Packers stand behind error-prone Favre

As the Green Bay Packers’ injury-ravaged season freefalls, the number and cost of quarterback Brett Favre’s interceptions climb.

The 36-year-old Favre has tried to carry the undermanned Packers more than ever this season, but in recent weeks, he’s made some of the 2-10 team’s most crucial errors. He’s had two of his worst games the past two weeks, and made an egregious decision in each that led to a critical interception.

Going into this season, coach Mike Sherman and his offensive assistants tried to walk the fine line of preaching to Favre to be more calculating with his riskier throws without destroying the playmaking qualities that make him special.

“With whatever it is, 21 interceptions, I would say it hasn’t (worked),” said Darrell Bevell, the Packers’ quarterbacks coach.

Favre heads into the Packers’ game this week against Detroit as bruised and battered as he’s been in his 15-year NFL career. After the Bears’ No. 1-ranked defense gave him his worst physical beating of the season, his throwing arm Monday was bruised on the forearm and cut on his hand. He also had a huge and painful blister on one foot.

Then there’s the psychological battering with his struggles trying to carry an offense that has only one skill-position player of note, receiver Donald Driver.

The Packers’ season-ending injuries to receiver Javon Walker and running back Ahman Green have put them in a Catch-22. They need Favre to play better than ever with limited playmaking talent around him, yet, this undermanned team can least afford the interceptions that go with his gunslinger mentality.

It’s difficult to know whether the frustration of losing, or more of a devil-may-care mentality, has crept into Favre in recent weeks, as the Packers’ season went downhill. Favre threw eight interceptions in the first six games, but as the quality of skill players around him has dwindled, he’s thrown 13 interceptions in the last six games.

Asked if Favre was only making matters worse for his outgunned team with costly risks the past couple of weeks, Sherman answered: “I’d never say that, because his goal is like mine — we’ve talked about this — to win football games. I think he gives you everything he has on every play to win the football game. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

On Sunday at Chicago, Favre made one of the worst decisions of his career on the game-turning play in the final 30 seconds of the first half. When a Bears all-out blitz aborted a shovel pass, Favre chose not to throw the ball at halfback Tony Fisher’s feet but tried to throw the ball away in the end zone to receiver Robert Ferguson, who was blocking rather than running a pattern. Favre’s floater was intercepted by Nathan Vasher and returned to set up a field goal that turned around the game and gave Chicago a 9-7 lead.

The Packers’ coaching staff says it goes over game plans with Favre in detail and reminds him during games of the situation.

“He’s coached on a daily basis,” said Tom Rossley, the Packers’ quarterbacks coach. “Told when he’s right, told when he’s wrong in practice. But when it comes to actually lining up and playing in a game, a quarterback has to be a quarterback. He has to play on instinct, and his instinct has been right more than it’s been wrong. We’ve had a few wrong ones lately, and we’re all jumping on him. I don’t think that’s a fair deal.”

Favre had his best seasons under former coach Mike Holmgren, and he often was the target of Holmgren’s volcanic temper. Neither Sherman nor Rossley has that kind of personality, and Bevell said he abandoned getting in Favre’s face after his first game as quarterbacks coach, in 2002.

“If I thought yelling and screaming at him every time he did something wrong would help, I’d certainly do it,” Bevell said. “That could be my style. I tried that the first game, and I thought it was counterproductive.”

Favre no doubt is more hamstrung this year than he’s been in his career because of the lack of talent around him, and it’s come at an age when he’s not as athletic as in his prime. His passer rating of 75.9 points is well below his career average coming into this season (87.4 points), and his 21 interceptions puts him on pace for a career-high 28. His previous high was 24 interceptions in 1993.

“I think at times he gets impatient,” Bevell said. “He took a lot of checkdowns in that (Chicago) game. Then he threw one into coverage and they knocked it down, and then he threw a couple more checkdowns. Yeah, he gets impatient at times, as all quarterbacks do. You’re always trying to push the ball downfield.”

Bevell said that in meetings, Favre has been accountable for his mistakes and listens to his coaching. He also said he hasn’t given up on trying to get Favre to play safer while also being a playmaker.
“I don’t think we’ve ever thought that he was going to be the safe quarterback,” Bevell said. “I think we know what we have, and we keep harping on the things that we think are important to harp on — being able to know when to take a chance. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Sherman said Favre’s bruised forearm and cut hand don’t appear serious enough to bother him much this week against the Lions.

“Anytime something is affected to the throwing hand, forearm, arm or shoulder, you’re concerned,” Sherman said. “But he played with it and doesn’t seem to be any worse (Monday) than (Sunday). So I think he’s going to be OK with it, but I’m not sure 100 percent.”
source : http://www.packersnews.com/