CAMP SIGHTS: Packers escaped the Favre circus

GREEN BAY, Wis.

Brett who? If not for a few No. 4 jerseys sprinkled in the stands and the large sign on the horizon touting his steakhouse, ol' Whatshisname has become a fading memory at Green Bay's training camp. And the Packers couldn't be happier. Not that the franchise and Cheeseheads everywhere are unappreciative of everything Brett Favre did in his 16 years at quarterback. But if the Packers were going to move on without him as planned entering the 2008 season, the Favre circus and all the sideshow negativity that came with it had to leave town permanently. The sparkling new Ray Nitschke practice field isn't the only major change in Green Bay from this time last year. Replacement quarterback Aaron Rodgers and general manager Ted Thompson aren't being heckled by pro-Favre supporters. Coach Mike McCarthy isn't devoting his news conferences to updates on potential trade destinations or whether Favre would be welcomed back after his on-again, off-again retirement. Players can now devote their full attention to preparing for the season rather than being dragged into the Favre drama like their brethren in Minnesota recently were. "It's a night-and-day difference," Packers president Mark Murphy said of the training camp atmosphere during a recent practice. "There's a sense of excitement. Last year, it was a difficult time for everybody. You're trying to get your team ready and bring everybody together. It was a huge distraction at probably the most important time of the year. "Normally, you head into training camp refreshed. A lot of people in this organization went into camp feeling almost worn out because (Favre) is all we dealt with for six weeks prior to that." The strain of handling the sticky Favre situation — combined with the 6-10 record that followed — is why McCarthy turned to his wife Jessica in bed on the morning of Jan. 1 and said, "Thank God it's a new year." "Everything started at the end of the offseason program (last June)," said McCarthy, referring to Favre indicating interest in a Packers comeback. "You spend four or five weeks not being able to get in front of your team and talk to them. It was like, 'What's going on?' All of our players and their families are going to have their opinions and so forth. There was so much unknown and uncertainty. "The second was just the environment around training camp. It's so unique, so special here in Green Bay with our fans. That was disrupted. Those were huge hurdles we had to overcome." The Packers stumbled, but Favre is hardly the sole scapegoat. Although Rodgers impressed in his first season as an NFL starter, the offense never quite clicked like it did in 2007 when Favre led Green Bay to the NFC Championship Game. Ryan Grant rushed for 1,203 yards, but the long runs that highlighted his previous season were sorely lacking. Injuries sidelined some of the team's best defensive players in middle linebacker Nick Barnett, defensive end Cullen Jenkins and strong safety Atari Bigby. The unit slumped to a No. 20 NFL ranking because of personnel deficiencies and on-field confusion. Special teams were just as shaky. Even with all this, the Packers still had a shot at repeating as NFC North champions. But an 0-7 record in games decided by four points or less sent Green Bay to its worst record in McCarthy's three-year tenure. "There's no excuse for it," McCarthy said with an edginess entering his voice. "We need to make sure we learn from those lessons in 2008. We've addressed it and, frankly, I think the players are tired of hearing about it from me. But it still burns inside me every day and will continue to do so for a long time." By the time the season ended, McCarthy already was prepared to make wholesale staff changes. He hired a new special teams coach (Shawn Slocum) and defensive coordinator (Dom Capers), who is installing a 3-4 system that no other team in the division runs. "I think we have a championship defense now," Rodgers said. "Our scheme gives us an opportunity to be ultra-aggressive. Guys are coming from different angles and different sides. It gives us a lot of great athletes on the field. We can go five linebackers and two linemen. The looks they're going to give teams are going to give them a lot of problems and hopefully make for more opportunities for turnovers and getting the ball back to us. We feel like we can put a lot of points on the board." Rodgers never lacked confidence while spending his first three NFL seasons as Favre's understudy. But persevering through a difficult 2008 campaign cemented his status as Green Bay's unquestioned starter. When it comes to key passing statistics — completion percentage (63.8), touchdown passes (28), interceptions (13), yardage (4,038) and quarterback rating (93.8) — Rodgers posted almost the exact same numbers that Favre did in 2007. "I was proud that I played all 16 games," Rodgers said. "That was one of the knocks on me. Just to get over that stigma of being injury prone, which I never felt like I've been ... It just reaffirmed to me that I'm as mentally and physically tough as I thought I was." Rodgers and McCarthy both said the next step he has to take is becoming a more consistent player. Rodgers said he has drawn inspiration from offseason training he did with New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees. "Week in and week out, he's putting up numbers," Rodgers said. "The difference between a guy like that who's consistently going to the Pro Bowl and me is that his bad games are closer to his good games. There's not as big a drop off. If he has an average or below-average game, he's still being productive and moving the ball. There were times last year when we were unproductive on offense. I need to close that gap." At this point in Green Bay, the Favre talk is over unless he changes his mind again and tries to play for Minnesota. Murphy said that Favre's recent decision to stay retired should help accelerate reconciliation with the franchise. Favre is still steamed after his Packers return wasn't welcomed and the subsequent trade that sent him to the New York Jets rather than Minnesota, the division rival that was his first choice. "Talking to some of our fans, if he had gone (to Minnesota), it probably would have made it a longer process," Murphy said. "We'll patch things, but it's going to take time. He just meant too much to this organization for us not to do that. I do think time heals all wounds." We'll learn soon enough how well the 2009 Packers have recovered.