MINNEAPOLIS – Observed in the locker room following the Green Bay Packers’ 44-31 win over the Minnesota Vikings:
Still in awe: Packers running back Eddie Lacy outgained Vikings running back Adrian Peterson on the ground, 94 yards to 60, but the rookie was still in awe. “I respect A.P.; I look up to him,” said Lacy, who carried a career-high 29 times and scored one touchdown. “He’s a great running back, very talented, and I was just happy to be on the same field with him. A part of me is still a spectator, I guess you could say. So to watch him, that was cool, too. But we had a good game on the ground; me and [James] Starks were able to get a lot of yards tonight.”
Pitching a shutout: Rookie left tackle David Bakhtiari was changing just a few lockers over from guard T.J. Lang, who was asked about the job Bakhtiari did on Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, who did not record a single tackle, sack or quarterback hit. That didn’t stop Lang from giving him a little rookie ribbing. “David’s been struggling quite a bit,” Lang said. “Nah, I’m just kidding. You didn’t hear [Allen’s] number at all today.”
One man to beat: Punt returner Micah Hyde had only one man to beat on his 93-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter – his teammate Sam Barrington. Barrington nearly took out Hyde in the middle of the field. “We talked about it at halftime,” Hyde said. “I was like, ‘Sam, you almost tackled me, man.’ He said, ‘I was about to crush somebody, and the next thing I know we’re running face to face.’ He did a good job of avoiding me, though. Right off my cut, he just jumped out of the way, so kudos to him, too.” Hyde, who was criticized for his lack of speed, said he didn’t feel vindicated by outrunning everyone on the Vikings. Rather, he was happy to make up for Cordarrelle Patterson’s 109-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game. “That was tough,” Hyde said. “Obviously, we gave that up. I was a part of it; I could’ve made the tackle. We just had to go out there as a punt-return team and make some plays.”
Favre who? In the wake of reports last week that the St. Louis Rams called Brett Favre to see if he was interested in coming out of retirement, coach Mike McCarthy was asked if the Packers would call Favre if Aaron Rodgers got hurt. With a look of disbelief, McCarthy said: “It was a helluva football game. I’m going to talk about the game.”