Favre Says He’ll Return to the Packers for the 2004 Season

Brett Favre is coming back for another year.

Favre said Wednesday he will return to the Green Bay Packers next season, putting off any thoughts of retirement.

“I have every intention of coming back,” the quarterback said after practice Wednesday.

Partially because of a broken right thumb, he has not performed recently the way he did as the NFL’s only three-time most valuable player in the late 1990s. But Favre assured he has a lot to give at age 34.

He also is clearly reinvigorated with the Packers (8-6) tied with Minnesota atop the NFC North and vying for a playoff berth.

“I’m having fun playing as good as I feel like I’ve played in my career,” Favre said. “We’re still winning. We’re still in the playoffs or have a shot for the playoffs.

“Yeah, I have been hurt this year, but I’ve still played. That’s always an issue to me, but I can’t complain as I sit here before you today.”

Favre has 27 touchdown passes, equaling his total of last season, and 20 interceptions.

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Denver Bronco running back Clinton Portis was held out of practice Wednesday and listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game at Indianapolis.

Coach Mike Shanahan said he is hopeful Portis will rejoin workouts before the end of the week.

Portis injured his right knee and ankle Sunday when Cleveland’s Tyrone Rogers rolled onto his leg in overtime.

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Rookie quarterback Jason Gesser took all the snaps in practice for the Tennessee Titans, while Steve McNair tossed a few balls and rested his ailing left ankle.

The only appearance veteran Neil O’Donnell made was having his name placed on his old locker.

That may be as close as O’Donnell gets to the Titans, who are being squeezed by salary-cap constraints.

Coach Jeff Fisher said there’s a chance the Titans could have only two quarterbacks Sunday when they visit the Houston Texans if they can’t get a deal done quickly with O’Donnell.

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Carolina Panther linebacker Dan Morgan returned to practice for the first time in two weeks after shaking the lingering effects of post-concussion syndrome.

Morgan has sat out two consecutive games because of a concussion originally suffered Oct. 19 against the Titans. He played two games after that, then sat out the Nov. 2 game against Houston.

He returned for four more games, including a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but eventually stopped practicing and playing and sat out the last two weeks to rest.

“It seemed like every week I just didn’t feel like myself,” Morgan said. “I felt real cloudy, didn’t have a lot of energy, like I was in a mental fog.”