GREEN BAY - Darren Sharper, Donald Driver and Tod McBride are questionable for the Packers' playoff game against Atlanta on Saturday night.
All three sat out practice again Wednesday, Sharper with a sprained knee, Driver with a strained shoulder and McBride with a groin strain.
They were joined on the sideline by nose tackle Gilbert Brown, who has sat out much of the week ever since midseason just to give his aching body a break, and wide receiver Robert Ferguson (back), who jogged for much of the workout.
Sharper said he's not sure if he'll play against the Falcons.
''We're going to see how it feels when I wake up (Thursday) to see if I can practice,'' he said.
Sharper said he'd give himself better than a 50-50 chance of playing but won't play if he isn't close to full strength.
''It might be better to have someone in there who's been practicing all week,'' Sharper said.
The dilemma, he said, was pushing it this week at, say, 75 percent, because then he wouldn't be any better for the following week at Tampa Bay. Then again, if the Packers lose without him in the lineup, it doesn't matter how good his knee feels next week.
''I believe I can change the game. But then in doing that, the game is not necessarily going to be won because I'm out there,'' Sharper said. ''It's going to take everybody on the team to play a good game, a complete game.
''So, if I do not play, I think our chances will still be good.''
If he does play, Sharper doesn't want to wear his new knee brace.
''I think if I just tape it up well, I'll be fine. A brace is kind of like putting a red dot on your chest,'' he said. ''It definitely makes you a target and then I think it also restricts you a little bit.''
The Packers have been hit hard all year by injuries. Fourteen starters have missed 63 games.
And quarterback Brett Favre revealed this week in a conference call with Atlanta media that center Frank Winters is ailing, too.
''Frank Winters, my roommate, best bud, he's playing with torn cartilage in his knee. He's not supposed to be practicing, but the truth of the matter is we don't have anybody else,'' Favre said. ''We lose him and I don't know what we're going to do.
''I don't even know if Donald is going to play. Robert Ferguson is hurting; he's got a compressed disc or something in his back,'' Favre said. ''We're down to 'The Chosen Few.' I've never seen anything like it, yet we're in the playoffs.''
Ferguson, who is a valuable special teams contributor on returns and coverage units, said he'll be ready for the Falcons.
''I'm fine. I'll practice (Thursday) and be ready to play on Saturday,'' he said. ''I know I'm going to play and I'm looking forward to Donald playing as well. It's do or die right now. We'll be ready.''
If Driver can't play, flanker Terry Glenn will be counted on to carry the Packers receiving load. He has refused to talk about his role this week.
''I ain't got nothing to talk about right now,'' he said Wednesday.
The Packers made a couple of moves Wednesday, waiving injured defensive end Keith McKenzie and replacing him on the roster with cornerback Jacoby Shepherd.
Shepherd played in 22 games with the St. Louis Rams in 2000 and 2001. He was traded to Houston last spring and waived in September.
McKenzie signed with the Packers as a free agent in November and played in four games before he injured a hamstring in practice and missed the last two games.
The Packers also re-signed cornerback Hurley Tarver to the practice squad, using an opening created by the release of quarterback Greg Zolman.
For the second straight day, seldom-used receiver Karsten Bailey donned a No. 7 jersey and tried to emulate Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick's elusive ways on the ''look'' team.
''Hey, he's helping,'' defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila said. ''Everybody's doing whatever it takes to be ready for the game.''
COSTLY LOSS: Not only did the Packers' loss to the New York Jets on Sunday cost them a bye and the home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, but it could hit them in the wallet, too.
Not having the road to the Super Bowl go through Green Bay could cost each player as much as $87,500.
The playoff shares for the divisional playoff games are $17,000. It's $35,500 for the conference championship and the Super Bowl shares are $35,000 for members of the losing team, $63,000 for members of the winning team.
The Packers are 13-0 all-time at home in the playoffs and would have been favored to win both the divisional round ($17,000) and NFC title game ($35,500) no matter the opponent.
And even had they then lost to the AFC representative in the Super Bowl, that's another $35,000, for a total possible windfall of $87,500. A Super Bowl victory would mean a total of $115,500 each.
Now, all they are guaranteed is $17,000 each for their wild-card game, Saturday night against the Atlanta Falcons, win or lose.
Should they win, they'll be guaranteed another $17,000 at the divisional round, but to make any more money, they'd have to win at Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium, where they're 0-5, including a 21-7 loss in November.
COSTLY INJURY: Donald Driver's shoulder injury in the second quarter Sunday might prove costly in the playoffs, but it's already cost the Packers.
When Driver, the Packers' leading receiver went out, Terry Glenn stepped up and had five catches for 76 yards in the Packers' loss to the New York Jets.
That pushed Glenn over the threshold of conditions on the deal that brought him from New England to Green Bay last offseason.
The Packers now owe the Patriots a fourth-round pick in the April NFL draft because Glenn finished the regular season with 56 catches for 817 yards thanks to his big day.
Had he not reached 55 catches or 770 yards receiving, the Packers wouldn't have owed the Patriots anything.
2003 OPPONENTS: The Green Bay Packers' 2003 home schedule looks like a reunion with former coaching staff members Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid and Steve Mariucci coming to town.
Besides their NFC North foes, the Packers will face Seattle, Philadelphia and San Francisco at Lambeau Field in addition to Denver and Kansas City.
They'll travel to Tampa Bay again, thanks to both teams' status as division winners.
Also, they'll travel to Arizona, St. Louis, Oakland and San Diego.
Next season begins the weekend of Sept. 7-8 and will conclude on Dec. 29. Next year's Super Bowl is in Houston on Feb. 1.
EXTRA POINTS: Because they finished tied with Philadelphia and Tampa Bay for the league's best record, the Packers will own no better than the 29th pick in next April's draft. At least one AFC team will fall behind the Packers, providing Green Bay doesn't reach the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl champion picks 32nd and the runner-up 31st. Then, it's in reverse order of finish, meaning the Packers could pick 30th or 29th. ... The Packers' divisional opponents pick much higher: Detroit is No. 2, Chicago No. 4 and Minnesota No. 7. But those three teams have much tougher schedules next year, too. Detroit's opponents were 126-129-1 this year, Chicago's 232-123-1 and Minnesota's 127-128-1. Green Bay's opponents went 115-140-1 in 2002. ... LB Na'il Diggs will be announced as the NFC's defensive player of the month for December on Thursday.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: ''It's a lot colder now than it was then. I think I've probably embellished those stories just like everybody else has. I think it was a 90-yard touchdown pass that I threw. It gets better as the years go along. But they still won. That doesn't change.'' - Falcons coach Dan Reeves, who threw a 50-yard halfback option TD pass for Dallas 35 years ago in the Ice Bowl game won by Green Bay.
Associated Press |
