Griese: WR injury my fault

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By DARRELL FRY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 16, 2001

For Denver's Brian Griese, the blame for receiver Ed McCaffrey's season-ending injury rests on one set of shoulder: the quarterback's.

McCaffrey broke his left leg after catching a deep pass from Griese on Monday night against the Giants.

While it was a routine play to most observers, Griese has been dogged by thoughts of how he could have prevented his teammate's injury. He said he should have diverted the attention of free safety Shaun Williams, who made the hit on McCaffrey. Griese said he probably shouldn't have lofted the ball as much. And he said his throw might have made McCaffrey more vulnerable.

In essence, Griese blames himself, even though nobody else does: "I was responsible for one of my friends getting hurt. It was hard to get back out there and concentrate on what I had to do."

If Griese erred in any way on the play, it was perhaps the only thing he did wrong. He was 21-for-29 for 330 yards and three touchdowns in leading Denver to a season-opening win.

BUT WILL IT LAST?: Because the Cardinals had a bye on the opening weekend, they are in first place in the NFC East at 0-0.

STAT OF THE WEEK: With Baltimore's 17-6 win against Chicago, the Ravens defense hasn't allowed a touchdown in six of their past 10 games, including the postseason.

IT AIN'T OVER: Lions quarterback Charlie Batch was replaced last week by Ty Detmer, but Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg said Batch may rise again in Detroit.

"If you recall, in San Francisco we benched Jeff Garcia for three games (in 1999) and the next year he goes to the Pro Bowl," Mornhinweg said. "And I explained that to Charlie as well."

HITTING CLOSE TO HOME: Falcons coach Dan Reeves has a close friend whose son is among the missing in the World Trade Center attack. Reeves got choked up talking to reporters about it last week, eventually becoming so overwhelmed that he got up and walked away.

"That kind of hate," Reeves said, "it's hard to fathom."

GLAD WE COULD BE OF HELP: After the Giants' loss to the Broncos, some reporters hinted they are not division champion material, which suits coach Jim Fassel fine. "You guys make my job a whole lot easier," Fassel told reporters in New York. "When I see things like that, and my players see things like that, we all take it with some resentment. A lack of respect? Absolutely. I take it personally."

KNOW A GOOD FIX-IT MAN?: The Vikings figure to use the week off to work on their offense, which they admit has been out of whack since the preseason. Minnesota had five turnovers and scored 13 points in a loss to Carolina Sunday.

"I don't know too many other ways to say it, other than when it stinks, it stinks," receiver Cris Carter said. "When you just don't play well, you have to stand up for it and say it. And we just did not play well.

"This is not new. This is old news. It's just something that's been going on for several weeks and we just haven't been able to work it out. But we've been through periods like this before, and all of the times before we came out of it."

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Cardinals long-snapper Trey Junkin, suggesting that President Bush should have retaliated against the hijackers by now: "If we aren't carpet-bombing by (today), then maybe it's time we had another election."

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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