Brett Favre gets an extra day of rest for his severely sprained right shoulder, but it might not matter. His incredible streak of starting a record 297 consecutive games may come to an end tonight as the Vikings face the Giants at Ford Field in Detroit.
This game, of course, was originally scheduled for yesterday at Mall of America Field in Minneapolis before a blizzard forced the game to be pushed back one day, before the Metrodome roof collapsing forced the game to be moved out of Minnesota entirely. Even that seeming stroke of luck, giving Favre an extra day, might not make any difference.
Favre yesterday told ESPN he would not have been able to play if the game went on as scheduled yesterday. Favre later texted a USA Today reporter, saying he still thinks he won’t be able to play tonight. That would end his starting streak.
“I don’t think it will be 2 bad,” Favre wrote. “ ‘U know what[?] I kinda look forward to just chillin for a change.”
Reports also surfaced that Favre has informed Vikings teammates that he won’t play. Favre has been close to missing games before and then magically appears behind center in the starting lineup, so few will believe the streak will end until they see backup Tavaris Jackson in the starting lineup tonight.
* With the game pushed back one day, it leaves the Giants on a short work week for their game next Sunday against the Eagles, which could determine who wins the NFC East.
“Obviously we would have liked to have a full week but what are you going to do?” co-owner John Mara said. “It could not have been avoided. Right now, this game is the most important game for us, we can’t worry about the Eagles just yet. You never want to play on a short week unless you have to, this is one of those cases it just couldn’t be avoided.”
Tom Coughlin said the coaches would start this morning on preparations to face the Eagles, the normal routine for a Monday night game. However, since the Giants weren’t planning for the extended trip, they don’t have the information they normally have.
By the afternoon, the focus will turn back to the Vikings.
* What’s that smell? Well, it could be Big Blue. The extended trip caused a bit of a laundry problem. “We didn’t travel with a lot of clothes to be honest with you,” Coughlin said.