Favre ‘not overly concerned’ with interception record

Last modified: Saturday, October 13, 2007 12:11 AM CDT

Favre ‘not overly concerned’ with interception record

By CHRIS JENKINS / AP Sports Writer

GREEN BAY — It already has been a record-setting season for Brett Favre, but now he’s on the verge of one he doesn’t really want.

With his next interception, Favre will break a tie with George Blanda and become the NFL’s all-time interception king.

“It’s been 17 years,’’ said Favre, who enters Sunday’s game against Washington with 277 career picks. “A lot of attempts, a lot of completions. I’m not overly concerned about it. I don’t particularly like to throw interceptions, but they’re going to happen. Some are your fault, some are not your fault. But I can say the same thing about touchdowns. I’ve thrown some to one guy and (had) the other guy catch it, and I don’t admit it until two years later — ‘Sure, I was throwing it to him.’’’

Favre, who has downplayed most of the attention he has received for setting the all-time records for career touchdown passes and victories as a starting quarterback this year, said he doesn’t put too much stock in statistics.

“I say it over and over, the most important one is wins and losses, and there’s been a lot more wins than losses, and that’s the one I’m most proud of,’’ Favre said.

Despite his long-standing reputation for taking chances with the football, Favre has earned rave reviews for his careful play this season.

He has thrown only four interceptions in five games — and only one real head-scratcher, a lob to Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher in the second half of Sunday night’s loss.

Favre took the blame for a bad decision.

“I mean, I’m not going to sit here and sugarcoat it, it was a bad decision,’’ Favre said. “I wish, in hindsight, I wouldn’t have thrown it.’’

Favre said he should have thrown the ball away — or, better yet, checked to a different play before the ball was snapped.

“I overthought the situation and should have, prior to the ball being snapped, changed the play,’’ Favre said. “It’s not a bad play if I run it, but the best decision after it was snapped was just throw it away. And that’s the one decision this year up to this point I wish I had back.’’

JENNINGS’ JUNCTURE: Packers coach Mike McCarthy said wide receiver Greg Jennings’ ability to perform in practice on Friday would go a long way toward determining his availability for Sunday.

“That was really the plan with him going into the week with the hamstring, but now he also has the shoulder,’’ McCarthy said Thursday. “So tomorrow will be a big day for Greg.’’

Jennings has been nursing a sore hamstring this season, and injured his shoulder in Sunday’s game. Jennings didn’t seem to think the shoulder injury was an issue on Thursday.

“I don’t want to talk about my shoulder,’’ Jennings said. “I’m fine.’’

DEHYDRATED DESHAWN: Rookie running back DeShawn Wynn struggled with dehydration and leg cramps during Sunday night’s loss to the Bears, leading the team’s training staff to put him on a more extensive week-long hydration program similar to one employed for former running back Ahman Green.

“The plan they had in place for Ahman is the one we’re now going to move forward with DeShawn,’’ McCarthy said. “So he’ll now have his own Gatorade bottle on the bench with certain things in it, and there’s a plan for him during the week. So hopefully, we won’t run into that again.’’

Between the new approach by the training staff and cooler weather, Wynn doesn’t expect it to be a problem for the rest of the year.

“That’s something that wasn’t expected,’’ Wynn said. “I expected it to be that hot, but not for me to sweat as much as I did. I tried to hydrate as much as I could before, but something popped up. But definitely taking precautions this week.’’

NOTES: McCarthy said running back Vernand Morency, who is still recovering from his knee injury in training camp, sat out most of Thursday’s practice but would return Friday. “He had a rough time going all three days last week,’’ McCarthy said. ... Rookie running back Brandon Jackson, who has missed the past two games because of a shin injury, spent time with the No. 1 offense and the scout team on Thursday. “Brandon looked good today,’’ McCarthy said. ... Favre was fuming on the sideline after McCarthy called a timeout just before halftime of the Chicago game, but McCarthy said it was no big deal. “If you took everything that happened on the sideline home with you, you’d have a lot of ulcers,’’ McCarthy said. “You’d be a very insecure individual. So I don’t sweat that stuff. He’s competing, everybody’s out there competing.’’