As NFL Training Camps Open, All Eyes Focus on Favre

League Watches Quarterback, Packers Do Battle

NFL teams begin reporting to training camps this week, but it might take until next weekend for the league's leading summertime story line to begin to come to a conclusion. That's when the Green Bay Packers are scheduled to report to their camp in De Pere, Wis., and find out whether quarterback Brett Favre will show up or remain at home in Mississippi in disgruntled retirement.

The Packers are to report to St. Norbert College next Sunday and practice the next day. They had planned, following Favre's tearful retirement announcement in March, for that to be the beginning of a smooth transition to Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback. Favre instead has been at odds with team management in recent weeks after informing the Packers he wants to come out of retirement, and virtually everyone connected to the situation has been in limbo while the rest of the league looks on.

General Manager Ted Thompson and Coach Mike McCarthy have said Favre can come back but have suggested he would have to do so as Rodgers's backup. Favre has indicated he has no interest in that and has asked to be released. The Packers have refused, apparently fearing Favre might sign with a quarterback-needy division rival such as the Minnesota Vikings or Chicago Bears. The Packers even accused the Vikings of illegal tampering with Favre. It's possible Favre could be traded, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers being mentioned as leading possibilities.

If Favre wants to play, the Packers can't stop him. Under league rules, they either would have to put him back on their roster and pay him his $12 million salary, or trade or release him. But Favre could choose to remain in retirement if the Packers stick to their plan to have him serve as Rodgers's understudy, or trade him to a team for which he doesn't want to play.

Even if he does not show up at training camp, Favre will be the main topic of discussion. He said during a televised interview last week that he probably would resist the temptation to show up simply to force the Packers' hand.

"It's tempting because everyone is saying, 'Call their bluff,' or whatever,' " Favre told Fox News. "I think it's going to be a circus in itself already, whether I go there or whatever. And I like my teammates. I had a lot of fun with them. I have talked to numerous guys throughout this whole ordeal. I wish them the best. I really do. I hold nothing against those guys. We had a lot of fun together. It was an amazing year last year. I don't want to make it any worse than it is. I mean, I've always been a Packer and always will be a Packer. Will I play somewhere else? Remains to be seen. But I don't want to go back there just to stick it to them."

Most of the rest of the league will be in camps by the time the Packers get back to work. The Washington Redskins reported to camp yesterday and play in the Hall of Fame Game in two weeks. The Baltimore Ravens are scheduled to report tomorrow to their camp at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., and practice Tuesday.

The Ravens made first-year coach John Harbaugh's job a bit easier by reaching a contract agreement last week with rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, a first-round draft pick out of Delaware. Flacco will get a full training camp as he vies with Kyle Boller and Troy Smith for the starting job. The Ravens, meanwhile, begin to try to replace retired left tackle Jonathan Ogden.

An absentee quarterback also will be the issue at the Indianapolis Colts' training camp in Terre Haute, Ind. But Peyton Manning is hurt, not retired. He underwent surgery last week to have an inflamed and possibly infected bursa sac removed from his left knee, and the Colts indicated their prized quarterback was facing a recovery of four to six weeks. That could leave him missing the entire preseason, including the Colts' Aug. 3 meeting with the Redskins in Canton, Ohio. But Manning never has missed a regular season or playoff game in his 10-year NFL career, and the Colts are counting on that streak remaining intact.

The two Super Bowl participants from last season, the New England Patriots and New York Giants, report to their camps this week. The Patriots must attempt to rebound from the deflating Super Bowl defeat that kept them from completing the first 19-0 season in league history. Coach Bill Belichick and the franchise remained in the news for much of the offseason because of the spying scandal that wouldn't seem to go away and produced a crackdown on cheating by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. But Spygate finally seems to be a fading memory, and the Patriots' biggest concern as training camp opens could be a rebuilt secondary that's minus departed cornerback Asante Samuel.

The Giants will gather in Albany, N.Y., without retired defensive end Michael Strahan, and they've had a tumultuous-as-always offseason that included trade speculation surrounding tight end Jeremy Shockey and a contract squabble involving wide receiver Plaxico Burress. But Eli Manning, at least, will arrive in Albany for the first time in his pro career without having to answer the question of whether he will develop into a championship-caliber quarterback. Now the question is: Can he and the Giants do it again?

"We have to get better," Manning said after a June minicamp. "We had a short offseason. We didn't start until April. We didn't have many [offseason practices]. Just because we have off time right now, it is not a time to relax. It's a time to step it up a notch. We need to make sure that when we come to training camp that we are in shape, we are ready to go, and we are getting better. . . . I don't think we are satisfied. I think we are happy about last year, but we are not content with where we stand as a team and what we can do as an offense, as a team. We know that we can become a better group of players."