Favre's arrival won't alter Green Bay routine

GREEN BAY, WIS. - Although this weekend will mark Brett Favre's potentially emotional return to Green Bay, there don't appear to be any major security changes from how other visiting teams are handled when they play the Packers.

The Vikings will fly into Outagamie County Regional Airport in Appleton this afternoon and then bus to the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in that city's downtown. Appleton is about a 30-minute drive from Green Bay.

Appleton Police Sgt. Pat DeWall said there might be some extra police out in the area this weekend but that's because of Halloween and daylight savings time might draw bigger crowds to the bars. DeWall doesn't seem concerned that Favre's presence will result in any problems, and the reality is that once he's in his room Favre will have normal security that will make him off limits to the public.

On Sunday, the Vikings will take a bus from their hotel to Lambeau Field with an escort from the Outagamie County Sheriff's Department. After the game, they will head to Green Bay's Austin Straubel Airport to board a plane for their return trip.

"I would expect it to go off pretty clean without a hitch," DeWall said. "The hotel has a very good security staff and obviously they've been doing this for several years. They must be doing something right because they keep on getting all the teams. They've been through this before. Obviously not with this type of situation where have you a former Packer coming back who was very popular but other times when it's been the playoffs they've always done an excellent job. There is no reason to believe they won't continue to do that this weekend."

Packers wide receivers Donald Driver and Greg Jennings stand to benefit from the fact that Vikings Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield will miss a second consecutive game Sunday because of an injury to his right foot.

But Driver made it clear that Winfield's absence won't only impact the Vikings when it comes to passing defense. "With [Winfield] it's a big factor because he's especially big in the run game," Driver said. "He loves to shoot up and hit the running back. He's one of those guys that just loves to make tackles so you have to be willing to watch out for him a lot."

The Packers obviously have watched film of the Vikings' 27-17 loss last Sunday at Pittsburgh in which cornerbacks Karl Paymah, Benny Sapp and Asher Allen did a nice job filling in for Winfield on the left side. While Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was held to 175 yards passing, running back Rashard Mendenhall did benefit from Winfield's absence. Mendenhall had a 14-yard run to Winfield's side on the Steelers' first play from scrimmage and added a 16-yarder to open the third quarter.

Mendenhall led the Steelers with 69 yards on 10 carries, marking an NFL-high 30th consecutive game in which the Vikings have not given up 100 yards rushing to an individual. The last player to rush for 100 yards against the Vikings was Green Bay's Ryan Grant on Nov. 11, 2007, when he went for 102 yards in a 34-0 victory at Lambeau Field. Grant had success that day going to the outside and it will be interesting to see if the Packers try to replicate that success.