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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” on Jan. 25, a little more than a week before Favre made his decision, and again on 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 on 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 that in neither recent conversation did he make any assurances that 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.
“I think it’d probably be best if he had it done, but I don’t have a strong opinion, medically,” McCarthy said, adding that he’s never asked Favre why he’s put off the surgery year after year. “If he elects to have it done, then the specifics of the rehab, I do not know. That’s something we’ll deal with in the next month. He has to answer that question. He played with it last year, so can he play with it this year? I would think he could.”
Last offseason, because he didn’t make a decision until April 25, Favre didn’t take part in McCarthy’s quarterback school, which begins March 19. Favre attended the post-draft minicamp in early May, but McCarthy excused him from the additional, voluntary minicamp later that month. Favre then participated in 10 of the 14 organized team activity practices last June.
McCarthy said he and Favre “haven’t talked about the specifics” of how much of the offseason workouts Favre will attend, but “I know what my feelings are. We have mandatory opportunities and voluntary ones. That’s something he and I need to sit down and talk about.”
As for how Favre will train at home in Mississippi, McCarthy said he doesn’t think Favre needs to be told what workouts to do.
Two years ago, coach Mike Sherman excused Favre from most of the minicamp and OTA practices to work with a personal trainer. Last offseason, McCarthy said most of Favre’s workouts were “manual labor” — clearing brush, cutting down trees and doing other yard work on his 460-acre expanse. McCarthy said Monday that Favre also worked out with the Oak Grove High School football team in Hattiesburg, Miss., last year.
“I’ll just say this: I deal more with the facts,” McCarthy said. “Whether it’s regimented manual labor (or a) personal trainer, I think Brett doesn’t always probably communicate exactly what he does to get ready. When he showed up for training camp last year, he was in shape. Physically, he was definitely prepared to play last year, regardless of how you classify (the workouts).”
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Who's zoomin' who? wrote on Feb 21, 2007 8:42 PM: