat fleeting concept and more difficult to sustain. But with Favre's return, that momentum is very real, and Head Coach Mike McCarthy expects his players to focus on building on that strong finish between now and the start of the 2007 season. "Obviously I'm very excited, and I'm glad he's coming back," McCarthy said on Monday upon returning to Lambeau Field from a week's vacation in Texas. "I think he gives us excellent leadership, and he's still a very good quarterback. "We have a lot of momentum, and Brett's obviously a big part of that momentum because he's the leader of our football team. It's something we're carrying into our offseason program and into the mini-camps and the OTAs, and everybody is excited." McCarthy got the news of Favre's return last Friday from General Manager Ted Thompson, who called him on his cell phone while McCarthy was taking his daughter to school. One of McCarthy's first moves after that was to contact backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is vigorously rehabilitating his broken foot back home in California. McCarthy said Rodgers took the news as well as could be expected for a player who has waited patiently since being drafted in the first round in 2005 for his opportunity to play. He's still focused on getting fully healthy for quarterback school beginning March 19, and McCarthy sees bringing back the same stable of quarterbacks in Favre, Rodgers and Ingle Martin as a big positive for 2007. "I think the continuity as a quarterback group is important," McCarthy said. "Anytime you have the ability to improve as an offense, your quarterback room needs to have the continuity you're looking for. Those guys need to be on the same page, and when you have a starter with Brett's experience and ability, with another year into this version of the offense, he will be better, the players around him will be better, but also Aaron Rodgers will be better and Ingle Martin will now improve. Just the ability to keep improving your quarterback room is a vital part of our success as an offense and as a football team." -- More



McCarthy breathes easier
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
Mike McCarthy isn't all that different than the rest of us when it comes to Brett Favre. The Green Bay Packers' coach hasn't heard much from his star quarterback yet, either, since Favre made his decision Friday to return for a 17th NFL season. Other than general manager Ted Thompson, wide receiver Donald Driver, sportswriter buddy Al Jones and a few family members, Favre hasn't talked to many folks since going public with his plans to play at least another year. "We're in voicemail mode right now," McCarthy said Monday afternoon. Once the two men connect, they'll have plenty to discuss: Whether Favre will undergo left ankle surgery; how much of McCarthy's offseason program Favre will participate in; and what kind of workout regimen Favre will put himself through at home. McCarthy said he and Favre talked "at length" Jan. 25, a little more than a week before Favre made his decision, and again Jan. 27. Those conversations left the coach feeling better about the team's chances of Favre returning - certainly better than the feeling he had after the season ended with a victory at Chicago Dec. 31. "I really did not know. I felt stronger about (him returning) last year, actually, than I did earlier in the process this year," McCarthy said, adding in neither recent conversation did he make any assurances the team is going to upgrade its offensive skill position talent to entice Favre to return. "After the season, I really didn't have a feel one way or the other." Now that Favre is coming back, though, McCarthy can continue planning the offseason knowing his most important player will be part of it. "We have a direction as a football team that we're headed in, and I strongly feel it's a positive direction," McCarthy said. "The fact that the leader of our football team is going to play next year, I think that speaks for itself." How well Favre will play will depend on a variety of factors. For starters, Favre must decide whether he'll have the arthroscopic surgery to remove calcium deposits in his ankle - the same one that was cleaned out in 1995 - that was scheduled for New Year's Day but was postponed. Favre has needed the surgery for several years, and McCarthy said no determination has been made about whether Favre will finally follow through with it. -- More



Review --

It was a stumbling start, with fast finish
Improving Packers build toward 2007
By RICK BRAUN / Packer Plus writer
Posted Jan. 31, 2007
The week leading into the Super Bowl is always full of recaps as to how the two teams got there. Out of the other 30 teams in the National Football League, a dozen might be sitting back and wondering if they might indeed be in Miami had it not been for one or two plays over the course of the previous 20 weeks. The Green Bay Packers' expectations entering the season were minimal. They were coming off a 4-12 season and when general manager Ted Thompson pared his roster to 53 back on Sept. 2, the Packers were the youngest team in the NFL. Still, over the next 17 weeks, the Packers showed significant progress - such progress that they could legitimately say they were a play or two from the playoffs. And who knows what could have happened after that? In reviewing the Packers' 16 games and one bye week, there were significant highs and some pretty severe valleys. -- More