GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The records Pro Bowl receiver Javon Walker now will chase are all about rehabilitation and not receptions.
Brett Favre's best receiver will miss the rest of the season after tearing up his right knee in Green Bay's opening loss at Detroit on Sunday, the very thing his agent Drew Rosenhaus feared when trying unsuccessfully to get Walker a new contract over the summer.
Walker will need an operation once the swelling subsides to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament and will require between eight and 12 months of rehabilitation.
"Talking to him last night, he's very positive and upbeat about it, understands what's ahead of him and is planning on breaking all kinds of records on getting back sooner," coach Mike Sherman said Monday.
Walker, who made the Pro Bowl last season after catching 89 passes for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns, threatened to hold out this year if the final two years of his contract weren't renegotiated.
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But he showed up in training camp on time, saying he wanted to prove he was worthy of a blockbuster contract through his play. The risk, of course, was a serious injury that would limit his earning power -- just like the one he suffered Sunday during a 17-3 loss to Detroit.
He's due $515,000 this season, the fourth of a five-year deal he signed in 2002 for $7.485 million, and Rosenhaus said last summer he couldn't let Walker risk his health for that kind of money. He even requested the Packers trade their star receiver if they couldn't accommodate him.
The Packers refused and Walker said he couldn't fathom missing any practices, much less any games, in a contract dispute. So, he set out to have another big season in hopes the Packers would make him very, very rich soon.
Rosenhaus was on a flight Monday and unavailable for comment, according to a colleague who answered his cell phone.
Fans who chastised Walker should understand now why he wanted the new deal, some of his teammates suggested.
"I understood where he's coming from," wide receiver Robert Ferguson said. "I understood then and I understand now."
Walker's injury is a serious blow to the Packers and quarterback Favre, whose team had never been held to as few as three points in any of his 226 consecutive starts, counting playoffs.
They sorely miss guards Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle, whose departures Favre felt dearly in Detroit, where he was sacked four times and knocked down another eight times.
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