JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Ryan Grant wasn't celebrating, especially not after the game.
But upon eclipsing 1,000 yards on the season for the first time in his career on Sunday in Jacksonville, he was trying to make sure he got the ball as a keepsake.
Grant's 4-yard run early in the second quarter to the Jacksonville 7-yard line, setting up a go-ahead field goal, pushed the Packers' feature back over 1,000 yards. He came into Sunday's game needing just 20 yards for the milestone, and he finished a day of tough sledding with 56 yards on 21 carries in the 20-16 defeat.
After his 4-yard run, though, Grant didn't see that the Packers' equipment manager, Red Batty, already had gotten his hands on the football and taken it to the sideline. Grant tried to get the next ball that had been put into play, but was stopped and told the situation was taken care of.
"They said Red got it," Grant said. "I was trying to follow the ball and they played a switcheroo on me. They said they have it."
Grant became the eighth Green Bay Packers player to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in one season. But at game's end, he wasn't thinking as much about the milestone as his two failed short-yardage runs late in the third quarter and his dropped pass in the red zone in the fourth quarter that could have gone for a big gain.
"I turned my head before I caught the ball," Grant said. "I feel like if I get a first down on that we're probably going to get a touchdown.
"As a whole, (the milestone) means something to the team. But for me, not really."
New rule, good challenge
The Packers took advantage of the new rule for this season that eliminated the "force-out" call by officials on pass plays near the boundaries.
Early in the second quarter, the Jaguars faced third-and-8 from the Green Bay 33-yard line. Quarterback David Garrard completed a pass along the far sideline to Troy Williamson, who was wrapped up and pushed out of bounds by cornerback Tramon Williams. The officials initially spotted the ball right at the first-down marker and measured, with the Jaguars just a few inches short.
It appeared the Jaguars were going to go for it on fourth down when Head Coach Mike McCarthy threw out the red challenge flag, and the replay review revealed that as Williams shoved Williamson out of bounds, the receiver only got one foot down. In previous years, Williams' push would have resulted in Williamson being credited with the reception.
On the ensuing fourth-and-8, Jacksonville tried a 51-yard field goal, and Josh Scobee hit the left upright. The Packers took advantage of the good field position and drove 59 yards for the go-ahead score.
{sportsad300}2-for-2
McCarthy made it 2-for-2 on his challenges with another correct call in the second half.
Jacksonville had third-and-1 on its own 15, and a quick sideline pass to tight end Greg Estandia was initially ruled complete. But a couple of the Green Bay assistant coaches on the sideline near the play urged McCarthy to challenge it, and replays showed that Estandia lost control of the ball and trapped it between his midsection and the ground as he went down.
The Jaguars punted on the ensuing fourth-and-1, and because the Packers were successful on both of their challenges, they were awarded an additional challenge. There wasn't an occasion to use it. The only other replay reviews after that both came in the final two minutes of the game and were initiated by the booth.
Injury update
Tight end Tory Humphrey left the game with a concussion, and offensive tackle Chad Clifton missed the game's final series with sprained thumbs.
Clifton said after the game he got his hands chopped down on multiple times, and he would have x-rays taken on Monday.
