Statement on Packers offensive coordinator Tom Rossley
"Packers offensive coordinator Tom Rossley was taken by ambulance to an area hospital shortly before the start of today's game and underwent tests. He was not feeling well and was able to leave the field without assistance. The tests were negative and he returned to the stadium early in the second quarter."
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PACKERS-BUCS POST-GAME NOTES & QUOTES
- Today's paid attendance was 70,518.
- Counting all recorded consecutive-starts streaks, Brett Favre now has 208 to put him at No. 6 all-time, surpassing Gene Upshaw (207, 1967-81).
- Donald Driver extended his current streak with a catch to 51 games, fourth-longest in team history, surpassing 50-game streaks by Don Hutson (1941-45) and Paul Coffman (1979-82).
- Ryan Longwell set the franchise record for consecutive games with a field goal at 15, breaking his previous team record of 14, a streak from 1997-98.
- Longwell's PAT miss following the Packers' first touchdown was his first miss since the Browns blocked an attempt at Lambeau Field, Dec. 23, 2001. His 156 straight PAT conversions is a team record and was the fourth-longest active streak in the league.
- Najeh Davenport became the 38th player in team history to gain 1,000 yards rushing in a Packers uniform. Eventual Hall of Famer Clarke Hinkle was first to hit the milestone in 1934, blazing a trail that would include fellow Canton residents Tony Canadeo, Paul Hornung and Bart Starr. Davenport entered the game with 999 career rushing yards and now has 1,004.
- Robert Ferguson's first-quarter score was the first TD the Tampa Bay defense had allowed so far this season.
- Ahmad Carroll's 38-yard interception is his longest career return and his second career interception.
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HEAD COACH MIKE SHERMAN: (on Tom Rossley)
(on what first happened) "Tom (Rossley) and I were getting ready to go over pregame in my office, reviewing our third down calls. I could just tell earlier in the day he looked a little bit flushed and I looked at him again and asked him if he was OK. He told me he was fine. I could tell something was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me. It took me about 10 minutes to get it out of him. Finally he told me that he was having some pains in his upper chest and shoulder area, pains very similar to the ones I was aware of the last time. I told him we were going to get him to the doctor. We brought him into the training room and they immediately put him in an ambulance and took him to the hospital. They ran tests and are going to run more tests on him tomorrow and believe he'll be OK. It certainly was a delicate situation at the time."
(on how he found out of his return) "All of a sudden I heard him on the head phones and said 'what are you doing back here?' He said he was fine. I asked if he was sure and he said 'yeah.' He said he had clearance, so he was there in the end of the first half."
(on if he told the players about the situation) "I never told the team about it. I didn't want it to be a distraction for them and I didn't change the logistics of the coaches and so forth. They never found out about it, some of the coaches might not have known about it, I tried to keep it pretty quiet."
(on scaling back his work) "If he keeps taking days off like this, he won't need to. No, he's going to be fine. He told me beforehand that he doesn't want anything to be made out of it, obviously there was. The tests were fine and he just has to follow up with some more tests. Hopefully he'll be fine. If needs to scale back, we'll do that, but I don't anticipate having to do that. We'll do whatever is the right thing for Tom Rossley in regards to this. Having gone through it with Mark Hatley and Tom previously, it was a concern for me at the time. I'm glad we got him to the hospital. He was being stubborn at the time, which is ridiculous in this day in age with all these doctors here and all we know, for him to want to stay at the game over going to the doctors is ludicrous, but he wanted to be at the game and be a part of it so much."
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(on Na'il Diggs' playing time) "It was the first time he played and we wanted to rest him a little bit. There was no injury concerns."
(on the challenge of being 0-3) "First of all we just lost to a 3-0 team. We helped them become 3-0 as well. They earned 3-0. We lost by one point. We had a missed field goal, a missed extra point and four turnovers by our team. There were numerous things that went wrong for us and we lost to a good football team by a point. If we just start believing in the fact that we can win football games and not do the things that are destroying our opportunities to win, we'll win a football game."
(on the missed extra point and field goal) "The missed extra point - the snap was high. I didn't see the hold. I made the assumption that it was going to be automatic. I was talking to someone who just came out of the game at the time and I didn't see it. We just missed a field goal. I didn't see a bad hold there or a bad snap."
(on the decision to go for it on fourth down) "I didn't want to punt the ball into the end zone. B.J. (Sander) had two punts and punted pretty well in the game. But at that point in the game we needed to take that chance. I didn't think the field goal was a possibility. I didn't want to punt, so we took the shot and we were fortunate enough to make it. It got us going, it gave us some life and it continued all the way up to the very end when they controlled the ball in their four minute offense."
(on the challenged fumble call) "They missed the call. It's very difficult to be a team in the situation that we're in when people are making mistakes. We have to live with our mistakes. And we have to live with someone else's mistake and that makes it tough. In spite of that we still should have won the ball game, not done the things we self inflicted."
QUARTERBACK BRETT FAVRE:
(on how it feels to be 0-3) "It feels terrible. I was talking to Ted Thompson before I came in. He wasn't here last year when we were 1-4, when it was shocking and disappointing, especially after how we opened up against Carolina. There were higher expectations last year. Being 0-3 or 1-4, I don't know if one feels worse than the other. It's hard to find any silver lining in 0-3. But the show must go on and we have to find a way to win a game."
(on if any of his interceptions were poor throws) "No, I really don't. A risky throw was the fourth-down throw. If there was ever pressure on you, if you overthrow it or under throw it, it's fourth down, if you throw it and it gets picked so what? There was a guy underneath who was open, so why didn't we go for the first down? We knew going into the game, and I think we executed our game plan well, that they jump routes, that's what they're good at. Their front four is excellent at rushing the passer, so they are able to read routes and drops of the quarterback, so we wanted to take some shots and have those DBs thinking and we did a good job of that. The only one I wish I had thrown differently was the one with Donald (Driver) in the seam."
(on his role now as compared to when he was younger) "I'm sure if Mike (Sherman) were in here he'd say he really does not want me to direct traffic, like that or for any quarterback, veteran or young guy. You're better off when guys line up and they do what they're supposed to do and I can be concerned with my reads and things like that. But the upside with having a veteran guy is that I can direct traffic when need be. Does it affect your decision making sometimes? Maybe, but that's part of being a quarterback, getting guys lined up and expecting a lot out of yourself and guys around you. I'm still a starting quarterback for Green Bay and they expect me to lead this team to victory and to make plays, sometimes when they're not there. I think the only difference is now you can't try to make plays that are not there and not get away with it. You take a gamble and it doesn't pay off, you can't do that. That's much different than it was in the past."
KICKER RYAN LONGWELL:
(on missing two kicks) "We expect to make every single kick we try, and it's alarming when we don't. The extra point, we really didn't have a shot. It was just out of sequence. As I've always told you guys, it takes all 11 of us to make a kick and all 11 of us to miss a kick. We had no shot of making that one. You have 1.26 seconds and B.J. (Sander) has a clock in his head, as do I, and the snap came back way behind him. He was trying to rush to get it around and when it's that far off, you kind of lose the bearing on where the spot is."
(on the missed extra point being the margin of defeat) "We played well on offense, well on defense. There was some good signs in this game, we had some character in this game as a team, which was fun. That's the way this game is. It's so close nowadays, that a kick can help you win a game or cost you a game. Today, it didn't go our way."
RUNNING BACK AHMAN GREEN:
(on how not to make losing a habit) "You forget about it, and you move on. If you keep dwelling on the bad stuff that happens, nothing good is going to happen in the future. You have to keep chugging along, one day at a time."
(on being able to run the ball effectively against Tampa Bay) "It's good, but we still lost the game. We still had too many errors to try to win this game against a good team. And Tampa Bay is a good team, they are 3-0. They did the job they had to do. There is no reason for us to (lower) our heads. We are playing against another good NFC South team (next week) in Carolina. We are going to relax tonight and look at film and get ready for Carolina on Wednesday."
(on what it takes to make the running game effective) "We were effective today, but it's penalties, it's turnovers that hurt us as a whole offense. But the running game was very effective."
(on the run blocking) "I can't be mad at my toolbox. What I have in my toolbox is what I have to work with. I just told those boys to get in front of me. If you see the other color, blast their (butt)."
(on the Packers turnover ratio) "You can't win like that. You see numbers like that, it's obvious you can't win. When you are in a situation like ours and you have a mistake that you make, especially against a good team like Tampa Bay...you can't have those mistakes."
LINEBACKER NA'IL DIGGS:
(on the difference in today's ball game) "I could sit here and think about 20 plays and say, 'If we make this play, we win the game.' If we kick a field goal, if we make a catch, if we make an interception...it could always go either way. It happens the way it was supposed to happen. We've got to keep working to make it happen for us, not against us. We have to overcome penalties, turnovers and hitting and tackling. That's something we've got to fix in-house. That's something that is all fixable."
(on 1-4 start last year being similar to 0-3 this year) "You don't feel good. Either way, you feel like crap. If it's 1-4 or 0-3, basically, we're at the same stage we were last year. We lost three in a row last year and we just lost three in a row now. It's the same situation, but it feels different. It never always feels the same, and I never want it to feel the same. I don't want to get use to it. I don't want to say, 'This feels like last year.'"
(on the frustration in the loss) "Being that close to beating a team like that in our house, just being that close is motivating. It's motivating to walk into the locker room after that game and say, 'We have, we just have to put it together.' There really wasn't any question as far as not having it or having too many young guys. I think we always knew we had it, and I think we are proving it to ourselves."
FULLBACK WILLIAM HENDERSON:
(on the offensive production) "The running game was one place where I was happy with us today. We need to improve overall in judgment and just finish. I thought we did a lot better job playing today than we have in the past. But still, we can't let wins slip away from us."
(on 1-4 start last year being similar to 0-3 this year) "This is two totally different teams, but the heart is still there. The desire to go out and represent ourselves well is still there. There is going to be a lot of attention to detail this week; going back to the fundamentals, like we always do, win or lose. But I'm quite sure that we're going to make the best possible play to try and get ready for a Carolina team that has been successful."
SAFETY NICK COLLINS:
(on his last tackle of Carnell "Cadillac" Williams) "I was just trying to make a play, a big play, maybe make something happen. I was trying to get the ball out, but it didn't work that way."
(on coming back from 0-3) "The season just started. We can overcome anything. We have to let the coaches do their job, we do our job and put it in God's hands. Hopefully, we'll get it together."
BUCCANEERS HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN:
(on the play of safety Will Allen) "He is another young guy that is getting his first real opportunity to play critical snaps, meaningful games early in the season and he made some real hits. Our support was outstanding today on the second level. I thought he had some great hits and he obviously made the big interception."
(on rookie running back Carnell Williams becoming the first NFL player to begin his career with three straight 100-yard games) "I don't want to inflate his start or deflate it. In my lifetime in the NFL he is the best back I've coached. That doesn't mean anything. That just means that after three games I am making that statement. He has to back it up the rest of the season. I'll say this about him; he is as tough as they get, he was limited on the practice field and the look in his eye is going to give our offensive football team a chance every Sunday."
(on Brett Favre) "I thought about throwing the ball and trying to score a touchdown and then going for two with him over there. A guy that has that criteria and history of bringing his team from behind; the fourth down play that he makes on the touchdown made us concerned with him, but our defense played very well today."
(on Tampa Bay's defensive stand after cornerback Ahmad Carroll's interception) "It was huge. Again, there was a lot of plays in this game. I am emotional right now. I would be incorrect if I stood up here and told you what were the bigger plays because there were many."
BUCCANEERS SAFETY WILL ALLEN:
(on his second interception of Brett Favre) "Juran (Bolden) made a great play because he got beat in the first quarter on that one touchdown because he got beat and this time he was there right with the receiver running stride for stride and he got a tip on it. I just seen the ball tipped and I was just running to the ball. If the receiver would have caught it or not I was just there to be a security and right when I seen the tip I said here goes the pick and I just ran and got it."
(on the impact of Tampa Bay's young players) "That is the responsibility we have. Coach Gruden constantly tells us that he needs a lot out of his first year players and more out of his second year players because we know what is going and we have been around for a year, we know the name of the game so we just have to go out there and produce. I am out there on special teams, I am on defense, so when I have an opportunity to play I have to capitalize on every opportunity I have and make the best of it and then take it even more. I think today I showed that and I am just blessed and I am happy that I had the opportunity."
BUCCANEERS RUNNING BACK CARNELL WILLIAMS:
(on what it means to this team to be 3-0) "I think it means a lot. In all my experiences in football anytime a team can go on the road and win, that is the sign of a great team. We know that it is still early and we have to keep at it, but we are showing signs of greatness."
(on the support from the offensive line) "Those guys deserve all of the credit. They are doing a heck of a job
up front. On the run where I think it was second down, we were running out the clock when I had an 18-yard run, if you saw how much push those guys got, the back side wasn't even there. Those guys are doing a heck of a job up front."
(on if he thought he would bust a long run) "To be honest with you I did. I can't explain the feelings you get as a back. I am sure all great backs get it. As the game goes on and you are still getting carries you feel like the defense is going to mess up in some way and you are going to bust one."
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Ahmad Carroll's 4th quarter interception was the 2nd of his career. The 38-yard interception return was the longest return of his career.
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Najeh Davenport's 2-yard carry in the 3rd quarter put him over 1,000 yards for his career.
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Following Brett Favre's 37-yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferguson in the 1st quarter, Ryan Longwell missed the PAT. Longwell had not missed a PAT attempt since December 23, 2001, having made 156 consecutive PATs. His streak was the 4th longest in the NFL among active players, and the longest in team history.
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Donald Driver's catch in the first quarter extended his streak to 51 games with at least one catch, surpassing the fourth-longest stretches in team history -- 50 by Don Hutson (1941-45) and Paul Coffman (1979-82).
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The Packers won the coin toss and elected to receive. Gametime weather: 64 degrees, cloudy, some showers.
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The following Packers players are inactive for today's game:
Packer fans 12 and under can win the opportunity of a lifetime: Packers Honorary Kickoff Kid! One lucky fan will be selected for each 2006 home game to run onto the field after the Packers first kickoff to retrieve the tee. Each winner will receive the opportunity to be on the field during pre-game warm-ups, four (4) game tickets for the winner and his/her family, and a Packers Goodie Bag. Visit participating Shopko stores for your chance to win!
Crunch Time Catch
The Crunch Time Catch presented by Copps and Pick 'n Save gives two contestants the chance to show their skills catching punts. Both contestants will attempt to catch a thirty yard punt. If they succeed they move on to a sixty yard punt for the chance to win Packer prizes.
Nicolet Water Boy/Girl Sweepstakes
Win a chance to be the Official Water Boy/Girl of the Green Bay Packers. Children between the ages of 8 and 14 may enter by sending in an official entry form available at participating retailers.
Verizon Jr. Captain
For every home game one lucky Packers fan between the ages of 7 and 14 is selected to be the Verizon Jr. Captain of the game and join the team captains on the field during the coin toss. Sign up at participating Verizon Wireless locations. verizonwireless.com
Badger Mutual Family of the Game
Seventh-graders in the state of Wisconsin are eligible to enter an essay contest to see their family named the Badger Mutual Insurance Family of the Game. Winners will receive four game tickets, pre-game VIP on-field passes, recognition on the video board during the game and much more. To enter, Wisconsin seventh-graders should write an essay of 500 words or less that tells "Why Education Is Important to Me." Print out a registration form on packers.com.
Kohl's Fan of the Game
Four randomly selected fans will be selected at every Packer home game to win Kohl's Gift Cards.
Coldwell Banker "Take it to the House"
Two lucky couples will have a chance to win a house courtesy of Coldwell Banker during halftime at every home game. The winning couple will receive either an Ariens snow blower or an Ariens lawnmower. Visit one of Coldwell Banker's Open Houses to sign up!
Kraft Best Seats in the House Sweepstakes
Watch the game from the "Best Seats in the House". Winners and a guest will watch the game from recliners in the stands. The area will also include a color TV and a fully catered picnic lunch. Entry forms available at participating retailers.
MasterCard Fan Photographer
All Associated Bank customers who make a signature-based transaction will automatically be entered into the sweepstakes. You and a guest will receive passes to be on the field for the Packers warm-up to take pictures that will be posted on Packers.com.
Miller Lite End Zone
Watch for Miller promotions throughout the season for a chance to be part of this exciting section.
Packers Dress Your Pet Contest
If your favorite pet likes to show his/her Packers spirit, send us a picture and see if he/she becomes a Packers Dress Your Pet winner.
Your pet could win the chance to debut their Packers pride on the Packers in-stadium TundraVision video board in addition to Packers.com, along with a Packers pet food bowl, pet leash and pet collar!
Packers Ultimate Playhouse
The Green Bay Packers have partnered with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, MasterFoods and Ashley Furniture to raffle off a 10'x10' playhouse which includes a couch, flat screen TV, Packers recliner and Packers memorabilia. Raffle tickets, priced at $1, will be available all season long at the house in the Atrium on game days and in the Packers Pro Shop on non-game days. A winner will be selected Feb. 16, 2007. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit Habitat for Humanity projects in northeastern Wisconsin.
