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Friday, November 21, 1997

Champs shuffling for Cowboys

By ARNIE STAPLETON / AP Sports Writer

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- The Green Bay Packers are having a little trouble getting ready for Sunday's game, and not because they're indifferent, either.

After all, they've been waiting eight years for the Dallas Cowboys to come onto Lambeau Field.

It's just that three of the Packers' stars are injured and watching practice from the sideline.

After losing seven straight times at Texas Stadium, the Packers can't wait to get their hated rival at Lambeau, where 34 of the last 35 opponents have gone home losers.

"And it's going to be cold," quarterback Brett Favre said, smiling.

Favre is 19-0 at home when game-time temperature is 35 degrees or colder.

Sunday's forecast?

Highs in the 20s, chance of snow, single-digit wind chills.

The Packers might be better prepared for the elements, however, than for the Cowboys.

Defensive end Reggie White (back), nose tackle Gilbert Brown (ankle) and flanker Robert Brooks (rib) missed practice again Thursday.

Although none has suited up this week, coach Mike Holmgren expects all three to play Sunday.

Practices have proved a problem without them.

Defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur said it's hard to get ready without his two large linemen.

"Our big guys have to be a part of that process," he said. "And we don't really know where they are right now. And if they're not able to play, we have to do some different things.

"The big question is still the status of Reggie and Gilbert. And, if those guys are ready and can play, how effective will they be?"

White has a bulging disk in his back that has bothered him all season but never more than on Sunday, when he missed much of Green Bay's stunning loss at Indianapolis.

Brown left that game after spraining his right ankle on the seventh play. Without him, the Packers surrendered 41 points and 467 yards to the last winless team in the NFL.

"Gilbert means a lot to this team," Holmgren said. "We learned that when he was injured and missed a couple of games earlier this season. It's hard for me to believe that one man means that much to you, but he is a force inside."

Indianapolis rushed for 147 yards. Earlier this season, Brown missed consecutive games against Tampa Bay and Chicago and the Packers surrendered 217 yards rushing and 121 yards rushing, respectively.

With Brown back in the lineup the following three weeks, the Packers allowed 87 rushing yards per game before Sunday's debacle.

One solution might be to use the 3-4 defense that Shurmur unveiled against Dallas last year, when Emmitt Smith was held to 76 yards and, more importantly, out of the end zone.

George Koonce, fresh off the injured list after offseason knee surgery, could work as the fourth linebacker with Seth Joyner, Bernardo Harris and Brian Williams.

Koonce, the Packers' leading tackler last season, said his knee felt fine and he could withstand spot duty.

"I want to play in this game more than anybody because I was part of those seven losses," he said.

The Packers' offense also has been jumbled this week.

Antonio Freeman has practiced at flanker and Derrick Mayes at split end, but that could change Sunday. Or Brooks might just come in on third down.