Sooner or later, the team would have to let Favre on the field if a deal can't get done. One would think the team would want to complete a trade before Sunday night's intrasquad scrimmage at Lambeau Field, where roughly 60,000 fans would potentially be watching Favre and new starter Aaron Rodgers go head-to-head.

"They'll burn the place down," one player said.

Rodgers didn't seem fazed by the latest development. Either he's putting up a good front or he has been through so much that nothing shakes him at this point.

"He's not here yet. I think we're still dealing with a hypothetical at the moment," Rodgers said. "I've been empowered as the starting quarterback, and until that changes, I'll say it again, that's going to be my focus.

"You know, I'm not as affected as you guys think I am or should be."

A house divided? Rodgers also said that he doesn't think the return of Favre would splinter the team into pro-Favre and pro-Rodgers factions.

"There's not anything that's going to get between the guys in the locker room," he said. "We're a tight-knit group, and the guys are going to get behind whoever's under center."

That seems a bit idealistic. There will be at least some difference of opinion among the players on whether Favre or Rodgers should be the starter if Favre isn't traded in the next few days and indeed comes to camp.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's not a distraction, but it's only a distraction if we let it be a distraction," McCarthy said. "It's an external problem, and that's really the way we view it. Now we have to deal with it."

Asked if he is concerned about any division in the locker room, McCarthy replied, "I'm not concerned about it. We have talked about it as a football team. The players are handling it totally different than I think the perception is out there. We're about playing football. We're about getting ready for our season."
Perhaps, but even within the receiving corps, there were different takes.

While third-year receiver Greg Jennings tried to stay neutral -- "It's going to be an interesting situation," he said, "and we'll see what they do upstairs" -- 10-year vet Donald Driver was clearly happy about the Favre news.

"We'll handle it fine," Driver said. "We'll welcome him in, he's back in business, and when we come in we'll just pick up where we left off."

That sounded starkly different than the reaction of second-year man James Jones, who worked out with Rodgers in Southern California this off-season and said, "I have a better relationship with Aaron than I do with Brett, but the organization is going to do what they're going to do. I have no say-so. I just have to catch passes, whoever is throwing them."

The end zone: For all the attention the Favre saga is getting, cornerback Charles Woodson, who left the field jokingly chanting "We want Favre!" after practice, said the greater issue is the absence of unsigned halfback Ryan Grant. "My concern really is Ryan Grant. When do we get that guy in camp? Because he's just as big a part of our offense as Brett is," Woodson said. "I should've said, `We want Ryan Grant.' Hopefully that gets worked out."... Rodgers admitted "I didn't have my best day" on Tuesday, when he threw his second interception in as many days when Woodson stepped in front of a slant pass intended for Jennings. ... The left guard battle has begun. After incumbent Daryn Colledge worked with the No. 1 offensive line during both practices on Monday, challenger Allen Barbre was with the first unit on Tuesday.