He's not fully healthy yet, and the upcoming bye week will probably do wonders for his sore knee, but running back Vernand Morency is almost back to his old self. Almost.
There were moments in last Sunday's game against Chicago when Morency appeared to show the shake and elusiveness that made him such an intriguing running back prospect last year, his first in Green Bay.
Known for his quick first step and burst to the hole, Morency ripped off runs of 10 and 15 yards on back-to-back plays in the second quarter, one off the left side and the other off the right. He got well into the second level of the defense both times and was tackled by safety Brandon McGowan. The two runs set up Brett Favre's 41-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings.
Then on the Packers' next series, he caught a short dump-off pass over the middle and darted and danced his way to a 17-yard gain, again forcing the safety McGowan to make the tackle. Two other short receptions on that drive helped lead to Mason Crosby's 37-yard field goal to close the first half.
"I thought he was extremely productive," running backs coach Edgar Bennett said. "I thought he made plays. When he had opportunities, he made the most of those opportunities.
"Mo is getting better and better every week. The thing we have to continue to do is make sure he's doing everything he can to rehab and prevent that knee from continuing to bother him."
Oh yeah, that knee. Morency injured it in the first training camp practice, way back on July 28. He was out of action all the way until Week 4 at Minnesota, when he made his 2007 debut with one rush and three receptions for 35 total yards, plus a fumble that fortunately went out of bounds.
Morency went into the Chicago game expecting to be the third-down back while DeShawn Wynn handled the majority of the early downs. But Wynn cramped up after the offense's opening drive for a touchdown, and Morency became the No. 1 running back the rest of the first half.
The workload - he finished with nine carries for 43 yards and a career-high seven receptions for 48 more, with all but two of the touches coming in the first half - may have been heavier than his ailing knee really wanted. Both Head Coach Mike McCarthy and Bennett said Morency is sore this week, and it's possible his practice time could be limited to allow for some recovery time.
But the most promising development was seeing the quick twitch in the open field and the ability to gain some yards on his own that were reminiscent of the pre-injury Morency. Last year during the Packers' four-game winning streak to close the season, Morency rushed 27 times for 164 yards, an impressive 6.1-yard average, with two touchdowns on well-timed cutback runs against the Detroit Lions (Dec. 17).
{sportsad300}"I think he showed a lot of energy, played with a lot of emotion," Bennett said. "He had a very good performance."
The coaching staff also felt he handled his originally assigned third-down responsibilities well, without holding anything back.
"The one thing about him - he played hard and physical," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "He was active in pass protection. There are a couple of shots on film where he did a great job chipping and down the field he was hustling, covering the football. We were pleased with the contribution he made."
As has been the case all season, the roles in the backfield will continue to depend on health. Rookie Brandon Jackson has missed the last two games with a shin injury but could be on his way back this week. Wynn hopefully won't have the cramping re-occur, and Morency certainly doesn't want any setbacks after the progress he's made the last two weeks.
A healthier, more crowded backfield would be a good problem for the Packers, who want to build on the season-high 121 rushing yards last Sunday. And the more the recovering Morency of 2007 resembles the jitterbug Morency of 2006, the more problems it could cause for defenses.
"I think he's getting close," Bennett said.
