Packers look forward
At some point, the sting from Sunday’s overtime loss in the NFC Championship game will fade, and the Green Bay Packers will begin working toward a promising 2008 season.
Hardly anybody expected Green Bay to end up a few plays away from the Super Bowl this season. But the Packers will carry high expectations into next season, provided Brett Favre’s annual flirtation with retirement turns out as usual – with the state of Wisconsin swooning as Favre returns to work.
Just two years removed from being one of the worst teams in the league, the Packers have pulled off a dramatic turnaround under general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy. They now appear to be a team that is built to last.
“With the way the season went, I guess you would feel that the team would be better next year,” cornerback Charles Woodson said Monday. “We had a lot of young guys on the team, especially offensively for Brett. We found that running game that we needed this season with Ryan Grant. You would only think that the team would get better.”
The Packers were the NFL’s youngest team this season, and several of their key players are locked into long-term deals. Thompson just got a contract extension, and McCarthy is expected to sign his new deal this week.
In terms of personnel, Favre’s future is the only major, immediate concern for the Packers. Favre was noncommittal on his future, saying only that he planned to talk to McCarthy on Monday before heading back to Mississippi to huddle with his family.
Neither Favre nor McCarthy were available to the media on Monday.
Belichick defends Seymour
Patriots coach Bill Belichick rebuffed claims that defensive lineman Richard Seymour played dirty in Sunday’s win over San Diego.
After the game, San Diego center Nick Hardwick called Seymour “a dirty, cheap, little pompous (expletive).”
“I’m surprised,” Belichick said. “That’s the last thing I would say about Richard.”
Seymour was called for running into the kicker– a clear penalty, but hardly a violent one. He also gave San Diego’s Philip Rivers an elbow to the back that sent Rivers into an exaggerated flop.
Hardwick also accused Seymour of stomping on feet, slapping heads and punching people in the back.
“He’s cheap and dirty, and the head man just let him get away with it the whole time,” Hardwick said.
Rivers needs surgery
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said that he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee a week ago in order to play Sunday, and that he’ll need surgery on the torn anterior cruciate ligament in the same joint.
Rivers said he’d like to have surgery as soon as possible on the torn ACL.
LaDainian Tomlinson said he’s not going to need surgery on the sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, which he originally hurt in the Indianapolis game.
Brady injured?
New England’s Tom Brady was photographed with what appears to be walking cast on his right foot.
The Boston Herald and Boston Globe had the photos — credited to infphoto.com — on their Web sites. A video of Brady walking with a slight limp from an SUV to girlfriend Gisele Bundchen’s apartment in New York is available on TMZ.com.
“Ah, you know, there’s always bumps and bruises. I’ll be ready for the Super Bowl,” Brady said Monday.
Around the league
Buffalo Bills defensive end Anthony Hargrove was suspended without pay for all next season by the NFL after violating the league’s substance abuse policy a third time. The NFL did not disclose how Hargrove violated the policy. … New York’s 23-20 overtime victory over Green Bay got a 31.7 overnight rating on Fox, the highest for an NFL conference championship game since 1996.