GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – Brett Favre went home to Mississippi on Tuesday, hours after playing one of the best games of his career despite the unexpected death of his father the day before.

Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman juggled his schedule so that he, too, could attend Irvin Favre’s funeral Wednesday at St. Paul Catholic Church in Pass Christian, Miss.

Backup quarterback Doug Pederson and his wife, Jeannie, close friends of the Favres, are believed to be among the four people who will fly out Christmas Eve with Sherman.

Assistant head coach Bob Slowik will run practice in Sherman’s absence as the Packers (9-6) prepare to host Denver (10-5) in a crucial game that could determine if Green Bay makes the playoffs.

The Packers have a short week because of their game Monday night at Oakland, when Favre had the best passer rating of his career in a 41-7 rout of the Raiders.

Favre and his wife, Deanna, flew out of San Francisco on their own.

Although Favre played brilliantly less than 24 hours after learning his father died of a massive heart attack while driving near his family’s home in Kiln, Miss., there has to be concern in the organization that Favre will be emotionally and physically exhausted by Sunday.

“I think Brett plays a lot on adrenaline, though, and I think Sunday when Denver is here, he’ll be back to his old competitive self,” team president Bob Harlan said Tuesday.

“But he’s going to go through so many ups and downs these next few days. I just feel sorry for him. I know how terrible it is to get that call,” added Harlan, who, like Favre, was 34 when his father died of a heart attack in 1972.

Favre was golfing with Pederson, Ryan Longwell and Josh Bidwell at a country club near the team hotel Sunday when Pederson got a call on his cell phone from Favre’s wife. She couldn’t bring herself to deliver the awful news to her husband.

Favre informed his teammates at the team meeting Sunday night he planned to play before flying home to be with his family. He hasn’t missed a game since becoming a starter on Sept. 27, 1992, and his consecutive starts streak of 205 games, including playoffs, is the most for an NFL quarterback.

“I wasn’t surprised a bit that he played,” Harlan said.

Nor was he surprised at how well Favre performed.

“Many years ago I ceased to be amazed at what he can do. What a treat he has been to watch throughout his career,” Harlan said.

Favre, who last week said he’ll return in 2004, threw for 399 yards, three shy of his career high, and four touchdowns and finished with a career-best passer rating of 154.9.

His first-half numbers – 15-of-18 for 311 yards, four TDs and no interceptions – were perfect, based on the NFL’s passer rating system in which the maximum possible rating is 158.3.

And he got help from his inspired teammates, who played with unusual passion to match Favre’s remarkable poise.

Ahman Green ran for 127 yards and a score. Javon Walker (four catches, 124 yards, two touchdowns), Robert Ferguson (3-85) and Donald Driver (3-78) all had acrobatic catches in double or even triple coverage. Wesley Walls, one of Favre’s closest friends, caught his first touchdown pass as a Packer.

Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila had three sacks and cornerback Michael Hawthorne had two interceptions.

“I admired the way Brett Favre played and I admired just as much the way the players rallied around him,” Harlan said. “I think his teammates just said, ‘We’re going to lift him to greater heights.’ I mean, we just made plays that we hadn’t made in a long, long time.”

AP-ES-12-23-03 1523EST