10/3/2007
Packers are 4-0,
But say they've got a long way to go
By Colin Fly / Associated Press
GREEN BAY -- Each week, Mike McCarthy must find new ways to keep his Packers focused. With a young team, it's been easy for the second-year coach. Green Bay is the surprise of the league at 4-0, but while waiting to leave for Minnesota, one of the players didn't show up. "He thought he may be inactive, so he just figured, 'Well, I guess I don't have to go,' " said McCarthy, declining to name the culprit. Luckily, a weather delay allowed the offender to join the team in time and watch the Packers beat the Vikings 23-16 Sunday to give Green Bay its best start since 1998. "It's a daily education, I'm not going to deny it. We're very young," McCarthy said Monday. "To me, that's a perfect example of my responsibility as a head coach, that you have to make sure you address every little thing." McCarthy has seen anything but perfection on the field, and said that he was "sore" after the victory because of a sloppy performance that included five fumbles, one with 1:40 left that gave Minnesota another chance. "That's unacceptable," he said. "We had a couple instances where guys just didn't have the ball high and tight, and we're not happy about it. You can't play like that. We had the ball on the ground five times and lost two of them, so we need to get back on the track." More >>
Record-Breaking Ball Makes Its Way To Canton
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
Posted 10/02/2007
The football Brett Favre threw to Greg Jennings for his 421st and record-breaking touchdown pass last Sunday at the Metrodome in Minneapolis went on display Tuesday morning at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The short version is that the ball was presented by Favre to Joe Horrigan, vice president of communications and exhibits at the Hall, on the sidelines on Sunday, went into Horrigan's bag, back to his home in Ohio, and then into a case at the Hall on Tuesday morning. But there's a longer, much more entertaining version of the events. "It was different," Horrigan said. "For a number of reasons." It started with whether Horrigan was going to make it to the game on time. Scheduled to arrive at the airport in Minneapolis at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, which was cutting it close enough, Horrigan's plane circled above the city for 45 minutes due to the weather and finally landed at 11. With a pre-arranged car service waiting, Horrigan hopped in and the race was on. "The driver just said, 'If you've got a parking pass, I'll get you there,'" Horrigan said. "All I kept telling him was, 'I hope the Packers don't win the coin toss.'" More >>Jennings, Favre forging quite a bond
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
GREEN BAY — After finding himself on the receiving end of the 420th and 421st touchdown passes of Brett Favre's career, Greg Jennings isn't quite sure what's next for him. "I know one thing," the Green Bay Packers second-year receiver said with a smile. "I don't think I'll ever be forgotten. That's thanks to Brett, obviously." While Packers receivers coach Jimmy Robinson thinks Jennings will be remembered for a lot more — "Without putting undue pressure on him, my expectations for him are that he's going to be a great, great player in this league," Robinson said — the receiver-to-quarterback thank-you goes both ways. When Favre looks back on his 17-year career, three wide receivers emerged as being on the same wavelength with him — Sterling Sharpe in the early 1990s, Antonio Freeman in the mid- to late-'90s, and Donald Driver in the 2000s. Now, it appears Jennings has joined that triumvirate. More >>In need of a more guarded approach
Coston moves too fast for own good
By LORI NICKEL / journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 2, 2007
Green Bay - Junius Coston is so used to being the first in line that he's actually trying to slow himself down to play offensive line for the Green Bay Packers. Applying the brakes is just not something the starting right guard has ever done. Coston started kindergarten at the age of 4, not 5. He graduated from high school at 17 rather than 18, finished college and then married at 21, and became a father at 23. He is already in his third year in the NFL, yet he's still just 23 years old. With many years and so much football ahead of him, his potential is off the charts and he's so athletic - exceptional really - that he often gets himself out of position because he gets to where he was going too quickly. More >>First-rate 'bump-and-run corners'
Key team's defensive success
By Colin Fly / Associated Press
REEN BAY -- Coach Mike McCarthy credits his hurting cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson with allowing Green Bay's defense to be so aggressive during the Packers' 4-0 start. "Al's a big reason, him and Charles are a big reason why we play the way we do, because they're exceptional players at the line of scrimmage," McCarthy said. McCarthy is among a list of coaches and players around the NFL who consider Harris the league's best cover cornerback, in part because his upper body strength allows him to disrupt receivers before they start their routes. "Al's strength is clearly at the line of scrimmage," McCarthy said. "He's as good as there is, maybe the best bump-and-run corner in the league in my opinion." Harris, who has been playing with an injured back, made several key plays in Green Bay's 23-16 victory over Minnesota. McCarthy said Harris may not practice at all this week as the Packers prepare to host the Chicago Bears on Sunday night. "He's played through two weeks now when he's obviously injured," McCarthy said. "We need to try to get him healthy." More >>Cornerback Harris is beat up
By Rob Demovsky
greenbaypressgazette.com
Cornerback Al Harris' beat-up body is going to be cause for concern this week as the Green Bay Packers prepare for Sunday's prime-time game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Harris, who has been bothered by an elbow injury he sustained in the regular-season opener, injured his left hand in Sunday's win at Minnesota. But perhaps a greater concern is the back spasms that have bothered him the last couple of weeks. Harris' back has been seizing up intermittently and though he said last week that medication has helped, he's still having problems with his flexibility. It's become such a concern that coach Mike McCarthy won't even think about practicing him until probably Friday. "He's played through two weeks now when he's obviously injured," McCarthy said. "We need to try to get him healthy. Friday will be a big day in his medical evaluation on if he goes this week. He's fighting through with a bad back." More >>
Published by PackerPundit On Wednesday, October 03, 2007 at 5:26 AM.
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