Packers Notebook
Mayes has knee ligament damage
Posted: Tuesday October 06, 1998 09:25 PM
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Mayes could miss anywhere from two weeks to the remainder of the season AP |
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (AP) -- Wide receiver Derrick Mayes has ligament
damage in his right knee, but the Green Bay Packers said
they wouldn't know a diagnosis or prognosis until the swelling goes down.
Mayes, who hurt his knee returning a punt in the closing minutes of Monday
night's 37-24 loss to Minnesota, wasn't in the locker room on Tuesday but
he was seen on crutches in the training room.
If Mayes has a torn anterior cruciate ligament, he's done for the season.
A tear of the medial collateral ligament would be the best possible
scenario and would mean he could be back this month.
There were initial reports that Mayes would only miss 2-4 weeks, but that
could change when he's re-evaluated later in the week.
Mayes, a third-year pro from Notre Dame, had his coming out party just two
weeks ago, when he caught three tough touchdown passes against Carolina.
During his post-mortem news conference Tuesday, coach Mike Holmgren said
Mayes "has ligament damage, but they're not sure which ligaments, quite
frankly. It's the knee that he had hurt in high school, and so we should
have an answer on that this afternoon."
But the Packers' public relations department and general manager Ron Wolf
said they didn't have anything further to say about Mayes' injury.
After the game, Holmgren conceded Mayes' injury could be serious.
"I'm a little worried," he acknowledged.
Holmgren has long been reticent regarding injuries. He was reluctant after
Pro Bowl halfback Dorsey Levens went down in Week 2 to say he'd be out for
a while.
Initially, Holmgren said he thought Levens wouldn't miss any time, but it
turned out not only did Levens need surgery on his ankle, but he had a
broken leg, as well.
Levens probably won't return until December and may not be in top shape
until the playoffs -- providing the Packers remain an elite team in his
absence.
On Tuesday, Holmgren was asked about Levens again and responded: "He's
doing fine. But I suspect we won't be able to give you anything definitive
on Dorsey for another six weeks."
That marked the first time Holmgren has publicly acknowledged that Levens
will miss more than a month. It also shot down a report on ABC's Monday
Night Football that Levens could return November 1.
After Monday night's loss, when at least five players were injured,
Holmgren said sternly: "I'm going to tell you some things injury-wise here
now. The last couple weeks, there's been this big battle about injuries.
I'm going to tell you some things here on what I was told when I came in
here so there's no intent to deceive, OK? Let me put that out front for
everybody."
Holmgren then listed the players who were hurt and what part of their body
was injured, but added nothing as far as severity or prognoses were
concerned.
Among those who were hurt were safeties LeRoy Butler (ankle) and
Pat Terrell (ribs),
tight end Jeff Thomason
(concussion), who was knocked out on the opening kickoff return, linebacker
George Koonce
(hamstring), left tackle Ross Verba (ankle) and
backup quarterback Doug
Pederson (broken jaw).
Pederson's jaw was wired shut and he's out for six weeks, with Rick Mirer becoming Brett Favre's primary
backup.
Mirer, who failed in Seattle and Chicago, said he felt "pretty
Comfortable" after his month-long crash course in the West Coast offense.
"I mean, I haven't done anything yet, I haven't run the plays yet," he
said. "But I can talk about them, and I have to probably feel a little
urgency now. But that's what you play for.
"And everybody's concerned about Doug because he took a big blow, but you
got to pick up and go and hopefully do well when you get a chance."
Favre has started an NFL-best 111 straight games.
"This team's been blessed that Brett's been as healthy as he has for as
long as he has," Mirer said. "Other guys need to be ready to go, though,
and this offense is a little bit like what I've done in the past."
Lamont Hollinquest
filled in for Koonce and will do so again against Detroit on October 15 if
Koonce can't recover fast enough from what he termed a severe hamstring
pull. Schroeder No. 3
Bill Schroeder says
he's ready to be the third receiver for as long as Derrick Mayes is out.
Schroeder, who was in coach Mike Holmgren's doghouse last year after
repeated penalties and fumbles on kick returns, has shown vast improvement
as a receiver and on special teams this year.
And Schroeder said he's better prepared this season to step in and be part
of the Packers three-receiver set.
"Oh, without a question, I got a lot more chances this year and things
have just been working out pretty good so far," Schroeder said.
Schroeder might even get snaps at split end in place of Robert Brooks, who's still
sore from back surgery in August.
"I'm better than last year and next year hopefully I'll be better again,"
Schroeder said. "Just everything. Little by little, I'm getting better at
everything I do. And I'm just having more confidence and I think Brett's
having more confidence also."
Last season, Brett Favre chewed out Schroeder on the sideline for dropping
a pass. But this year Schroeder has bailed out Favre by hauling in
misdirected passes.
Brooks has missed three weeks of practice and Schroeder has benefited from
the extra work with the first unit.
"Yeah, quite a bit. That gets a lot of the timing down that I didn't have
last year as much as I would have liked," Schroeder said. "Confidence is
there." Thomason knockout
Jeff Thomason, one of the players who form the wedge on kickoff returns,
was knocked out cold on the opening kickoff Monday night.
"I just remember one of their guys, one of their bigger guys in the middle
of their kickoff team, he's basically there to attack the wedge. I just got
stuck basically man-to-man with him and he came through and hit me on the
side of the head and knocked me out," Thomason said.
Thomason, the Packers' third tight end, said he didn't collect his senses
until the second quarter. But the medical staff didn't let him return
because he had tingling sensations in his arms and was dizzy.
"About the second quarter, I realized where I was at," Thomason said. "The
whole first quarter is pretty blank." Extra points
Jeff Thomason has had one other concussion, and it also occurred against
the Vikings at Lambeau Field, three years ago. ... Pat Terrell bruised his
ribs when he tackled Cris
Carter just before halftime. ... The Packers, who allowed 10 touchdown
throws all of last season, allowed four TD passes Monday night for the
first time ever under Mike Holmgren. Quotes of the day
"I saw it live, I didn't need to see film." -- strong safety LeRoy Butler,
when asked what he saw on film of the Minnesota Vikings'
blowout over the Packers in which Green Bay was clobbered every way
imaginable.
"This is the greatest night in my football career. They don't get beat
here. Against the No. 1 defense in the league, to do what we did here is
just blessing." -- Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham.
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