After reinstatement, Favre may compete for Packers' starting QB job

"Obviously, it's a difficult situation," Packers President Mark Murphy said in an interview during the pregame broadcast of the intrasquad scrimmage. "He retired in March. The whole organization, we all moved forward with planning and every decision we made was based on a future without Brett.

"Now that he's back, it's really changed things."

It's unclear exactly why Thompson and McCarthy gave in and might allow Favre to compete for the spot, but there are several possible reasons:

-Goodell ordered them to, although a club source denied that was the case,

-The competition is a sham, and Rodgers will be given the job no matter how Favre performs,

-Once Favre shows he's back in shape and playing at a high level, he will be traded, possibly to an NFC North division rival,

-The two men think Rodgers will beat out Favre in the long run because Favre's not fully committed to coming back.

"We knew it was an eventuality (that he would show up)," Thompson said after doing all he could to get Favre to reconsider. "We're looking forward to seeing him and see how he's doing."

The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 90 carrying Favre landed at Austin Straubel airport at 7:08 p.m. Sunday from Hattiesburg, Miss. At the airport, 200 or so cheering fans lined a fence outside the tarmac and greeted Favre, his wife, Deanna, and Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, some waving signs at the gray-bearded quarterback.

Favre's traveling party loaded into a Cadillac Escalade and was escorted from the airport by two sheriff's vehicles. Later that night, Favre and his wife were seen in their luxury box watching the scrimmage from high above the field where Favre made his name.

The first order of business for the Packers come noon on Monday will be to give him a physical examination and run him through a conditioning test all players have to pass before they are placed on the 80-man active roster. The Packers do not have practice Monday and are scheduled to return to the field at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

After the physical and run test, McCarthy will meet with Favre and then his other quarterbacks - rookies Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn are the others - to inform them what direction he'll be taking in training camp.

Favre has yet to address reporters regarding the Packers' decision to allow him to compete for the starting job, but before he left he told reporter and close friend Al Jones of the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., that he has been through a lot the past month or so. He said the bottom line was that he wants to play football.

"My intentions have always been to play for Green Bay," he said. "Why wouldn't I want to play in Green Bay? They have as good a chance to win the Super Bowl as anyone."

Murphy offered the marketing deal to Favre regardless of whether he retired this year, but part of his intention was to give Favre an out if he truly didn't want to play again. Favre has admittedly had a tough time deciding whether to come back since his retirement news conference March 6.

At the intrasquad scrimmage, where a thunderstorm delayed the start 71 minutes, Rodgers received cheers, but there were also some boos mixed in from the thinned out crowd of 56,600 or so. Rodgers played poorly, completing seven of 20 passes for 84 yards and an interception in the end zone.

Afterward, he said, "I'm a football player, and I've got to focus on the things I can control, and that's playing football. With him coming back and if they do open up to a competition, I get a chance to compete. That's all I can ask for."

Favre rejoins the Packers as the NFL's all-time career leader in touchdown passes, completions, attempts, yards and victories as a starting quarterback. He is the NFL's only three-time Most Valuable Player award winner, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and the holder of the NFL record for most consecutive games started by a quarterback, 275 including playoffs.

Some of his teammates figured a competition was inevitable.

"That's really all you can do is open it up," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "He's reinstated so at that point, once they did that, you've got to give him a chance to win his job. So I think that's only fair. We'll see what happens."

"There's been indecision throughout Brett's path back here to Green Bay. It's important for us to sit down and communicate."

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(c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.