The Packers hope they solved two problems with one trade Monday, sending disgruntled cornerback Mike McKenzie to New Orleans for backup quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan.
In losing their third game in four starts, the Packers got a glimpse of their future when quarterback Brett Favre was knocked out with a concussion against the New York Giants.
McKenzie, inactive for his second game since holding out in a nasty contract dispute, was giving general manager-coach Mike Sherman unpleasant daily reminders of the present.
“It’s time to move on,” Sherman said.
The Packers also get a second-round pick in the 2005 draft from the Saints and will give up a conditional pick. Sherman had wanted a first-round choice for McKenzie, but landing a second-rounder and another possible Favre replacement sufficed.
O’Sullivan, 25, was the Saints’ sixth-round pick out of Cal-Davis in 2002. He has served as the team’s No. 3 quarterback and hasn’t seen any regular-season action. But he led the Saints in preseason passing in each of the last two seasons and had a good spring in NFL Europe, leading the Frankfurt Galaxy to the World Bowl title.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound O’Sullivan played behind starter Aaron Brooks and backup Todd Bouman this season and in 2003. As a rookie in 2002, he sat behind Brooks and Jake Delhomme, who wound up in Carolina. In Europe, O’Sullivan compiled a lofty 91.9 passer rating (120 of 196, 1,527 yards, 10 touchdowns, five interceptions). He also scrambled for 138 yards.
Brooks was a fourth-round pick of the Packers in 1999 and was considered a possible Favre successor before he was traded to New Orleans in 2000.
When Favre got knocked out Sunday, he was replaced by longtime backup Doug Pederson. When Pederson got hurt, third-year prospect Craig Nall entered for the final play. The Packers selected Nall in the fifth round in 2002, passing up O’Sullivan. There was no immediate word on how many quarterbacks the Packers will carry on their roster.
McKenzie had vowed after last season never to play for the Packers again because he felt underpaid with three years left on his contract. After reporting the week of the Bears game, McKenzie played for nine plays. But he developed a hamstring injury and was inactive for the next two games, raising doubts in the Packers locker room about his commitment and the extent of the injury. He was paid $485,000 for his three weeks on the roster.
Generally considered the Packers’ best cornerback, McKenzie was a third-round pick in 1999. The Packers made cornerbacks Ahmad Carroll and Joey Thomas their first two picks in last April’s draft, then gave returning starter Al Harris a five-year, $19 million contract, bigger than the $17.1 million extension they gave McKenzie in 2002. When McKenzie reported, he made it clear he did so in order to force a trade.
Veteran players, including Favre, had criticized McKenzie’s holdout. When he returned, veterans also made it clear he would have to contribute or face consequences from teammates. The danger for Sherman, however, is that the trade could create a precedent.
The trade is the Packers’ first during a season involving active players in 23 years. In 1981, general manager-coach Bart Starr obtained wide receiver John Jefferson from the Chargers for wide receiver Aundra Thompson and three draft choices.
First quarter
The 3-1 Giants and 1-3 Packers are two of the biggest surprises of the first quarter of the season.
Others: the 3-1 Jaguars, the 3-0 Jets, the 4-0 Falcons, the 1-3 Titans, the 0-4 Buccaneers and the 1-3 Chiefs.
Best performance: The Patriots’ winning streak is impressive, but the Colts’ wins on the road in Tennessee and Jacksonville and near miss in New England (two fumbles at the 1-yard line) give them an early edge.
The 4-0 Eagles also are impressive, but three of their wins have come in the NFC North, the only division without a three-game winner.
Bennett surgery
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Vikings running back Michael Bennett will miss at least two more games after undergoing arthroscopic surgery Monday to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Bennett hasn’t played since spraining the knee in an Aug. 27 exhibition game. He reinjured it in his first fully padded practice Thursday when he was hit by rookie linebacker Dontarrious Thomas. The Vikings were off Sunday.
Record wrecker
This is how the Patriots have won 18 games in a row, one at a time: “We don’t care anything about a record,” coach Bill Belichick said. “We’re just trying to win a game, trying to win another division game. That’s what is coming up. Division games are important. We got one [in Buffalo], but we have Miami coming up and we know they’ll be tough. We always have tough games with them. So that’s all we need to worry about.”
Skorich dies
Nick Skorich, former coach of the Eagles and Browns and one of the NFL’s classiest acts, has died at 83 of an apparent infection after recent heart-valve surgery.
Skorich was associated with the NFL for more than 50 years as a Steelers guard and linebacker, a coach and an assistant supervisor of officials. He coached the Eagles from 1961-63 and the Browns from 1971-74. His record was 45-48-5.
Coming of age
Texans rookie cornerback Dunta Robinson was just 3 when Raiders receiver Jerry Rice entered the league. Before their game Sunday, Robinson admitted: “I’ll look at him and say `Oh, my God, that’s Jerry Rice.’ I’ll watch him for a little while and then I’ll get back to what I have to do. I never thought I’d be playing against Jerry Rice. Never.”
Results: Rice, one catch, 18 yards. Robinson, two interceptions, 86 yards.
First rule: Win
Coach Tom Coughlin’s quirky rules are no longer the focus with the 3-1 New York Giants. Players who have been fined for not getting to meetings early enough now talk about Coughlin’s attention to detail.
In the closing seconds of Sunday’s 14-7 win over Green Bay, Packers third-string quarterback Nall hit Robert Ferguson with a 24-yard pass to the Giants’ 32-yard line. Rookie safety Gibril Wilson made the tackle and remembered the practice drill.
“Mini-camp, training camp, if a situation like that happened, we were taught to get up slower than you usually would,” Wilson said.
Wilson did, and the Packers could not get lined up for another play.
Welcome, McKenzie
The controversial McKenzie should fit in perfectly with the Saints, who lost 34-10 to Arizona and argued on the team plane.
Coach Jim Haslett downplayed the confrontation between QB Brooks and defensive end Charles Grant.
“What I saw was two passionate guys getting in a verbal match,” Haslett said. “It was nothing more than [linebackers coach] Winston Moss and I got into during the game.
“The way things grow and grow, by the time the news hits the air it was probably an all-out brawl and the plane almost went down. It was nothing like that at all.”
Brooks was so frustrated Sunday, he said: “I have to sit back and re-evaluate my situation here in New Orleans. I am going to keep fighting until the change comes, and I’m going to keep throwing everything I can. I can’t point fingers at anyone.”
Haslett responded Monday: “He said he had to re-evaluate looking at the film, make sure that he’s doing his part. If he meant anything more than that, I don’t know.”